I am not quite sure where the Almighty stands on the mechanics of proportional representation or qualified majority voting in Brussels. Nor, having read both the Bible and the Quran from cover to cover, am I clear as to divine opinion on the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Given that the job of any the [...]
Posts under ‘Conservatives’
As Hester still gets £6m bonuses, the utterly destitute lose Social Fund
Feb 1st, 2012 by Michael Meacher.There are two different universes at Westminster, completely disconnected. One is about Hester who has sacked thousands and still presides over RBS languishing at a share price only half of what taxpayers paid for in the bailout, but who has already on top of his £550,000 salary (£10,575 a week) gained £11m in bonuses and [...]
Minus 0.2 percent! Cameron can run but he can’t hide
Jan 27th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.Cameron’s seeking to explain away yesterday that the national economy was now shrinking by 0.2% in the last quarter of 2011 won’t wash. He blamed high inflation, Labour ‘mismanagement’ and the eurozone problems. High inflation is irrelevant to a contraction of national output which is clearly down to lack of demand because of squeezed incomes. [...]
Lobbyists can still sleep soundly
Jan 22nd, 2012 by Michael Meacher.The Cameron technique becomes clearer by the day: Pick up a problem that is causing public anger, make an instant speech declaring himself fully on-side, and then hit it with a wet flannel. Bankers crash the economy and spark a slump – set up a Commission years later, then endorse its conclusions that are too [...]
Full steam ahead with a commercialised public services Britain
Jan 20th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.There could not be a clearer signal that the ultimate goal of this Tory government (forget the Coalition myth) is the full-scale commercialisation of all Britain’s public services than the latest plan to bring in the credit-rating agencies to monitor and control NHS hospitals. This is taking the country back to pre-1948 when finance, not [...]
David Cameron: the master of cynical propaganda
Jan 16th, 2012 by Owen Jones.When David Cameron tires of this prime minister lark (don’t feel you have to take your time, Dave), he should write a self-help book for aspiring rightwing politicians. It could be titled I Got Away With It – And Here’s How You Can Too. I can think of some of the promo lines: “Are you [...]
Disabled people take the front line
Jan 14th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.All power to the Lords, led by the Baronesses Lister and Hollis! They orchestrated a well-deserved defeat for the Government on three fronts yesterday. They blocked the means-testing of ESA payments for disable people after one year, the time-limiting of ESA for cancer patients, and the restriction of access to ESA for disabled or ill young [...]
The Iron Lady
Jan 12th, 2012 by Andy Newman.Last Friday night, I was down in Torquay drinking with trade union colleagues going to the next day’s Regional Council of the TUC, and I was surprised that many people were opposed to seeing the Iron Lady on principle. I had already agreed to see it to take part in a chat about the film [...]
Thatcher’s funeral: you mourn if you want to
Dec 23rd, 2011 by David Osler.Perhaps the most inane remark ever uttered by any leading New Labour figure - invidious though it is to select just one, of course – is Peter Mandelson’s vapid contention that ‘we are all Thatcherites now’. Some of us never were, and never will be. Bookmarks Hide Sites
The age of consensus is over. And I fear things are about to turn ugly
Dec 19th, 2011 by Owen Jones.Watching the trailer for The Iron Lady, the forthcoming biopic of Margaret Thatcher, I shuddered. All the indications are that her adoring fans will have much to be pleased about: the film apparently champions their image of a determined leader battling against the odds, vindicated by events and toppled by the treachery of lesser beings. [...]
