School Meals in the Lords

Children’s school meals Debate in the House of Lords  27/03/23 https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2023-03-27/debates/EAB74562-AB3E-4799-95CE-49E7A40FAD65/Children’s SchoolMeals Question  Asked by Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe  To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review and revise the children’s school meal regulations to reduce the levels of processed sugar and to provide incentives to encourage the use of alternatives such as stevia. … Continue reading School Meals in the Lords

Blue Labour

BLUE LABOUR - STRONG ON THEORY, WEAK IN PRACTICE REVIEW: Maurice Glasman: Blue Labour - the Politics of the Common Good, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2022. Peter Brooke HOPEFUL BEGINNINGS Back in 2011 it looked as if Maurice Glasman could become highly influential in the Labour Party. Ed Miliband had become leader in 2010 and, casting around … Continue reading Blue Labour

Fiscal Rules – A Scam To Justify Austerity — Editorial

Early in his Autumn Statement to Parliament on 17th November, the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, announced two new fiscal rules: “…I also confirm two new fiscal rules. The first is that underlying debt must fall as a percentage of GDP by the fifth year of a rolling five-year period. The second is that public sector borrowing over … Continue reading Fiscal Rules – A Scam To Justify Austerity — Editorial

The Non-Existent UK Fiscal Black Hole— Editorial 2

The story we are being told about UK government finances by virtually every main stream media (MSM) commentator goes something like this. The government wants to spend more than it is raising in taxes.  This means that it will have to borrow from the private sector.  The private sector may choose not to lend to the government.  In … Continue reading The Non-Existent UK Fiscal Black Hole— Editorial 2

The Budget Debate

Discussion of the Budget in Parliament https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-11-17/debates/97DB3122-0068-46CD-B026-F757C8DF39AF/details#contribution-7F63EF1C-81E2-485B-8F3E-D9C47C284CB5 The main issue arising from the budget is the one outlined in the editorial: the anti-working class new fiscal rules that limit public spending and favour the private sector.  Only one MP refers to this (see below) and he’s not Labour.  The other worrying factor is Hunt’s professed admiration for … Continue reading The Budget Debate

Trauma Zone

Trauma Zone—Russia 1985-1999 Catherine Dunlop Comments on a Documentary by Adam Curtis, shown directly on BBC iPlayer, 13th October 2022 This is a documentary about Britain’s current Enemy, Russia,  made in the form of a collage of clips from suitably ugly and doom-laden old films.  Yet what strikes the viewer is the sight of Bush, then Clinton, then … Continue reading Trauma Zone