Brit Comment

Eating from bins. The reality of Spain in 2012.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:42:00 +0000

On a recent evening, a hip-looking young woman was sorting through a stack of crates outside a fruit and vegetable store here in the working-class neighborhood of Vallecas as it shut down for the night.

At first glance, she looked as if she might be a store employee. But no. The young woman was looking through the day’s trash for her next meal. Already, she had found a dozen aging potatoes she deemed edible and loaded them onto a luggage cart parked nearby.

“When you don’t have enough money,” she said, declining to give her name, “this is what there is.”

Scavenging for food...making ends meet. The plight of Spain.

The woman, 33, said that she had once worked at the post office but that her unemployment benefits had run out and she was living now on 400 euros a month, about £315. She was squatting with some friends in a building that still had water and electricity, while collecting “a little of everything” from the garbage after stores closed and the streets were dark and quiet.

Such survival tactics are becoming increasingly commonplace here, with an unemployment rate over 50 percent among young people and more and more households having adults without jobs. So pervasive is the problem of scavenging that one Spanish city has resorted to installing locks on supermarket trash bins as a public health precaution.

William, Kate and the Gutter Press

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 07:46:00 +0000

This week should have been a tremendous time for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. A foreign tour of Singapore and Malaysia, on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate her sixty years as British Monarch. It included the first public speech abroad by the Duchess and had, until today, been viewed by them as a success.

William & Kate in happier times during the tour

Until a story broke in the French gossip magazine, Closer.

Last week William and Kate were spending time in France. They stayed with William's uncle, Viscount Linley, at his chateau in France. Paparazzi secured several photographs of the couple which, although blurry, are clearly William and Kate. In several of them Kate is pictured topless. The couple were informed over breakfast this morning.

This is not a news story for there being magazine coverage of the breasts of a 20-something; it is a story because yet again the gutter press cannot resist a pointless piece of coverage for their equally gutter-residing readers who spend their pointless little lives gathering minutiae from the private lives of those who choose - or are born - to live part of their lives in the public eye in the expectation it will make their own irrelevant lives worth living.

William, as a toddler, proclaimed that he doesn't like "tographers"; the Paparazzi arguably had a hand in the death of his mother more than a decade later. The gutter press, though, considers private time spent by a young Royal couple to be fair game and until the public's appetite for tawdry gossip wanes then they will continue to be subjected to this torture.

Boris Johnson: London's Mayoral Brilliance

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 11:41:00 +0000

Had the result in the London election for its mayor earlier in the year returned the staunch Left-wing Ken Livingstone matters would have been very different. Not only for Londoners but, briefly, for the World.

The opportunity to witness during the Olympics this apparently hapless individual whom many in the UK look upon in bewilderment but also quiet admiration beats hands-down the alternative whining tones of his former opponent, Livingstone. We had a glimpse of this during the Closing ceremonies of both the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games but it was a speech at the very end of the UK's celebrations where he gave probably the best speech of his career.

The UK's Olympians had completed a grand parade through the streets of London, from the Financial District in the East to Buckingham Palace in the West. All the Olympians gathered at the Victoria Memorial in front of the Palace together with the Princess Royal, Prime Minister David Cameron and the Mayor of London. The Prime Minister made a well-received dutiful speech to the huge crowd who had assembled but, as soon as Boris Johnson began his own tribute, the mood changed and the crowed erupted.

The tone of his language presents an infinitely more populist approach to that of Cameron and yet Johnson is a product of the elite Eton School and Oxford University; his connection with the public is instant and they love him. His popularity in the country is probably the greatest of any Tory right now and some within the UK's Conservative Party cite Johnson as a real threat to Prime Minister Cameron. Sure, Cameron is not popular in the country due to the continued financial austerity but it is not likely, if it came to it, that Johnson could be seen as a serious contender for the leadership.

There are inherent complications in vying for the top job; not least as Johnson has only just begun his second and final four-year term of office as Mayor of London. He'd also need a seat in Parliament and the backing of a sufficient number of Conservative MPs to force a leadership contest.

The Prime Minister's position seems safe. For now.

iPhone 5 Launch Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 07:58:00 +0000

With perhaps only minor tweaks over last year's iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5 will still be enough to get all Apple devotees hot under the collar. A slightly larger screen - still smaller than it's main competitor the Samsung Galaxy S3 - and a new two-tone back are the main visual elements to the new design. The promise of an expanded Siri within the new iOS6 next month will top-up the software.

