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!
@ChrisMayLA6 We should “Section 21” those in power who make these decisions. Strip them of their wealth and let them suffer. It’s only fair. Maybe then they’ll manage to find some empathy (or in the case of people like Hunt they won’t but we’d get joy out of seeing them suffer. So it’s for the greater good)
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!
The fucking government made it a crime to say the words "climate change" in court, as a defence.
How the fuck is that justice? The tories have turned the UK into a fucking fascist shit hole, We are literally swimming in our own shit.
The fucking corrupt #ukgov tories should be in jail, not the protestors.
We need revolution to smash this tory establishment
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?
@ChrisMayLA6 The article is a a mix of wishful thinking and sloppy analysis. The elephant in the room - FPTP, will never be addressed and I can not believe Whitehall will enable English devolution in any meaningful way.
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?
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!