Kwasi Kwarteng’s Budget Adventure. Dave Gardner Did the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwarteng mention the need for extra borrowing when he presented his tax cutting plans to the House of Commons on 23 September? The answer is NO he didn't - although opposition speakers (including Rachel Reeves) did assert that substantial extra borrowing would … Continue reading The Kwarteng Budget
The markets and speculation: the case of LNG trading Eamon Dyas More than 35 vessels laden with LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) were drifting around the Mediterranean in October. The explanation I read was the limited landing slots in Spain. I suspect the reason is a combination of inadequate landing facilities and shippers taking advantage of this … Continue reading LNG Tankers and Speculation
Labour on Ukraine in Parliament Parliament Notes Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard, replying to a statement on Ukraine from Ben Wallace in Parliament 20 October 2022. This is just a sample, to show that Labour and Conservative speak with one voice on Ukraine. On that particular day, both congratulate themselves on the British ability … Continue reading Labour on Ukraine
Mick Lynch In His Own Words Mick Lynch at the House of Commons Transport Select Committee, 12 October 2022 Transport CommitteeOral evidence: Travel Disruption Wednesday 12 October 2022Ordered by the House of Commons to be published on 12 October 2022. Watch the meeting Members present: Huw Merriman (Chair); Mr Ben Bradshaw; Ruth Cadbury; Robert Largan; Karl McCartney; … Continue reading Mick Lynch in His Own Words
Italy, Greece and Ukraine Italy and Greece, support for the Ukraine war, the least enthusiastic in Europe YouGov-Cambridge has published the results of a survey of international opinion regarding the Ukraine war. https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/0ma5boayqk/Globalism%202022%20-%20The%20info%20war%20for%20Ukraine%20-%20All%20markets.pdf Looking at the table of results (all on one page, magnifying glass required) Greece, Italy and Spain to a lesser extent give … Continue reading Italy, Greece and Ukraine
The Trade Union Movement and the Arms Trade at the TUC Conference In 2017 the TUC passed a motion calling for the diversification of the arms industry. In 2022 the TUC annual conference debated a motion to reverse this stand, in view of the war in Ukraine and the new possibilities for military contracts from the … Continue reading The Labour Movement and the Arms Trade
Kwasi Kwarteng is clearly a believer in animal spirits, or more specifically, the animal spirits of the UK private sector. The term ‘animal spirits’ was used by the economist J. M. Keynes to describe the spontaneous forces of vitality that drive human action. Apparently these animal spirits have been held back by too much taxing and … Continue reading Animal Spirits, Taxing and Borrowing — Editorial
The Labour Conference and the Party under Blair and Starmer By Eamon Dyas What can we take from the Labour Party Conference at Liverpool? Keir Starmer acknowledged the importance of trade unions several times in the course of his speech and he indicated that he understood the relevance of proper training schemes and apprenticeships for … Continue reading Labour under Blair and Starmer
by Pete Whitelegg With the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979 most of the state-owned industries were privatised including many of the businesses operating within the umbrella of British Railways. Sealink Ferries and British Transport Hotels were sold by 1984. Travellers Fare catering by 1988 and British Rail Engineering (train building) by 1989. But it … Continue reading The Cost of Rail Privatisation
Eamon Dyas An aspect of Gorbachev’s disastrous arrangement with NATO on German reunification was the implications it went on to have for the borders between Russia and its post-Soviet neighbouring countries. However the continuing existence of that border arrangement would not have been so problematic had the US honoured the unwritten agreement with Gorbachev not … Continue reading Ukraine’s Borders
By Gwydion M. Williams Trickle-Down – a Swindle Who Needs the Multi-millionaires? The World Shanghaied? Russo-Ukrainians Forbidden Democracy? Sweden and Italy, Overstrained Communities Italy, Also Overstrained Two Nice People, Unfit For Their Jobs Snippets More Tory Failures Turkish Inequality Trickle-Down – a Swindle President Biden recently denounced Trickle-Down.[A] Then Liz Truss affirmed the idea: tax cutting … Continue reading Notes on the News
Price of electricity in France and England By Froggy I wanted to find out why my electricity bill here in England is so much higher than that of my relatives in France. Take for example my bill for period ending 31 May 2022: it charges me 29.332p/kWh (= 0.3 euro); my sister’s bill charges her for … Continue reading Electricity in France and the UK
Unleash the animal spirits! The Truss Kwarteng philosophy By Feargus O Raghallaigh It seems to me that many people do not quite get what Truss and Kwarteng are up to, which is attempting to give political and policy expression in government and in power to a religious belief or a religio-economic belief in effect. The core of this … Continue reading Animal Spirits
HOGS Old Mother Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng cleared the cupboard with hardly a pang while dog Britain has to boil bones for soup as those very rich let out a great whoop. Soon it's war for breakfast lunch and dinner juggling H-bombs makes you a lot thinner. Now this tail can hardly wag the dog. … Continue reading Hogs
Debate on Energy 8 September 2022, House of Commons https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-09-08/debates/6911DA71-90B4-466D-8B51-DF427AB29B53/UKEnergyCosts The Prime Minister Liz Truss started the Debate by laying out the measures taken to help households and businesses to bear the cost of risen electricity bills. She then said the aim was to make Britain more self sufficient in energy, in particular by building small … Continue reading The Energy Debate —Parliament Notes
Text of the mini-budget by Kwasi Kwarteng, called ‘The Growth Plan’ in Hansard, which caused great excitement as well as a drop in the value of the pound, and is already being watered down. See editorial for comment. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-growth-plan-2022-speech Mr Speaker, Let me start directly with the issue most worrying the British people – the cost … Continue reading The Mini-Budget — Parliament Notes
Editorial 1 There is a substantial difference between gas supply and gas demand in Europe. The shortage in supply is not due to any physical shortage of gas as a natural resource but rather because European countries have decided to support attempts of the United States to weaken Russia by imposing sanctions on the import of … Continue reading Gas Must Be Rationed—But Not By Price
Editorial 2 Boris Johnson told the British public on 24th August that they must make significant sacrifices of their living standards to protect the freedom of the Ukrainian people. If this means high fuel bills, freezing or going hungry then so be it. Labour Affairs and others have already exposed the lies that underpin this rhetoric and we … Continue reading Freezing for Zelensky
Labour Affairs 