Retired Professor of Political Economy
(Lancaster University, UK - retired 2021)
(also #ProfDJ across the Lune Valley)
Contributor: North West Bylines #NoBridge
Not only are the DWP causing pain & crisis in the lives of unpaid carers, three years ago they were told the approach they had adopted was doing this....
So even if it had been accidental (I 'm not sure it was) in 2020, for the last three years they have known the distress & problems their actions were causing but carried on blithely.
We should be cherishing & rewarding carers at home, not penalising them for minor infractions of unjust rules!
Are we taking ourselves into further decline? Is John Bryson right & 'British political discourse is broken, rather than Britain itself'?
This is an interesting issue, nt least for how the idea of 'broken Britain' lay behind the 'logic' of austerity (and therefore much of the social damage wrought over the last decade).
The difficulty is we (the British) also are highly suspicious of anyone 'talking up' the country... a political dilemma for our times?
More callousness compounding the inequities of the housing crisis...
As other have remarked Thurrock's communication(s) with Heidi Dodson are remarkable for their inhumanity, but it sort of follows from declarations that the vulnerable & poor are making 'lifestyle choices'.
Cruelty & callousness come down from our politicians who are forever 'punching down'.
Sometimes I wonder how we have come to this, then I look at grinning Tories & I know all too well!
Three climate activists have been found guilty under the new law that seeks to repress protests that interfere with key national infrastructure.
With the jury instructed to ignore the defendants' reasoning behind their actions its perhaps unsurprising they were found guilty... all a bit ironic given the unseasonal heat in the court room.
Sentencing is to come & will show how serious an impact the law may have... but its not going to be good!
Martin Kettle (Guardian) suggests 'A change of government for Britain will be a big & fascinating process. It will affect – well, almost everything in some way'!
He thinks big/historic change(s) will come with the accession of Labour to power, but many here (on Mastodon) are not so sure.
Indeed, this is perhaps the biggest Q. in UK (domestic) politics right now... what will be the balance between continuity & change in 2025?
Behind Keir Starmer's many decisions lies the think-tank Labour Together; 18 moths ago they had one employee now they have 34 staff & a network of associates, all funded by personal donations which reached nearly £2mn in the year to March.
They've run into trouble with the Electoral Commission about fund-raising, but continue to exercise considerable influence on the Labour Party.
The big Q. is what is the role of such outsourced policy advice look like if Labour with the election?
Meanwhile in Ghana, as proof that repatriation has finally really got under way, an exhibition opens of Asante artefacts stolen by the British.
While, there's massive institutional resistance to repatriation, we should celebrate when it does happen as part of the need to shame those who continue to justify (or try to obscure) historical acts of looting perpetrated by the British.
Given the world situation it my be a small thing, but it remains important
More evidence of greedflation & the maintenance & boosting of profits, as a driver of inflation.
But, the Q is whether the sado-monetarists care about such evidence or are happy to continue with the ideologically driven economic modelling that asserts greedy workers as the ket cause of inflation?
Oh we know the answer, the BoE will be quoting three month wage rise data not profits' trends across years, because that doesn't support disciplining the workforce.
Well, what do you do when you're in a polling hole, yes, you double down on attacking the poor & the vulnerable.... Jeremy Hunt & Mel Stride are portraying taking benefits as a 'lifestyle choice' that the Govt. should not support...
Have they got any idea about the world outside their Tory enclave; have they ever tried to survive on benefits; have they ever suffered ill health?
Hunt & Stride are vile, inhumane, people who care about no-one but themselves
The housing crisis is multidimensional - from renters being bankrupted by landlords, to home-owners finding owning a house is (as the saying goes) a 'money pit'.
Here are another (albeit relatively small group) that have been skewered by regulatory change & (now) high interest rates - the mortgage prisoners.
The UK's mode of residential property has so many problems, you can hardly think anyone would invent such a system... but then you look at who benefits!
meanwhile in there US, Boeing's troubles look to be about to get (even) worse.
After the two 737Max fatal crashes, the US Dept. of Justice agreed not to prosecute if it addressed the issues that had led to the engineering mistakes that causes the crashes... some saw that as letting Boeing off the hook.
Now the DoJ has decided that the agreement is off because Boeing had not honoured the 'deal'; might we now see major prosecution of Boeing?
Yes, I'm sure there will.... the Seatle establishment will be seeking to ensure that... but the Q. might be how far it goes publicly before its stamped on.... it may in the end prove fatal to Boeing, in its current form at least
Just in case you'd forgotten that the water utilities have been pumping sewage into our waterways on a regular basis, United Utilities have been found (again) pumping sewage into Windermere.
Not only that, strangely they did exactly the same thing the year before... its almost like they'd prefer to pay dividends & enhance executives' pay than actually fix the problems in their infrastructure.
Once again, the UK has the potential to be at the forefront of an innovative industry - the technologies that will foster/accelerate the move to net zero & underpin the green transition.
However, if you're familiar with the history of British technology enterprises over the last 100 years, you will (perhaps rightly) know to expect this advantage will be squandered by a lack of investment, short-termism & the preference of financial services to invest abroad.
More evidence that gender diversity is not only an issue of fairness but also an issue of efficacy.
Building on studies in other sectors that have shown diverse teams produce better results, new research into surgery show gender diverse teams in operating theatres enhance patient recovery from operations & reduce complications.
The more balanced the team, the better the result - suggesting gender parity in the (health) workplace has clear benefits!
when Brexit border checks, charges & subsequent import 'friction' met government IT procurement, the likelihood of further delays at the birder for perishable imports was always high; and so it has come to pass.
The Govt. is claiming these are teething problems, but we can assume it will only be a short time before they attempt to shift the blame to importers & freight firms claiming they were insufficiently prepared
The HoC Public Accounts Comm. has concluded the civil service lack both skills & capacity to property oversee infrastructure projects contributing both to the evident delays & budgeting problems.
Civil servants have become too reliant on outsourced expertise (consultants & the contractors) for evaluation, with the state no longer able to act as an 'intelligent client'.
The Tory attrition and politicisation of the civil service has (and is having) sigficant detrimental impact.
Another bit of Brexit related attempted policy cherry-picking comes unstuck.
The UK would like to continue to be part of the world's largest nuclear fusion experiment (based in the EU).... but the EU is now insisting that this can only continue if the UK rejoins the bloc's Euratom research scheme.
Once again the UK hopes it can knit together a bespoke research collaboration, but it seems the EU has lost patience with such 'special arrangements'.
When the UK’s deputy foreign secretary has to admit that around 40% of all money laundered globally likely flows through London & the Crown Dependencies, you can bet that such an estimate will be on the low side.
There are many reasons that the UK's global reputation is increasingly tarnished & the work in financial services to hide & process criminal/illegal funds is contributing to that malaise.
So much for the value of financial services to the UK
Team Starmer & the unions have come away from their summit today all suggesting that they have reached a deal on the New Deal for Working People, which the unions assert has seen a recommitment to its original shape & goals.
From cynics corner this looks like both sides deciding this argument can wait until after the election & for now it will pay to be seen not to be squabbling...
So, if/once labour gain power, the debate on workers rights will quickly flare up (again)
So the Migrant Advisory Committee, after a 14 week investigation has found 'no evidence' of any deliberate abuse of the international student visa scheme;
they're coming here to study.
As the FT delicately puts it:
this has 'placed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a bind, forcing him to either confront those on the Conservative right who want it scrapped, or ignore the advisory group'!
Watch this space.... which way he jumps will tell us a lot about the future of the (rump of) the Tory party