Of considerable annoyance, however, is the move away from the 30-pin connector which will at a stroke render obsolete its compatibility with all existing docks. Some of these docks are electronic works of art in their own right and presumably Apple's aesthetic intensity does not extend to caring that their customers will launch headlong into a buying frenzy of cheap plastic adapters to make the new product integrate.

We still love Apple. For all your market dominating arrogance we are your devoted servants. We've a bit peeved but we'll never leave you.

Rendering of the iPhone 5 based on latest rumours

Whitney Houston: Hardly a surprise

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:07:00 +0000

Whitney Houston was found dead in her hotel room on February 11. The subsequent announcement came as little surprise as the singer had been heading off the rails for years, ever since her marriage to Bobby Brown. Aged just 48, she joins a list of other talented individuals who snuff-out their own light as the body's demand for more and more substance abuse eventually overcomes them:

1962 - Marilyn Monroe, aged 36

1970 - Janis Joplin, aged 27

1971 - Jim Morrison, aged 27

1982 - John Belushi, aged 32

1988 - Andy Gibb, aged 30

1993 - River Phoenix, aged 23

2011 - Amy Winehouse, aged 27

Accession Day: 60 Years a Monarch

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Today, Queen Elizabeth II marks exactly sixty years since becoming Queen of the United Kingdom and other members of the Commonwealth.

She became Queen upon the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952 and was crowned in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, London, in June 1953. This year the United Kingdom celebrates the Diamond Jubilee, the first since that of Queen Victoria in 1897 and only the second in the history of the Monarchy within the British Isles.

The Queen traditionally marks the day quietly at her winter country retreat, Sandringham House, where her father died and her grandfather before him. Shortly after she will return to London after a two month break to resume a schedule of national official duties.

Queen Elizabeth II at the State Opening of Parliament

The UK marks the Accession by a Flag Day, a schedule date in the calendar when the Union Flag is flown from Government and other public buildings. This year, Parliament has awarded a special Public Holiday so that as many people as possible can celebrate the Jubilee, either by attending organised events or getting together with friends and family.

The Queen celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 2002. There was a widespread perception amongst public figures that the UK population would treat the event with a large amount of disinterest, the general expectation being that it had moved on from an age of deference towards the Monarchy and had embraced the new 'Cool Britannia' which entered daily vocabulary when former Prime Minister Tony Blair swept to power five years earlier. A similar long Public Holiday was announced and public enthusiasm overwhelmed those who expected nonchalant citizens. Culminating in a parade along The Mall leading up to Buckingham Palace, the centre of London was bursting with Britons all keen to grab their part of the celebrations.

For the Diamond Jubilee there will be a 1000-strong flotilla of boats parading along the River Thames, surrounding a Royal Barge on which The Queen and her consort, the Duke of Edinburgh, will travel. This event has been designed to be deliberately reminiscent of a time, more than 400 years ago, when the Queen's ancestor, Queen Elizabeth I, ruled over England.

Fred Goodwin's Knighthood removed. Who's next?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:59:00 +0000

The mysterious cogs of Whitehall's machinery moved this week with the meeting of the secretive Honours Forfeiture Committee. Charged with the task of deciding whether the former Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Fred Goodwin, its job was a formality as Public momentum had already gathered sufficient pace to ensure the outcome.

The recommendation made to the Prime Minister and rubber-stamped in the name of the Queen, the Knighthood granted in 2004 to Fred Goodwin was 'cancelled and annulled'. Sir Frederick Goodwin KBE became just plain Fred again. Fred "The Shred" Goodwin was CEO at the Bank from 2001 to 2008 when he presided over a rapid expansion of the business, not always within its core banking remit. Other financial services, notably Direct Line Insurance, became absorbed by the giant organisation but it was the catastrophic decision to buy the troubled Dutch bank ABN AMRO which spelt the beginning of the end of the good times.

RBS received a multi-billion pound bail-out from the British Government with, according to RBS itself, literally hours remaining before the Bank failed and the money ran out.

