Covid has probably done its worst now. I feel marginally better this morning than I have the last few days.
Like my previous experiences, this has not been fun. Most of what is left as the holiday period draws to a close is a feeling of total fatigue, which is not good. So, please forgive me if I take the last days of the year off posting here (always subject to the caveat that I might change my mind). I think I need to do so to be ready for 2024.
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Having seen the new year (dis)honours list I think that your are wise to take a long deep breath indeed!
Shocking – and totally disconnected from reality.
Indeed
But at least Mark Littlewood was not given a peerage
There is a price to pay for not revealing your funding
Indeed PSR, what a corrupt system. The grotesque unelected Truss appointing a bunch of political cronies, party donors and Leave liars like Matthew Elliott to well remunerated positions in the Lords is proof of how rotten Westminster is.
I see the “government” claimed that putting this list out on the same day as the New Years honours list (which does have some very worthy recipients on it) was not an attempt to hide it from scrutiny. Another lie then from Sunak.
Who wouldn’t want to disconnect from this disgusting rubbish as Richard noted in another recent blog post?
The case for abolishing the honours system in its current form and abolishing or at least massively reforming the House of Lords is just overwhelming. It’s like they are setting out to undermine its credibility. There are great people there who bring wisdom and expertise and work hard to challenge the rubbish that is passed to them by the Commons, but they are swamped by the charlatans and plain crooks who just bring the whole place into disrepute.
Agreed
A system of public honours is debatable but the practice of retiring Prime Ministers granting peerages and other ‘gongs’ to donors, mates and political campaigners-I am completely against.
It is also time we discontinued the Order of the British Empire as system of reward.
The Empire itself has a mixed history like most but it ceased to exist in any meaningful sense in the early 1960s. The Govt, saw the writing on the wall after the Suez fiasco and started talks with local leaders and withdrew relatively peacefully ( Aden apart) n the next ten years.
According to Wikipedia, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) gets funding from:
British American Tobacco
Japan Tobacco International
Imperial Tobacco
Phillip Morris
No wonder Littlewood is such a toxic influencer and should be shunned.
I am surprised Michael Evis succumbed to Tory patronage to receive their honour, I always thought that the Glastonbury Festival was a promoter of progressive causes.
And the winner of the Giant Raspberry of the Year Award for 2023 is the Daily Telegraph, for today’s headline “No10 plan to expose Labour debt risks”. This from the No10 that increased the national debt from £2.5Trn in thirteen years; even with the assault of thirteen years of Conservative Austerity, and a broken UK economy; a record double-whammy in our history.
The Daily Telegraph wins this award outright, replacing the Daily Star as the newspaper in which the reader is least likely to feel confident they will find any facts.
“from £2.5Trn”
And I had checked it. It disappeared, like the money! I blame the system ….
There is something wrong when I write £2.5Trn. If it happens again, it isn’t me …..
It seems to be working ok for me John
Tere is a problem with ‘less than’ or ‘more than’ symbols. For once, it isn’t me…..
This was what I was trying to get over to a member of my family who works in banking and has homes abroad at dinner last night – the bare faced lying going on about debt and money put forth by the media, Tufton Street ‘think tanks’ and the economics courses of too many universities – the unholy trinity of mendacity that we get 24hrs a day, 7 days week.
A possibly contrarian thought for the New Year.
Whatever else one thinks of Starmer, the turnaround in Labour’s fortunes is astonishing and it cannot be all attributed to Conservative failings. The Tory dominated press has continued to be hostile, much as it was to Corbyn. Just being apathetic and not voting might let the Tories back in, or leave a Labour government with a majority too small to do anything radical.
So what do people see as Starmer’s and Labour’s strengths? Even if that’s through gritted teeth! As is so often said, the Left is far better at attacking its own than attacking its real opponents. Looking for traitors rather than converts. Assuming people really do want to see the back of the Tories, then that means voting Labour or tactically. SNP preferences in Scotland fully respected though it’s going to be a bit tougher than before after recent events.
Where there are areas of disappointment, to put it very politely, how might they be addressed positively, without undermining and doing the Tories job for them?
Robin
I wish I could see any strengths in Labour
I am struggling to think of one
Richard
I get that. But clearly many feel relatively positive about Starmer given the massive lead in the polls. So maybe worth recognising what people like, and then focus on a few key shortfalls. Easier to persuade people to change if one acknowledges some positives.
On a different front, lunching with family friends one of whom is a seniorish civil servant, dealing with ministers. She was saying just how rude and arrogant they are and that is their reputation across departments. What we hear about bullying is just the tip of an iceberg.
Robin Stafford wrote “SNP preferences in Scotland fully respected though it’s going to be a bit tougher than before after recent events”. I think it will be a bit tougher for the SNP, but it’s important not to interpret Scottish politics through a Westminster prism, which is what the mainstream media do consistently. The SNP is currently going through a major reconstruction as an older, more experienced generation departs to be replaced by younger colleagues who don’t yet have similar breadth of experience. The public’s lack of familiarity with these new faces may have some minor impact on voting, but we always have to bear in mind the enduring support for independence seen in numerous polls over many years.
The important fact that gets largely ignored by London-centric media is that support for Independence consistently runs at around 50% and these voters are highly unlikely to switch allegiance to Labour, Tory, Libdem, or especially Reform, which are all committed to preserving the Union. In Scotland Independence is the crucial aim of half the electorate and if/when that is attained there will be elections in due course which will focus on Scottish party politics. Another thing to consider is that Westminster politicians and UK mainstream media consistently lie shamelessly about political matters in Scotland without being called out. Listen to Penny Mordaunt’s rancid, evidence-free rants about conditions in Scotland and you would never guess that the Scottish Government’s progressive policies have mitigated numerous egregious policy decisions of the Tory Gov’t which penalise those most affected and least able to cope. This constant bombardment in press, radio, TV and online gives the impression of a backward country with a repressive government and is unrecognisable to at least 50% of Scots.
Fear not, it’s not just a Westminster view from here. One side of my family was from Sutherland, I grew up in the Borders, and Ive close friends in Skye and Shetland. From there, Edinburgh can at times feel as remote as Westminster. As they say in Shetland, Bergen is closer! Historically they were old fashioned liberals in the far North and West, but Brexit I’m sure was a last straw for many people as they shifted to SNP. Meanwhile the Borders have stayed worryingly Blue.
I’d be surprised if SNP do not retain their majority but there will be some shifts. With luck they will get some of those Border seats back from the Tories to compensate for what they might lose.
I wasn’t having a dig at you Robin and I apologise if that’s how you read it. I was only trying to stress to English readers of this blog not to be taken in by the never-ending avalanche of negativity in the UK MSM about Scotland and its politics. We’re exposed to it up here too, but at least have the counter-balance of seeing the reality of Scottish Gov’t’s mitigations in daily life. There’s also a useful blogsite – Talking Scotland Up (run by a
retired professor who is meticulous in citing source materials) – dedicated to exposing MSM inaccuracies and misrepresentations which helps keep us sane, as indeed does Richard’s blog.
No problem Ken. Reporting on Scotland is as you say pretty sketchy, and understanding of history even more so. Mind you that applies to many Scots as well!