Austerity isn’t working. The disastrous Tory economic experiment has left the economy stagnating, household incomes falling at their fastest rate in decades and unemployment soaring towards three million. Even by the criteria the government has set itself, that of reducing the deficit, it is failing. The Tories are set to borrow £158 billion more than [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Ireland’
Sinn Féin are leading Irish opposition party
Feb 27th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.An opinion poll for the Sunday Times Irish edition puts Sinn Féin in second place in Iirish politics, making it the leading opposition party. Fianna Fáil’s 70-year dominance of Irish politics came to an end at last year’s February general election when both Fine Gael and Labour got their best ever results and formed the government. [...]
Austerity is not working
Jan 15th, 2012 by Gerry Adams.It seems like every time you turn on the news or open a newspaper there is a new crisis in the Eurozone. Last Friday’ decision by the credit rating agency Standard and Poor (an ironic name for such a body in the current context) downgraded France’s AAA credit rating. It also lowered that of 8 [...]
The odds for the euro are shortening in 2012
Dec 23rd, 2011 by Michael Meacher.The take-up by the eurozone banks of €489bn from the European Central Bank (ECB) ought to be good news as a sign that the ECB is now at last, having refused to do so in 2011, ensuring eurozone banks can fund themselves adequately next year. The ECB believes they will need €720bn of loans in [...]
George Osborne shows he’s learnt nothing from Greece or Ireland
Dec 5th, 2011 by Michael Burke.The Autumn Statement was widely presented as facing up to harsh realities of slower growth, but with George Osborne offering a series of cunning schemes in order to resolve the crisis. And yet, the stagnation of the British economy is a function of government policy, and plans to increase investment by increasing the credit available to smaller firms [...]
There is an alternative (in Ireland too)
Nov 24th, 2011 by Gerry Adams.Since it came to power last February the Fine Gael/Labour government has blamed every bad decision, every u-turn in pre-election promises on the last government. Everything is Fianna Fáil’s fault. It is a fact that the current economic mess in the south is primarily a result of the bad policies of the last coalition government, [...]
The relation of profits and ‘austerity’
Oct 27th, 2011 by Michael Burke.In what may be an important development the Financial Times reports that, in return for accepting much larger ‘haircuts’ (imposed losses on the value of the bonds they own) bondholders are demanding that there must be a growth strategy for Greece. In a piece headlined ‘Bondholders Demand Greek Growth Plan’ the paper quotes the Managing Director and chief [...]
Poll shows Sinn Féin as second party
Oct 7th, 2011 by Andy Newman.Sinn Féin is now the second most popular party in the Republic, according to the latest Irish Times /Ipsos MRBI poll. Sinn Féin is narrowly ahead of the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil, with the party attracting almost the same support as Mr McGuinness. When people were asked who they would vote for if a general election were [...]
OrangeFest 2011: it’s still about hating Taigs
Jul 12th, 2011 by David Osler.Suppose the Afrikaner Weerstandbeweging decided to organise a comeback gig in the shape of a white supremacist rally in Soweto. Naturally, the South African government would be concerned about the potential for public disorder. So would the best solution be to market the event as a touchy-feely, all-inclusive, fun day out for all the family? [...]
Labour must oppose the Greek “bail-out” and support the dismantling of the Euro
Jun 22nd, 2011 by Jon Lansman.Opinion within Labour appears to be moving on the Greek “bail-out”. First, Ed Balls contemplates working with eurosceptic Tory MPs to oppose the use of British cash to fund the bail-out. Not quite principled opposition to the bail-out itself, and not surprising therefore that he was accused of opportunism. Then this week Jack Straw, always [...]
