Monthly Archives: March 2009

Snout Deep in the Trough

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Here’s a map of Greater London, red marks the constituency of Harrow East, yellow marks Hammersmith and blue marks Westminster.

Greater London

The employment minister, Tony McNulty claimed £60,000 in overnight expenses for staying in Harrow East (red) when he lives in Hammersmith (yellow). These expenses are supposedly for MPs who live a considerable distance from Westminster (blue), not for the likes of McNulty – why on earth do we allow people like McNulty to become members of the Labour Party – I reckon it would be cheaper to buy up a hotel and allow MPs to stay free of charge.

Tax Cuts for the Rich

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The UK along with the rest of the world is facing its biggest financial crisis since… well it’s the biggest. Still what’s the Tories response? Abolish inheritance tax on estates worth less than £1m

Shadow business secretary Ken Clarke issued a statement saying the Tories were fully committed to raising the inheritance tax threshold in the first parliament of a Conservative government. BBC.

And that’s the only concrete tax proposal we have from the Tories if they gain office.

It was only Thursday that Cameron was talking Fiscal responsibility with a social conscience.

“Let me spell it out very clearly: yes I believe in fiscal responsibility; yes I believe we will have to take some tough decisions to tackle Labour’s debt crisis – but I also believe that fiscal responsibility needs a social conscience or it is not responsible at all.” David Cameron, The Conservative Party.

Whatever Cameron says, what we can be sure of is the Tories will be sticking to their usual policies of tax the poor and give to the rich.

Create a Climate of Fear

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This week the Metropolitan Police has launched a new anti-terrorist campaign.

Metropolitan Police Terror Poster

Metropolitan Police Terror Poster

Don’t rely on others. If you suspect it report it.

Londoners are being asked to trust their instincts and report suspicious behaviour to help combat terrorist activity.

Just one piece of information could be vital in helping disrupt terrorist planning and, in turn, save lives.

This national publicity campaign across England and Wales raises awareness of the Anti-Terrorist Hotline and gives the public examples of suspicious activity and behaviour. The public are encouraged to trust their instincts and report anything confidentially to the Anti-Terrorist Hotline, where specialist officers will take their call.

This campaign utilises London specific media: radio and press, posters at tube and rail stations. As part of the national campaign there will also be national press and national commercial radio advertising, large outdoor posters and advertising on the rears of buses. To ensure the campaign reaches minority communities, there will also be advertising in minority media press titles.

Press advertising will appear in national newspapers and on main commercial radio stations. In London, this includes the Evening Standard, Magic, Heart, Total LBC, Smooth and Capital FM.

The press ads seek to raise awareness of some of the items/activities which may be needed by, or be of use to, terrorists. It asks the public to consider whether they have seen any activity connected with them which may have made them suspicious.

Metropolitan Police Terror Poster

Metropolitan Police Terror Poster

So don’t go looking at CCTV camera’s, creosote your fence or any number of DIY projects, otherwise you could find yourself spending an uncomfortable amount of time with MI5 officers. This is madness, most police officers could not spot terrorist activity and as Watching them watching us at Liberal Conspiracy writes:

There is no evidence that any Islamic extremist or Irish terrorists or Animal Rights extremists or neo-Nazi extremists, who have exploded, or tried to explode bombs, or set off incendiary devices, have been deterred from doing so by the presence of CCTV cameras. Some may have been tracked down partially through the help of CCTV footage, after their attacks or attempted attacks, but that is not what this poster is implying.

There is no evidence that any of them who have actually had access to any explosives, have ever been caught in the act of “terrorist reconnaissance” of CCTV cameras, neither by members of the public (which is what this poster misleadingly claims), nor by regular Police street patrols, nor even by any covert surveillance of known suspects.

This will be a waste of time and money – all the campaign will achieve is a climate of fear; maybe that’s the point. The whole thing smacks of something more akin to Soviet era Russia and the KGB in which neighbour spies on neighbour.

Breadline Britain

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Life on the breadline in Hartcliffe, Bristol.

By midday on Wednesday, Louise Spencer has £6.80 left in her purse to last until Monday, which works out at £1.36 a day to pay for anything she and her two small children might need. She is confident that she will make the money stretch. It’s just a question of careful budgeting.

