Parliament Notes QE, or printing money, is capitalism’s cunning plan to overcome economic and financial crises. In the massive economic crisis of the 1930s, the US state financed public works with money it hadn’t ‘earned’ from taxes. The economies of the US and Europe have practised it since to avoid the worst disasters of the 2007/8 financial … Continue reading Quantitative Easing, or “How will you pay for it?’
Notes on the News
By Gwydion M. Williams Never Mind the Football: Feel the Money Prince Phillip: Old Man Dead and Missed By Few Autonomy: Britain’s Variable Moral Absolutes Genocide: More Variable Moral Absolutes Snippets Last Exit From Afghanistan New Right Covid-19 Blight Never Mind the Football: Feel the Money[1] I was never much of a football fan. My father … Continue reading Notes on the News
Welsh Labour Party Election Manifesto May 2021
This is an extract from the Welsh Labour Party’s Manifesto for the forthcoming Senedd Elections. The extract concerns vocational education and the labour market, issue that Labour Affairs covers in some detail. In contrast to the policy vacuum that the national labour party seems happy to tolerate, Welsh Labour are focusing on issues of interest … Continue reading Welsh Labour Party Election Manifesto May 2021
Putin’s Reply to Biden
Putin’s reply to Biden calling him a killer, on Russian television, 18 March 2021 Putin To Biden: Despite All Attempts To Stop Russia's Development, They Will Have To Reckon With Us! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO6ptqMSVzU The Western media reported half of this reply; read the complete transcript here. ‘As for the statement of my American colleague, we really, … Continue reading Putin’s Reply to Biden
Industrial Democracy 2021
Labour Affairs is not a lone supporter of industrial democracy or alone in remembering the Bullock Report. Here is another writer, from the former Lucas plant, and, below, writers from the Institute for Employment Rights. "The Labour Governments policy not to extend democracy into the workplace was taken at the time when workers started to take … Continue reading Industrial Democracy 2021
National Debt is an Irrelevant Statistic – Editorial
National Debt is an Irrelevant Statistic - Editorial The unifying framework of Sunak’s budget is that the size of the national debt is a critical concern. Hence, he has done the minimum possible to get the country through the next 6 months while sending a clear signal that there will be a return to austerity and increased unemployment … Continue reading National Debt is an Irrelevant Statistic – Editorial
Labour and the Housing Crisis
Labour and the Housing Crisis by Eamon Dyas On 22 March 2021 the Guardian reported that in four London boroughs 40% of the households residing in those boroughs were in receipt of housing benefits. In other words, close to half of the households are currently having to get help from the authorities to cover the basic costs … Continue reading Labour and the Housing Crisis
Hancock’s NHS Reforms
Hancock’s NHS Reforms Pete Whitelegg On the 11th of February Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced wide ranging reforms to the current structure of the NHS. In the House of Commons Hancock said: “At its heart, this white paper enables greater integration, reduces bureaucracy and supports the way that the NHS and social care work when they work … Continue reading Hancock’s NHS Reforms
What Am I Going to Do Next? Part 4: Colleges of Further Education.
What Am I Going to Do Next? Part 4: Colleges of Further Education. Dave Gardner What are FE colleges? This month I am going to look more closely at the infrastructure for vocational education and training in England and Wales to see how fit it is to tackle youth unemployment. I will then consider how … Continue reading What Am I Going to Do Next? Part 4: Colleges of Further Education.
Ernest Bevin: Labour’s Churchill by Andrew Adonis
Ernest Bevin: Labour’s Churchill by Andrew Adonis A review by Brendan Clifford Lord Adonis, who was a Junior Minister in the Blair Government, has written a book about Ernest Bevin. Bevin was an organiser of working class power. Blair's great object was to dissolve working class power in order to free the Labour Party from it. The Labour … Continue reading Ernest Bevin: Labour’s Churchill by Andrew Adonis
Ernest Bevin’s speech to the House of Commons, 21 June 1944.
Bevin’s speech to the House of Commons, 21 June 1944. [This is the speech that Ed Miliband refers to in his rejection of the March budget, see Parliament Notes. It lays down full employment as a priority: “In laying down that it is the primary responsibility of the Government to maintain a high and stable level … Continue reading Ernest Bevin’s speech to the House of Commons, 21 June 1944.
ALL CHANGE
Listening to Italy by Orecchiette ALL CHANGE Mario Draghi became Prime Minister of Italy on 13 February following the resignation of Giuseppe Conte. Conte had served two Prime Ministerial terms. He was nominated by President Sergio Mattarella and given a parliamentary vote of confirmation, but he has never held an elected post. He had a … Continue reading ALL CHANGE
Diary of a Corbyn Foot Soldier
Diary of a Corbyn foot soldier (April, 2021) Dictionary definition of a foot soldier: “…a dedicated low level follower” Content: “The weaponisation of Suspension in the Labour Party.” (1)“The weaponisation of suspension” (2) “ACAS guidelines on Suspensions compared to Labour Rules and Procedures” (3) “And these are the people who are going to change the … Continue reading Diary of a Corbyn Foot Soldier
Notes on the News
Notes on the News By Gwydion M. Williams The Covid Olympics Brexit – English Self-Harm Cotton Wars Abnormal is the New Normal The West Buggers Up The ‘Third World’ Snippets ‘Wide Boys’ of the Suez Canal Good Trends Unwelcoming Anglos Czechs Imperfect Greed Good for Medicine? Mending Rather Than Ending The Covid Olympics I was … Continue reading Notes on the News
Parliament Notes – Budget Debate 9 March 2021
Parliament Notes - Budget Debate 9 March 2021 [This is Ed Miliband’s speech against the budget. His standpoint is Ernest Bevin’s speech in 1944 advocating full employment; this is the ‘Bevin test’. “We cannot build private sector success on the back of public sector austerity. The cuts of the last decade have made local services worse, … Continue reading Parliament Notes – Budget Debate 9 March 2021
Editorial – Budget Battle Lines
Editorial Budget Battle Lines The next UK budget is on 3rd March. We don’t know what position Sunak will take on the hugely increased fiscal deficit. Will he return to austerity policies quickly or defer for a year? Certainly the Labour Party response to Sunak’s budget will be an opportunity to clearly separate Labour from the Conservatives. There have … Continue reading Editorial – Budget Battle Lines
What am I going to do next? Part 3
What am I going to do next: part 3? Youth Unemployment and the White Paper on Skills for Jobs Dave Gardner I’m interrupting the plan I had for this series of articles on youth unemployment to look at the just-published White Paper ‘Skills for Jobs: Lifelong learning for Opportunity and Growth’, which is both topical … Continue reading What am I going to do next? Part 3
The Tory Party and the Labour Movement 1891
The Tory Party and the Labour Movement Randolph Churchill Paddington Speech 1891 Eamon Dyas Lord Randolph Churchill wasn’t advocating a Tory initiative of pro-labour policies. At this stage there was no Labour Party which had the responsibility of formulating a political programme representing working class interests, so the political language of the time didn’t include … Continue reading The Tory Party and the Labour Movement 1891
Labour Affairs 