RBS continues to form the centre of the hatred within the UK population towards the banking sector; its complete disregard for any gesture of morality is in stark contrast to the years of austerity in which the public is embroiled and is likely to remain for several years yet. As recently as 2010 RBS - still 84% owned by the taxpayer - paid more than £1BN in bonuses to staff even though it made a loss of £1.1BN in the same year. The Bank's prowess on the FTSE is a distant memory - its stock priced at £7 a share in 2007 fetched just £0.20 a share at the end of 2011.

Fred Goodwin, former CEO, Royal Bank of Scotland plc

Throughout the financial crisis Sir Fred Goodwin maintained the persona of a CEO so willingly detached from the reality of the disaster he and his team manufactured. A quiet "Sorry" was given to a Parliamentary Committee but this was so very wide of the mark. The British People were baying for blood. With no end in sight to the hardship suffered by ordinary Britons discussions turned to the ethics of Goodwin maintaining his status as a Knight of the Realm, the title having been awarded to him by the Queen on the recommendation of Tony Blair's government in 2004 for "Services to Banking". Pressure from the public was matched with political disquiet and, within a matter of a few days, the HFC had met and made its recommendation to the Prime Minister. The die was cast and the Government obtained agreement of the Crown to have the Knighthood removed.

The granting of a Knighthood for Fred Goodwin brings into focus the methodology of the British Honours System as a whole. Unique in the World for the range of awards and the number of recipients, the Honours are awarded at least twice annually - for the Queen's Official Birthday each June and at the end of the year for the New Year's Honours. They are intended to reward outstanding public service in many different fields and walks of life, from retired judges to prominent actors and exceptional head teachers.

Queen Elizabeth II performs an Investiture at
Buckingham Palace

In practice, however, although the Honours are given in the name of the Queen the majority are authorised through the political process. Minor honours, such as MBE and OBE, are often awarded to persons outside the public eye upon recommendation by their equally unknown colleagues. More senior honours often include leading persons from business and it is perhaps their appointment above all which can bring questions as to the existence of separation from the Establishment; many an Honour has been given for political ends.

The only true, unbiased element of the Honours system is this section relating to Honours in the Personal Gift of the Monarch. These are normally awarded for long and distinguished Royal service or, in exceptional circumstances, the Order of Merit which is restricted to only twenty-four members plus a small number of honorary members. Those in receipt of the Royal Orders are not subject to political interference.

The Turkish State Visit to the UK

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:08:00 +0000

Under typical grey November rain clouds, Queen Elizabeth II has formally welcomed the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, at the start of an official three-day State visit to the UK.

The ceremonial occasion took place on Horse Guards' Parade, located just behind Whitehall's Government offices and a fifteen-minute carriage ride (5 minute car journey) from Buckingham Palace. The British Government hopes the visit will forge stronger ties with Turkey, whose strategic position bridges the continents of Europe and Asia. Turkey has longed to join the EU; its faith would make it the only non-Christian country in the club. Turkey borders countries with which a Western outlook as long proved difficult - Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Talks with Prime Minister David Cameron are to take place later.

Richard Branson's New High Street Bank

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:18:00 +0000

Virgin owner, Sir Richard Branson, has fulfilled his ambition to offer retail banking services in the UK by the acquisition of the troubled Northern Rock bank from UK Investments - the holding organisation on behalf of HM Treasury, i.e. the UK taxpayer.

Northern Rock plc was fully bailed-out by the UK Government in 2007, signalling the end of Chancellor Gordon Brown's decade of debt-driven consumption. The imminent failure of the bank caused queues of worried investors outside their doors up and down the country, all intent of withdrawing their capital whilst they still could. The nationalised bank was split in two on 1 January 2010, the 'good' bank comprising the retail arm, the premises, savings accounts worth £19bn and also around £10bn of the best of the existing mortgages at the time. It is the 'good' bank that Virgin has acquired and paid £747m to HM Treasury for the privilege.

There have already been questions as to why the Government allowed the sale at a loss of more than £400m. A deal negotiated by former Chancellor Alistair Darling with the European Commission means that the UK Government had to sell the majority of its stake in the bank by the end of 2013. In the difficult economic times there are few better-placed businesses than the Virgin group to take-on the responsibilities of a new High Street bank. The Virgin brand is very well known within the UK and well respected amongst consumers.

The sale is expected to be completed on 1 January 2012.

