The left in Britain needs to be careful. What appears to be a huge led in the polls is not due to their success, but to the abject failure of 12 years of Tory rule. Starmer needs to get off the fence on Europe and pay. The message on energy is good and positive. We need more of that. Brexit is now being widely acknowledged as an economic disaster, and should be called out as such by the Labour Party. Greater prominence needs to be given to other Shadow Cabinet Members to move away from the infatuation with party leaders.
FIFA WORLD CUP
Many give died in building the stadiums, the regime is homophobic and misogynist. Should we boycott?
Firstly we need to be aware of the £400 billion invested by the Atari government in the uk. SevernTrent Water, to Selfridges, Claridges, the Shard, PSG, Barclays Bank, Sainsbury’s and many other companies. So whilst I am happy to boycott these we have to be realistic. Lineker and Gary Neville have been slated for commentating, maybe the fact they are doing this has raised the profile of objections to the regime. Beckham is getting £10 million to promote the tournament and therefore the Qatari government. Is there a difference? I believe so.
The government there is as bad as those in Israel and Iran. Would I be in favour of a boycott if it was in one of those? Almost certainly! I can avoid “I’m a celebrity .. blah, blah crap” but this is football!
It should never have been the go ahead in the first place. Jurgen Clop is correct.
IN IT TOGETHER
What a laugh they must have when they switch off the cameras and mikes! FTSE100 CEO get 48% pay rise. Then the tories tell us we all have to have tax rises and see out public services wither away. John Redwood was on twitter saying that a Labour proposal to take away charitable status would mean some schools going bust and more cost for the tax payer. He obviously thinks privilege should be enshrined in law for the rich. He does not state how much charitable status for these schools costs at the moment?
SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2022
Temperature today forecast to reach 18C. That is a huge concern. Trees coming into blossom, insects around (just a few).
Listening to the Trawl podcast. They make the very pertinent point that this government does not care about the British Economy, just the economy of the top 1%. The Truss ‘budget’ will cost the taxpayer £40-50 billion. £10 million of that was purely due to the announcement and the loss of confidence in the government. That confidences is creeping back slowly, The Braverman, Williamson and now Robb appointments have not gone down well with the public.
GEOGRAPHY OF MID-TERM ELECTIONS USA
Fascinating maps on BBC and Guardian. Firstly the BBC map of results look like it was a landslide for the Republicans. However on closer examination at state level there is a much different picture. It is stunning to see the urban (democrat)-rural (republican divide being shown in almost every state. I would guess this to be a similar pattern as that shown in the UK with the younger and better educated being to the left whilst older and not university educated are to the right? This may be a vast oversimplification?
POLICE AND THE FOURTH ESTATE
Police have been arresting journalists for reporting news – in the UK! I might not agree with Stop Oil tactics but arresting journalists is not the democracy I was born into.
The 4th estate is much maligned by myself. However if we leave aside the blatant bias shown by most of the MSM regarding politics and the economy, even the Daily Mail has an awareness of its duty to hold the government and its agencies to account.
Protection of the rights of journalists is paramount to the survival of democracy. Since 1990 2658 journalists have been killed “doing their jobs”. Yesterday a female journalist was arrested, searched, had DNA samples taken and was in a cell for 5 hours for doing her job. The police were either exceeding their powers or have been given too many powers. An instant apology will be needed by not only the Hertfordshire Police, but also the Home Secretary before it goes to court and costs the tax payer unnecessary expense!
MID-TERM ELECTIONS
As expected the Democrats have lost the House but the Senate is going to the wire. I am surprised the Democrats have not done worse as Joe Biden seems one of the least charismatic Presidents for a long time, and the world’s economic problems have had an impact on the American economy. So it looks like a political paralysis for the next couple of years. Trump sponsored candidates appear to have done less well than predicted – although predictably he is claiming great success. It looks likely that he would have problems in getting the Republican nomination.
PRIORITIES
The Gammons on the right waste Parliamentary time talking about migrants. Those coming across the Channel represent the equivalent of about 65 per constituency in the UK. Meanwhile in the UK millions are facing a cold hungry winter. But the narrative has moved from the important to the trivial. 12/13 years of Tory rule has left this country in dire straights.
LA NINA
For the second successive year La Niña is expected to exert an influence on the worlds climate patterns. In the UK the Environment Agency is predicting rainfall at 180% of normal in February; the dry summer may also result in drier surfaces and less infiltration than normal, thus exacerbating flood danger. If the current weather pattern persists through the next couple of months flooding would seem to be inevitable.
MIGRATION
It is not illegal to migrate, therefore there is no such thing as an illegal migrant. It may be illegal to cross borders without the correct paper work, so an illegal act has been committed. If you break the speed limit you have committed an illegal act, but you do not become an “illegal”.