Frugality is an art she has already perfected. This morning she has done the weekly shop, which came in 67p cheaper than the £20 she had set aside. Providing a week’s worth of meals for three people for £6.66 a head is easy once you work out how, she says. The gas and electricity payments for the week have already been made, so she knows the children will be warm. The only thing to fear is the unexpected – a broken pushchair, a request to buy her daughter’s class photograph.

Louise, 24, doesn’t smoke, drink or take drugs and she very rarely goes out with her friends. She spends pretty much all the money she gets in benefits on her children. She rejects the suggestion that her family might be described as poor. “Oh no,” she says firmly. “We get by.” Read the rest of Amelia Gentleman’s depressing report on The Guardian’s website.

Is This Really the Justice We Want?

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Into the hands of The Guardian newspaper a whistleblower thrust a number of documents outlining the massive tax avoidance scams of Barclays Bank. What’s the response of the UK Courts? Ban their publication.

Mr Justice Blake said today that the ban would remain in place for two reasons. First, he did not accept that all confidentiality had been destroyed after the documents had become available from other sources, particularly because this had been the result of the brief period in which they had appeared on the Guardian’s website.

Second, he said that the Guardian was not entitled under the Human Rights Act to publish the complete, unexpurgated documents containing legal advice and other confidential matters. The more sensitive the data, he added, the more there is a responsibility on journalists to consider whether they are justified in publishing. Therefore, even though the subject of the way banks behave at present was important and acutely topical, he said he would maintain the ban on the Guardian publishing the documents, supplying them to others, or inciting their publication elsewhere. Sam Jones and David Leigh, The Guardian.

Is this really the justice we want? Tax avoidance should be illegal, that’s the justice we should have – tax avoidance robs every one of us – for every pound Barclays doesn’t pay we either pay more or a hospital, school or other public service spends a pound less.

The People’s Charter

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A Charter for Change

A fair economy for a fairer Britain

Progressive taxes without loopholes or tax-havens. We must own and control the main banks. Guarantee all pensions, mortgages and savings. Tie pensions and benefits to wages. Give Pensioners free transport and heating. Increase the minimum wage.

More and better jobs

Protect existing jobs. Reduce hours, not pay, to create more jobs. Make a massive investment in new jobs, particularly in green technology, for our children’s sake.

Decent homes for all

Create 3 million new publicly owned homes. Stop the repossessions. Control rents.

Save and improve our services

Energy, Telecommunications, Post, Water and Transport to be owned by all of us. Remove profit making from the NHS and schools. Support our public service staff.

For Fairness and Justice

Equality for all. Together against all racism and discrimination. Equal pay for women. End child poverty. Give young people a future. Free child and youth facilities, education and training for all. Repeal the anti-union laws to fight poverty and inequality.

A better future starts now

No more blood and money for war. Bring the troops home. No more £billions for nuclear weapons. We want massive investment for a greener, safer world. Get rid of the debt economy in Britain and cancel the debts of the poor of the planet.

Sign the charter – what have you got to lose.

Pope Invents Facts about Condoms

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HIV/Aids is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem. Pope Benedict XVI (Source: BBC).

I guess the Pope is entitled to an opinion, much as I disagree with him, however he can’t invent the facts – CONDOMS DON’T INCREASE THE RISK OF HIV/Aids – the Pope’s a bloody madman, whose words will condemn millions to death.

The Laissez Fair Economic Party’s Over

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New York Times Op-Ed columnist Thomas Friedman has been an ardent support of free-trade and globalisation, now it seems he’s realised his folly.

Let’s today step out of the normal boundaries of analysis of our economic crisis and ask a radical question: What if the crisis of 2008 represents something much more fundamental than a deep recession? What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last 50 years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall — when Mother Nature and the market both said: “No more.”

We have created a system for growth that depended on our building more and more stores to sell more and more stuff made in more and more factories in China, powered by more and more coal that would cause more and more climate change but earn China more and more dollars to buy more and more U.S. T-bills so America would have more and more money to build more and more stores and sell more and more stuff that would employ more and more Chinese…

We can’t do this anymore. Thomas Friedman, The New York Times.

No we can’t do this anymore.

Hat Tip: The nef triple crunch.