Agenda 2019

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/29/universal-credit-rollout-should-be-paused-tory-mps Universal credit rollout s hould be paused, say Tory MPs Another nail in the coffin of this wretched government as Tory MP's rebel over Universal Credit roll out. As predicted, the insidious project designed and imposed by the obnoxious Iain Duncan-Smith during his time as Work and Pensions secretary, is causing hardship and misery to hundreds of thousands of people. A l etter from 12 MPs raises concerns over impact on people already receiving universal credit in trial areas, has now been sent to Work and Pensions secretary David Gauke. Delays in payment award, extended periods between payments, and inaccurate calculations are causing families and those living alone to fall into arrears with their rents, and many are finding the delays between payment of the benefit is resulting in more people being forced to resort to foodbanks to feed themselves and their f...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/27/jeremy-corbyn-promises-rent-controls-and-clampdown-on-gentrification Neoliberalism is broken and we are now the centre ground. The Labour Party Conference 2017 ended yesterday (Wednesday) with the traditional singing of the Red Flag, the anthem of Labour. After perhaps the greatest and most inspirational conference for many decades, the words of the   song emphasising the sacrifices and solidarity of the international  labour movement written by Jim Connell in 1889, were never more appropriate. Then raise the scarlet standard high,  Beneath it's folds we'll live and die Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer We'll keep the red flag flying here Leader Jeremy Corbyn delivered what many, including commentators in much of the media, regard as the best and most powerful speech yet during his time as in the post. Outlining the party's proposals for housing, public ownership of railways, power...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/27/punitive-export-tariff-placed-on-planes-made-in-northern-ireland Bombardier: US tariff puts jobs at risk The "Mad" Donald Trump seems determined to declare war on anyone who is not an American (provided that they agree with him,), or any organisation that threatens the American dominance. This time it is Bombardier where Trump has slapped a 220% tariff on aircraft built by Bombardier in Northern Ireland, putting more than 1000 British jobs at risk . Boeing went to court in America (where else?) bleating that Bombardier had received unfair, anti-competitive state support. The American court agreed (surprise, surprise) and found in favour of Boeing. Along comes Trump and slaps on the punitive levy. For those who do not know, Boeing has for many decades been practising some very dubious tactics when dealing with their aircraft production and sales in competition with non US manufactures.In this, they h...

Sky News papers previewers clash over Brexit and other things. Carole Anne Malone   is an English commentator on current affairs and an occasional   broadcaster who  spent 1 0 years at the  Sunday Mirror , and then wrote for the  News of the World  until its closure.She appears regularly on The Pledge and as last night, on Sky News Paper preview usually with Stig Able. I have written previously regarding her rude and patronising attitude,  but it seems that Sky News is determined to  retain her services. However, I am now very concerned in respect of M/s Malone's mental condition. She has on previous programmes, expressed her passionately held Pro Brexit views, but on last nights show, passion crossed the boundary and descended into frantic hysteria, hardly pausing for breath between words and shouting down interventions from both Abel and programme host Anna Botting. There has always been friction between t...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/25/hammond-raises-further-doubts-about-mays-future-as-tory-leader Philip Hammond refuses to back Theresa May as Conservative leader into the next election As predicted, the "truce" between the warring factions of the conservative cabinet and party is coming apart. What was not predicted however, was that the peace agreement would last only for a few hours after Theresa May's Florence speech, which the cabinet, the parliamentary party and the party generally were supposed to be "united behind". The (Sunday) papers, reveal a very different story. In the few short days since Friday, the usual supporters in the press have reversed their traditionally unconditional support for conservative party unity and the party leader, to expose and highlight divisions in the cabinet and open warfare within the party. A few of this mornings, (Sunday's) headlines reveal the extent of the political carnage tearing the go...

