Category: Geography

To lose a 16000 majority, bad, but to have the LibDem majority of over 8000 is worse. Labour cannot be happy with 622 votes either. LibDems are traditionally good in bye-elections. Personally I am surprised that 13489 people still voted for the nasty party.

So analysis – Nasty Party will ignore it as a blip, but are we seeing a shift win the geography of politics in the UK. The so-called red wall of labour voting working class northerners has fallen. Now is it the turn of the blue middle class south to show that they cannot be taken for granted. HS2 may have been a major factor, but this swing is just 4 weeks after the local election went solid tory. Maybe the basic philosophy of the people is still conservative with a small c, whilst they are dismayed at the incompetence and cronyism at Westminster. Toughing out criticism of mistakes wears thin when it becomes a habit.

As for Labour – embarrassment of the highest order. Johnson seems to have managed to convince the electorate that Starmer is just a whinger with no policies. Which is probably near the truth. Whist there has been much to whinge about it has been to long with no agenda. I believe the electorate was winnable with Corbyn’s policies, it was just that he could project himself as the person to deliver them. Starmer offers nothing.

The LibDems obviously did a lot of things right. Now they have the challenge, like Labour, of coming up with a coherent policy that the electorate in full will get behind. I am not sure they have the best leader (Sir Ed Davey is it? If you had asked me yesterday I could not have named him). I just read (Saturday) that the LD’s put a lot of emphasis on the Governments planning policy changes – basically I think the people of South-East England may have become disenchanted with the number of houses being built in the countryside.

Greens should also be disappointed – 1480 votes is a bit pathetic for a party with intentions of influencing nationally.

Well done to whoever is going for government tw@t of the week. A trade deal with a country just about as far away as possible – Can we introduce a green tax on unnecessary journeys. 13500 miles between Sydney and London (approx) – seems like a huge carbon imprint on our commitment to reduce CO2 emissions. The government have repeatedly stated that they will not reduce environmental and animal husbandry levels for imports. So can someone tell me how an animal in Australia grown for slaughter can be cheaper than a similar animal in the UK. I fully understand how Scandinavian countries developed style and quality to compete in the world market. So will Australia be coming up with innovative new products, or just undercutting the British market. I heard some twat say that the deal would be good for the UK consumer. We know that economics is not a science but an art subject where the rules can be changed if you do not like them. So cheaper might mean more global warming, greater animal suffering, impacts on rural communities across the UK, and all for the vanity of two desperately needy politicians (Johnson and Morrison). Be honest – unless you want a genuine boomerang there is not much that we need from down under. OK – minerals which I think are not included in the deal (the industrial giants are bigger than the governments?.

Having spouted lies throughout I guess they thought they could just write the rules themselves. Sign the best deal, and then expect it to be altered at their whim and fancy.

Unfortunately they do not suffer like the people of Northern Ireland who are being driven back into the chasm. G7 is not designed to make decisions, just to develop friendships and lines of comnunication. Biden is therefore going be followed by Johnson like a bad smell! My friends in Europe want nothing to do with the duplicitous twerp, and Trudeau will not want to upset Biden.

Could be interesting. Biden does not seem to want to hang about – so Northern Ireland will possibly be explosive. Diplomats like to prevaricate, but Biden seems to want some action. Trade deals are imperative for the Johnson crew, so threats to that could make interesting reading. Johnson seems to want to keep tax issues as distant as possible whilst Biden has said he wants to increase them (Bezos, Buffet, Musk and 22 other very rich, paid just 3.4% tax over the last 5 years). I am not sure Israel will come up for discussion – but again could be interesting. Will the USA exert a greater influence over proceedings now that Trumps shadow is receding.

Lots of potentially huge stories. Cabinet Office found guilty of concealing the work of one of its elements in obstruction Freedom of Information requests. NHS is to delay sharing patient data. Huge outage affects internet yesterday.

Covid remains dominant in the news, cases up, hospitalisation and death down. Now, more than ever we need clear and firm leadership. To the lay person like myself, it would seem that there is no real reason to carry on with restrictions. However even I can see some warning signs. Cases in North Somerset have doubled in the last week. One jab is only 50% effective. Some restrictions would seem sensible – social distancing where ever possible, mask wearing in crowded indoor areas. Vaccine passports are being used at Wembley for the Croatia game.

Meanwhile the NHS is 35000 nurses short and is recruiting poorly qualified people. And in Cornwall the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro is clearing wards in preparation for the influx of tens of thousands for the G7 conference. People have also even been warned to avoid calling 999.

Cicada – this year is the cycle of the 17 year cicada. Millions will come out, mate and die leaving their 500 eggs to hatch and then burrow into the ground for a 17 year wait.

Siri says it might rain this afternoon. I hope so – the water butts need filling!

My “Pardon the weeds – we’re feeding the bees” sign is on its way! I hope the pots follow soon, as I have at least 12 mints and herbs to repot.

The government panders to the small minded and ignorant – again.

The cut is 0.2% of our national budget (GDP). It is not a matter of spending it on poverty in the UK, the government has already choses not to do this. Money spent on aid benefits us in many ways, economically and politically via trade deals. The moral argument is obviously wasted on the selfish bit of the British Public (which unfortunately is rather large). As proof of this statement I would refer to the litter dropped on our beaches, parks and roadsides. The government should not be pandering to this numbskull element of society, but trying to educate them. Bigots should not be a core element for any political party in a democratic society.

G7 agree new tax laws on major TNC’s in this BBC story. Can they stick to it? It will probably need G20 approval before adoption. I think I am correct in stating that Ireland will lose out in a major way? UK has already watered down the % from 21% to 15%. And the Sunday Express headlines that this is all UK governments doing (Biden might disagree!).