Predictions of British Euro Participation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:53:00 +0000

On the day of Prime Minister Cameron's latest visit to Angela Merkel in Berlin, the German finance Minister, Wolfgang Schauble, predicted that the UK would soon join the Euro despite the current economic crisis throughout the Eurozone.

In comments which fall on deaf ears among the UK electorate, Herr Schauble commented that the survival and eventual stabilisation of the Euro would serve to reinforce to British voters the merits of convergence and the dumping of the Pound Sterling. Meanwhile the Eurozone crisis shows no immediate signs of a conclusion with the FTSE, DAX and CAC all down again this week.

Former Prime Minister, Sir John Major, told Al Jazeera television that further and stronger integration within the Eurozone will inevitably threaten democracy within the weaker states as Germany and France will "insist on moving towards...fiscal union...common control over budgets and fiscal deficits."

Two days later, Lord Heseltine - former UK Deputy Prime Minister in John Major's Government, stated he still expects the UK to eventually join the Euro. Heseltine makes no secret of his staunch pro-European views and appears at odds with the perception of Europe and the Euro in particular within the country. Any ditching of the Pound as currency would have to involve a referendum and there is no appetite for it. Britons hold the existence of their separate currency dear, not least as it reinforces a strong identity within a turbulent Europe.

There are many reasons why the Euro cannot be voluntarily adopted, most of them perhaps sentimental - the past strength of an Empire, the figurehead of Queen Elizabeth II still alive - but there is certainly no appetite amongst any reasonable-thinking member of the UK population or will there be for years to come.

Vodka Explosion: Unacceptable face of migrant workers influx

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 07:49:00 +0000

Five Eastern European migrants died and one other is currently in a hospital burns unit following an explosion Wednesday evening in an industrial unit in Boston, UK, as a result of manufacturing an illegal substance masquerading as vodka. In recent weeks migrant shops in the town had their liquor licences withdrawn following raids by the police which found barrels of counterfeit vodka containing various chemicals including cleaning fluid. The explosion brings to the attention of the authorities that the fake alcohol is much more home-grown than previously thought.

Boston suffers more than most towns in the UK in that at least 25% of the population is Polish, Latvian or Lithuanian. It is an epidemic which leaves many areas of the town taken over to the point where an English voice is difficult to locate. The town centre on a typical day resonates to the sounds of competing Eastern European languages, leaving the locals in dismay as to what has happened to their small market town.

Social integration is non-existent in Boston. The shops set up by migrants for migrants are a no-go area for locals; the attempt by the owners to occasionally incorporate English sign-writing on their windows is no encouragement to enter. The proven existence of a manufacturing concern for counterfeit vodka in this quiet town highlights everything that is unacceptable about the massive influx of migrant workers since most of Eastern Europe joined the EU. The transformation was immediate. The town is suffocated with no way out.

United condemnation is merely a formality

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:08:00 +0000

Following the fast-paced events last week as fall-out from the phone hacking scandal surrounding News International, an emergency motion is tabled in the House of Commons this afternoon on the future of Rupert Murdoch's planned bid for full control of BSkyB.

Unusually there is expected to be nothing but full cross-party support for the Opposition Day motion, a rare commodity indeed but one which is reflective of the Parliamentary contempt of the scandal which in one week has managed to embroil journalists, the police, relatives of murdered children, relatives of dead servicemen and politicians.

The sensationalist 'News Of The World' tabloid Sunday publication was killed-off on July 10 2011 as a direct response to the outrage, only to be replaced hours later with the revelation that misconduct has allegedly been prevalent at its much more prestigious sibling 'The Sunday Times'. It is alleged that the medical records of a son of former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, had been obtained by deception some years after his bank account details were obtained whilst still a relatively new appointee to the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Speaking to Parliament this afternoon, Prime Minister David Cameron announced a judicial review of the scandal. It will have powers to call newspaper editors, journalists and politicians to give evidence under oath. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister meets with family of the murdered child Amanda Dowler today. It emerged last week that a private investigator hired by 'News Of The World' hacked into her mobile telephone after she went missing, listening to her voice mail and deleting messages in the hope that replacements would be left for him also to hear.

Obama in Ireland: State, Family and The Beast

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 May 2011 07:50:00 +0000

Spending a matter of only a few hours in the Republic of Ireland at the start of a week in Europe, President Obama's schedule was a mix of State welcome, rural family ties and a mishap with The Beast - the Presidential Cadillac.