https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone. I watched Harlequins against Leicester Tigers yesterday from the Stoop (BT Sport Channel. Live transmission). A great game which  the  Tigers won by 31 points to 28 thanks to the boot of George Ford.  Cracking tries from both sides with the final result not predictable right up until the clock went red on 80 m i nutes. What was missing from the entire match however, was the spectacle of men running round in circles after scoring, avoiding the clutches of team mates, while having their shirts pulled up over their heads  and  with oustretched arms ,  imitating some kind of aeroplane (as many of us may have done when we were 5 years old.) Also absent was the sight of grown men slidding across the grass on their knees again with arms outstretched inviting the adulation of the spectators before being buried under the bodies of team mates jumping into an ever growing heap of players in some...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/22/theresa-may-asks-eu-for-two-year-brexit-transition-period Theresa May's Florence speech highlighted all of her weaknesses As Mr Davies would frequently remind boys during his Physics lectures, "Empty vessels make the most noise". In Florence yesterday, Prime Minister Theresa May demonstrated this ancient proverb to perfection with her keynote speech on Brexit. Plenty of noise but very little, if any, substance. If the British people are seeking guidance and leadership through the negotiations and though the post Brexit period and beyond, we shall have to look elsewhere than to Thersa May and this splintered government. At one point, she actually stated that membership of the European Union had "never sat particularly well with the British people". After 40 years, that is quite a remarkable comment. During what seemed like hours of her speech, full of historical snippets some of which were inaccurate in any...

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-may-unveils-brexit-speech-amid-warning-of-painful-and-costly-divorce-a3640246.html Theresa May unveils Brexit speech  How reassuring it is to learn of cabinet unity and to see all the ministers emerging from yesterdays meeting solidly behind the Prime Minister. This display of government harmony and unification, was clearly demonstrated as the assembled ministers strolled off afterwards, almost arm in arm into the sunhine flooding Downing Street.The usual suspects in todays press are unanimous in their praise for Theresa May and the way in which she has unified the government and the cabinet behind her keynote speech to be delivered later today in Florence. We may all rest comfortably and releived in the knowledge as reported, that Theresa May and her camp have united with Boris Johnson and his camp and we may now look forward to a wonderful deal with our European colleagues as we march forward behind a ...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/20/eu-fears-theresa-may-will-not-be-able-to-uphold-brexit-pledges-keir-starmer There has been no great rapprochement The life expectancy of this conservative government can be counted in months rather than years. Similarly, the expectations of Theresa May to remain as Leader of the Conservative party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom cannot last beyond next Christmas or perhaps even less. Regardless of what the usual suspects in the media may wish us to believe, there has been no great rapprochement between the waring factions in cabinet, or between Boris Johnson and Theresa May over the question of the Brexit and the stalled negotiations with the rest of the European Union on the terms of Britain's exit from the market. Ever since publication of Johnson's 4000 word article in the Daily Telegraph last Saturday (16th September), there have been numerous reports of near civil war in cabinet between those...

Donald Trump speaking at the UN I have just listend to the whole of Donald Trump's address to the United Nations. Long and rambling, the "speech" seemed to last for hours and covered the usual "America does not wish to impose its values or way of life on other nations" and "America will do what ever is necessary to defeat the evil regimes of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria,the Iranian dictatorship, Terrorism, Al Qaeda" etc etc. Trump also stated that America will totally destroy North Korea. If he was expecting standing ovations every few minutes, he was sadly dissappointed.Only the occasional ripple of applause broke what was a very quiet Assembly Hall. However, what became very apparent by the end of his oration was that not only is Trump a racist, a misogynist and a hypocritical war monger, he is also a very dangerous hypocrite and war monger. The American people have elected a megalomaniac to the position of most powerful m...

https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone . I  have tried, but  Jenna Coleman   and  Tom Hughes  are just not credible as the characters they are supposed to be portraying. She is by far too pretty, pleasant and "nice" to be acceptable as  the woman who was  Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and later became Empress of India. He on the other hand wanders around the (not very convincing) sets gruffly mumbling in a (not very convincing) German accent , looking puzzled rather than a man seeking to be master in his own home. Compare these two performances with those of Robert Hardy and Annette Crosbie portraying the same characters in the brilliant television series "Edward the Seventh" from a few years past. I refer of course to "Victoria", the second series of which is now on every Sunday  evening . I wonder if this serial will run right through  events ending in January 1901? If so, they need...