Opposition to Putin's draft grows in Russia.

 

Opposition to Putin's call up of Russian citizens to fight in the Ukraine, is growing by the day. Hundreds of anti-war protestors have been arrested.

In Russia's Dagestan region, officers fired automatic weapons into the air to disperse angry crowds. Many people in Dagestan believe that a disproportionate number of ethnic people, are being called up to fight and die in the Ukraine.

In Ryazan, a man set himself on fire, in protest against the mobilization. In the Irkutsk region of Siberia, a man, who it's said, was angry at his friends conscription, shot a military draft officer, at close range, who was recruiting people to fight in the Ukraine. Before opening fire the man said: "Nobody is going to go anywhere."

As many believe that the Russian government is intending to ban Russian men of military age, from leaving the country, and could impose martial law, thousands of cars have lined up at Russian borders carrying young men who want to flee the country to escape the draft.

In a separate incident, a gunman with a swastika on his T-shirt, killed 13 people, including 11 children, at a Russian school in Izhevsk. It's believed that another 24 people have been wounded. The gunman was also shot dead. The authorities said that they were looking at the perpetrators suspected neo-Nazi links.

Odey says 'Remainers' are to blame for the pound crashing.

 

Cassino Capitalist - Crispin Odey

Hedge fund tycoon and capitalist speculator, Crispin Odey, says that 'Remainers' in the city who 'hate' the government, triggered the fall in the pound. Odey defended his "short positions" against the pound and UK assets, which allows his fund to make huge amounts of money when prices fall. The pound crashed following the announcement of the mini budget and tax cuts by the Chancellor, Kamikwasi Kwarteng.

In 2016, Crispin Odey, who supported 'Vote Leave' is said to have made £220 million on the Brexit vote, when he speculated that markets would crash after the decision to leave the E.U. It's been claimed that Odey already knew that Britain had voted to leave the E.U. before the decision had been officially announced, because he'd bought private exit polling data. Once they had that information, Hedge Funds, were in a position to make fortunes short-selling the pound in anticipation of it falling in value.

Reese-Mogg lifts ban on fracking!

 

Laid-back, Jacob Reeese-Mogg

The multi-millionaire, business and energy secretary, Jacob Reese-Mogg, has announced an end to the ban on fracking and says that we must tolerate earthquakes because it's in the national interest. He dismissed the hysteria over fracking and says anti-fracking activists are funded by Putin and Moscow. 

Where fracking takes place, it's known to lead to house prices plummeting and all sorts of environmental consequences. When they start to drill, you may well find you can't sell your house because no one wants to live near a fracking site. 

This is why so many Tory MP's are opposed to the lifting of the ban on fracking because they see it as threatening their prospects of retaining their Parliamentary seats at the next General Election.

FT says Slovenian households will be better off than UK households by 2024!

 

Trickledown Liz Truss

Slave driver, Liz Truss, believes in something called trickle down economics. This was a failed economic experiment that was associated with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, who pursued pro-rich policies in both Britain and the U.S.A. during the late 1970s and 1980s, and which became known as the Conservative Revolution. 

As the UK Prime Minister, Truss, believes that a rising tide lifts all boats. In short, she subscribes to a view called supply-side economics, which says that if you want to incentives the wealthy and those on higher incomes, to be more entrepreneurial and to do more, you have to make them richer, but if you want to incentives the workers to do better, you have to make them poorer by cutting their social benefits and keeping their wages down to make them more attractive to Capitalist investors. 

Both the IMF and the U.S. President, Joe Biden, say trickle down economics has proven to be an abject failure. Rather than make ordinary people better off, trickle-down economic policies have led to greater income and wealth inequality. The U.S. is the second wealthiest country in the world. It's home to some of the richest people in the world. And yet, there's not much evidence of trickle down. The U.S. is a country where nearly one-in-ten adults, have medical debts and a broken bone can lead you into bankruptcy. Failure to pay a medical bill, is one of the biggest causes of middle- class bankruptcy in America. 

The U.S.A, which is the  the citadel of western capitalism, is a country where a city like Mississippi, could provide no clean drinking water for its citizens for weeks. It's a country where life expectancy has dropped for the second year in a row and where poor people, sell their blood plasma, to make ends meet. 

An analysis by the Financial Times, found that on present trends, the average Slovenian household will be better off than its British counterpart by 2024. Indeed, some income inequality in the U.S. and U.K. is so enormous, that the two nations should be classed as poor countries, with some very rich people, most of whom, are to be found in government.

Travelers set up camp on Hyde industrial estate.

 

Travelers on car park at Newland Conveyors in Hyde

As it becomes more difficult for travelers and Gypsy's to find authorised legal sites to camp on, we are seeing more cases of un-authorised trespass. Yet it seems that some travelers have  managed to turn their unwanted presence, to their own financial advantage. 

It seems that a group of travelers have been occupying industrial sites on the Broadway Industrial Estate in Hyde, Cheshire. Among the companies that have been affected, are Newland Conveyors and the Industrial Superstore, Tribard. We understand that Tibard, who provide uniforms for the hospitality sector, paid the travelers £5,000 to sod off. They then left the site and moved to another part of the industrial estate, to annoy another company. Newland Conveyors have brought in Court Enforcement Specialists to evict the travelers and another company, chose to ignore the travelers until they left, which took months. An eye witness, told Northern Voices, that the travelers have now started to blast out loud Irish folk music to annoy staff and that they had entered the offices of one company, to complain about being denied water from an outside tap that they were using.