Hot on the heels of last week's State Visit to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth II, Obama was welcomed by the the President of the Republic of Ireland, Mary McAleese, for brief talks before a scheduled trip to the village of Moneygall in one of the most rural of rural parts of the country. Genealogists have identified that Obama's three-times great grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, lived in the village until he left for America in 1850 to escape the Irish Potato Famine.

The Presidential trip to Moneygall was delayed when Cadillac One, informally known as 'The Beast', ran a-ground on a ramp at the exit from the American Embassy in Dublin. Security personnel quickly transferred the Obamas into the second identical limousine, leaving the grounded vehicle stranded for three hours until two recovery vehicles were able to rescue it from its precarious position.

The President and First Lady were scheduled to spend the night in Ireland but the threat of volcanic ash from the latest Icelandic eruption forced an early departure and a late-night arrival on Monday at London Stansted Airport ahead of meetings and events scheduled in the UK for Tuesday.

Earthquake and Tsumani force Japan back into recession

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 May 2011 07:39:00 +0000

Japan's economy has returned to recession for the third time in a decade. Brought about by natural disaster rather than financial misdemeanour, Japan's economy shrank 0.9% in Q1 on top of a contraction in 2010 Q4, even though the earthquake and subsequent tsumani struck less than three weeks before the end of the quarter. The figures announced today show the Japanese economy 3.7% weaker than the end of 2010 Q1.

UK interest rate to remain ultra-low despite inflation hike

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 May 2011 20:57:00 +0000

The UK's rate of inflation was announced today at 4.5% up sharply from 4.0% last month. Despite the cost of living remaining persistently higher than the Government's inflation target of 2.0%, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has ruled out increasing the UK's ultra-low 0.5% interest rate for fear of the UK's ability to cope with higher borrowing costs.

In his customary letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP, the Governor stated that he expects inflation to slip back towards the Government target during 2012/13.

Prices in April 2011 were driven higher by the increase in air fares during a late Easter, more expensive energy costs, the ever-increasing cost of vehicle fuel and the increase in duties in the March 2012 Budget

Queen Elizabeth II in Dublin: Healing or Hurt?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 May 2011 20:41:00 +0000

Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, today at the start of a four-day long State visit. Whilst statistically this is one of the shortest Monarchical trips outside the UK to qualify as a State visit, the Queen undertakes the trip amid vocal expressions of doubt over the prudence of the trip at all.

No British Monarch has set foot in the Republic since its formation 90 years ago at the end of British rule. The last Monarch to visit Dublin was the Queen's grandfather, King George V, who - in 1911 - was merely dropping-in on another part of his Kingdom. Such has been the anti-British sentiment within the Republic that today's trip could not have been even contemplated a decade ago, possibly even more recently than that.

Now, though, there seems a tentative majority of Irish citizens who welcome Her Majesty's visit as a turning point in relations between the Republic and the United Kingdom. Politically much has changed in recent years. The IRA has disbanded and its former commanders are now pivotal in Irish politics north of the Border; economically Ireland and the UK are bound tightly - even though the UK is not a player in the Euro Zone which Ireland enthusiastically joined from its outset in 1999. The two countries trade approximately €1bn a week and the UK's Coalition government has contributed towards an economic bail-out of the Irish economy.

The very early stages of today's trip included the laying of a wreath in Dublin's Garden of Remembrance with the Irish President, Mary McAleese, in an act to symbolise the reconciliation process taken by both countries since the violence after independence. The Queen will make only one official speech during her visit - during a dinner in her honour to be held at Dublin Castle, the former seat of British rule. Not a particularly tactful choice of location, a decision not lost on those dissident republicans who still choose to inflict pain and suffering on any representative of the old rule.

Obama's Second Term: Work starts now

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:05:00 +0000

US President, Barack Obama, has launched a low-key campaign for his second term in office.

Although the next US Presidential election is not due until November 2012, his campaign needs to start in earnest amid debates at home over the potential aiding of Libyan rebels, US Government funding and the fallout from the healthcare reforms in 2010. Many of his 2008 supporters are disappointed that the healthcare plans did not include a UK-style publicly-funded system and he has also fallen short of his early pledge to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects.

Obama's standing globally is far superior to that of his much-reviled predecessor, George W. Bush, but it is grassroots support at home that will make or break his hopes for a second term as President. Obama plans to base his campaign in his home town of Chicago to maintain contact with ordinary voters.

The full extent of his challenge for President remains as yet unseen. Several Republican candidates are working towards a nomination and the US political debate waits to see whether Sarah Palin plans to put in another appearance this time around, this time for the top job itself.

Claimant Assessments: Fundamentally flawed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:01:00 +0000

Just one working day after the conclusion of a pilot in Aberdeen and Burnley, the Department of Work and Pensions has rolled out a national scheme to re-assess claimants of Incapacity Benefit.

Without doubt it is time to review the sum of public money paid out annually but there has to be grave reservations as to the efficiency of the assessment process. It is correct that each claimant is assessed by an impartial medical practitioner but to rely upon a simple set of ‘Yes/No’ questions fails to deal correctly or compassionately with those having less visible difficulties. At no point is there any realistic prospect of any claimant with mental difficulties being understood in the short time given to an assessment. At no point is there any cross-referencing with the records held by a claimant’s GP. At no point is there any hope for any sensible outcome for the mentally disabled.

The Coalition is so utterly focused on reducing the scale of public expenditure. Mostly it is to be commended as it deals with the bloating of the public sector under the previous Labour administration; having such a black and white Benefit assessment process means the difference between valid claimants having any token of self-worth at all or reducing them further into a spiral of mental decline.

EU Membership costs UK taxpayers £300 a year

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:37:00 +0000

The British contribution to the European Union almost doubled in just a year, from 2009 to 2010, from £5.3bn in 2009 to £9.2bn. The cause: Tony Blair's decision in 2005 whilst Prime Minister to reduce the size of the annual EU rebate secured by Margaret Thatcher 21 years earlier.

Every UK taxpayer paid £300 for the dubious pleasure of EU membership with all its directives and meddling in the British way of life.

In 2011 the EU budget will increase by 2.9% despite cutbacks within most national Governments within Europe. It is thought that the EU wishes to further reduce the British rebate - a plan rebuffed in the UK unless there is reform to the European agricultural subsidies which themselves are often akin to a licence to print money.

Matthew Hancock MP, a former aid to Chancellor George Osborne MP, said: "The consequences of Labour's rebate sell-out are becoming clear. These shocking new figures show that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown signed billions of our money away in return for absolutely nothing."

Police investigate undetected hoax airline bomb

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:51:00 +0000

A 26-year old man has been arrested by London's Metropolitan police on suspicion of making a hoax bomb after it was discovered after a UPS flight from London to Istanbul.

The hoax bomb, which had timer wires and a detonator - but no explosives - was contained in a cake box taken by the suspect to a UPS office in London last week. UPS is one of only a handful of carriers permitted to undertake its own airline security and is now reported to be fully co-operating with investigations undertaken by British Transport Police.

The suspect is bailed to appear in Court in May.

Debt-ridden Eurozone countries downgraded

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:28:00 +0000

Ratings agency Standard & Poors (S&P) has downgraded Portugal and Greece as fears continue to grow over their ability to deal with their respective debt crises.

The move by S&P forces up the cost of borrowing for each country as lenders demand a higher rate of return for buying Government bonds. The rating of Portugal now stands one level above 'Junk' rating, at BBB- and Greece has a rating below that of Egypt, at BB-.

The action is underlined by a survey of economists conducted for the BBC World Service. Two-thirds of the fifty-two respondents expect Greece to default on its sovereign debt but expects the Euro to survive in its current state. Greece's finance minister rejected the suggestions that the Greek economy is on the rocks.

Police force planning the wrong sort of cuts

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:07:00 +0000

The Warwickshire Police Authority (WPA) plans to remove 150 beat officers and place them in back-office roles in an effort to deal with the 2011/12 cut in their budget.

The force is required to save £23m out of their £100m budget by 2015. The Home Secretary, Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP, and the Minister responsible for the police service, Rt. Hon. Nicholas Herbert MP, have repeatedly stated that it is possible to make the required savings without the need to take officers away from the front line. The chairman of WPA says that there are too many police officers throughout the county for the new model of policing to be implemented.

Detroit: The collapse and abandonment of Motor City

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:56:00 +0000

According to data released this week from last year's US Census there has been a population loss of 1.1 million people in the past 60 years and a drop of 25% in the last decade alone.

Nowhere else in the US has a city been abandoned to such an extent as Motown. The collapse has its roots in the intentional de-industrialisation of the city by the American Big Three motor manufacturers of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. The 1950s saw the birth of a plan to spread production across the country so as to produce vehicles closer to regional markets and so reduce labour costs by investing in less labour-friendly locations than Union-heavy Detroit.

Racism plays a very significant part in the process of decline. The flight of white Americans exploded in the 1950s and 1960s followed by a middle-class flight of black and white Americans as crime endemic to high unemployment and poverty spread rapidly. Detroit has become the reverse of what many consider to be a model of a 'good' American city, with a few 'bad' neighbourhoods; it is a city of 'bad' neighbourhoods with a handful of 'good' ones.

One in three Detroiters, triple the national rate, lived below the poverty line in 2007 making Detroit the poorest of America's large cities. Detroit's per capita income was estimated to be just $15310, compared to the national average of $27041, and that was when the population stood at 900000 - almost 200000 more than the figures from the 2010 Census indicate.

Wrecking crews are working throughout the city to destroy 3000 vacant and abandoned homes as promised by Mayor Dave Bing. What happens next to rejuvenate the city remains untold.

Another march, another group of anarchists

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:10:00 +0000

Police at the sticky end of the protests

A march against Government spending cuts has been taking place in central London. Fronted by the Unions as a demonstration against the reduction in the size of the Public Sector, it has attracted many supporters from across the UK. Reports from the BBC claim that the majority of the marchers are good-natured but, as ever, they are infiltrated by gangs of students intent on causing disruption to a cause in which they have little involvement otherwise. Inevitably some of these groups are anarchists and so have hit out at the 4500 police officers drafted-in to supervise the units and also at sectors of the capitalist economy.

Early on in the day a handful of police were caught at the sticky end of a paint-throwing protest and late afternoon a gang of individuals entered the grocer Fortnum & Mason whilst accomplices scaled the outside of the building to daub their slogans.

Non-peaceful protestors attack Fortnum & Mason grocers

The UK is at the forefront of democracy and part of this involves freedom of speech. Peaceful protest will not be quashed in the UK but more and more there are militant elements in society intent on attending whatever events they can find to cause maximum news coverage for the wrong reasons.

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband MP, stood in Hyde Park like a 1970s shop steward. He stopped just short of crying "Everyone out!" when he spoke to a gathering of protestors in London's Hyde Park to drum-up support for an alternative way to deal with the massive debt legacy left by his predecessor. The same leadership that advocating doing nothing at all in 2010/11 to deal with the deficit leaving an even greater mountain of interest and capital to repay. The TUC went on the airwaves this morning to claim that the Government has chosen to ignore two ways of raising a total of £40bn. That's as may be but £40bn is a drop in the enormous ocean of debt in which the UK continues to flounder thanks to the comprehensive mis-management of economic 'good times' by a certain former Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The case is clear. To ignore the need to reduce the expense of the State is not an option. Any socialist - champagne or otherwise - would do well to open the eyes and look around other parts of Europe - Greece, Ireland, Portugal - and realise the consequences of ignoring State debt.

The Budget 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:48:00 +0000

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, has presented the second Budget of the Coalition government. With the focus stated from the outside as a Budget for growth the Chancellor visited many sector of the economy during his speech, the main points of which were:

A reduction of £0.01 in the duty on petrol and diesel from 18:00hrs GMT today;
A cancellation of the planned £0.01 in the duty scheduled by the previous Labour administration due to come into effect on April 1 2011;
A cut in the level of Corporation Tax by 2% with a further 1% cut for each of the remaining years of the Parliament bringing the levy down from its current rate of 28% to 23%;
A further increase in Personal Allowance confirmed for the tax year beginning 6 April 2012 to £8015;
The creation of twenty-one new Enterprise Zones across the UK;
The simplification of the Old Age Pension to create a flat-rate, probably at £140 per week for both men and women;
A £50000 charge for Non-Doms living in the UK for twelve years;
A twelve-month postponement in the increase in Air Passenger Duty;
A new tax on private jets;
Business mileage rate increased from £0.40 per mile to £0.45 per mile - the first increase since 2002;