Under the common law, travelers, their vehicles, and their livestock, can be removed from private land without a court order, when they are occupying land without the owner's permission. Every land owner has the right to remove trespassers from their land, using reasonable force if required. This right can be delegated to the landowners agent. The occupier is usually given 24-hours notice to leave and if they don't vacate the site, they get evicted. A so-called 'Halsburys' eviction is more straight forward and doesn't require a 'writ of possession'.

Starmer the Hypocrite!

 

Labour Leader - Sir Keir Starmer

A Labour government led by the pusillanimous, Sir Keir Starmer, won't be getting my vote at the next General Election.

Starmer, a former Trotskyist, once partially edited a socialist magazine called 'Socialist Alternatives', between 1986/87, which was named after the British section of the International Revolutionary Marxist Tendency (I.R.M.T.).

In the first issue of the magazine, Starmer, proposed that the trade unions should have control over "industry and community." In 2005, Starmer appeared in a video, in which he drew attention to the irony of him becoming a Queen's Counsel, when he'd once been in favour of abolishing the monarchy. In 2014, this former Trot and anti-monarchist, accepted a Knightood from the Queen.

Since becoming the Leader of the Labour Party, Starmer has sought to purge the left and the Corbynista's within the party and has embraced patriotism and the monarchy, by wrapping himself up in the 'Union Jack' flag, in order to win back the Labour voters who turned Tory under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

Earlier this year, the hypocrite, Starmer, told the British people that it was their patriotic duty to support the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Celebrations. He's recently criticised anti-monarchist protestors saying they should respect those mourning the Queen and not ruin their opportunity to express their private thanks to the late monarch.

Are we in danger of losing the NHS by default?

 

Millions of UK patients are now plundering their savings and are going private because of delays and difficulties in accessing NHS healthcare. Some are even paying for healthcare by crowdfunding. Isn't it curious, how easy it is to jump the queue, and get much-needed healthcare, when you're prepared to grease a few already greasy palms.

Many British people have forgotten how implacably opposed the medical profession was to the formation of the NHS at the end of WWII. Many doctors believed it would be financially ruinous to their private practices. Between 1946 and 1948, when the NHS was introduced, the doctors trade union the British Medical Association (BMA), mounted a vigorous campaign against the proposed legislation. Churchill's Tories voted against the NHS twenty-one times before the act was passed. When Labour's health minister, Nye Bevan, was asked how he'd managed to persuade the doctors to jump on board and to support the NHS, he replied: "by stuffing the doctors' mouths with gold." By this remark, he meant that British doctors and consultants, would be allowed to continue seeing private paying patients, if they accepted NHS patients.

There's a danger that we could finish up with an American style health system in Britain simply by default, because of the way the NHS has been neglected, leaving people with no other option, but to become private paying patients. Failure to pay a medical bill, is one of the biggest causes of middle-class bankruptcy in America and many Americans can't even afford decent health care. In Britain, many NHS patients are already having difficulty in getting a face-to-face appointment with their GP's.

The former Tory Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, wanted an American insurance-style health care system, but felt that such a policy, would alienate the British voter and backed off. Liz Truss, the new UK Conservative Prime Minister, is on record for being in favour of patients paying to see their GP's.

Some GP practices have already been taken over by U.S. healthcare company's, like the Centene Corporation. Yet, we shouldn't forget the immortal words of the Irish author and playwright, George Bernard Shaw, who told us: "All professions are conspiracies against the laity." Protecting vested interests has always been a major factor when it comes to providing healthcare.

Are the police arrests of anti-monarchists an "outrageous assault on democracy?"

 

We think it's only in Putin's despotic Russia that people displaying blank pieces of paper as a protest, can get arrested. But if you think that, then think again. It's happening in 'Carolean' democratic Britain.

A man in Parliament Square was recently told by police that a blank piece of paper he was carrying might "offend someone" and that if he wrote, "Not My King" on it, he risked being arrested. Last Sunday, a woman was arrested in Edinburgh, for displaying a sign which stated: " f... imperialism, abolish monarchy." On the same day, the police arrested a 45-year old man in Oxford, for shouting "Who elected him?" during a county proclamation ceremony to King Charles III, in Oxford. Thames Valley Police called this 'disorderly behaviour'. Although Scotland Yard say that people have an absolute right to protest against the monarchy, a number of people have been arrested by the police for expressing Republican or anti-monarchist sympathies.

Article 10, of the Human Rights Act 1998, guarantees the right to freedom of expression. The Act says: "This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers." So why do the police regularly trample on peoples right to freedom of expression under Article 10? Article 10, is not an absolute right but a qualified right, which may be limited under certain circumstances such as to protect national security or to protect the rights of others.

However, in the past few days, during the late Queen's funeral procession, and the proclamation events announcing the reign of King Charles III, people have been arrested under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 or for causing a breach of the peace. Section 5, makes it an offence to "display any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting, within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress." You're also guilty of an offence under Section 5, if you use - "threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour."

Yesterday, a young man was arrested for a breach of the peace, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, after allegedly shouting at Prince Andrew that he was a "sick old man." I should imagine that there might quite a lot of people in Britain who would readily concur with that view. Symon Hill, who was arrested in Oxford last Sunday, said his arrest was an "outrageous assault on democracy" and that he'd been arrested by the police for simply "expressing an opinion in public." He told the press: "I don't think I've ever seen anyone arrested on such threadbare grounds, let alone experienced it myself."

Period Diginity Officer gets the push after complaints and abuse!

 

Jason Grant - Tayside 'Period Dignity Officer'

The man who was appointed the 'Period Dignity Officer' for Tayside, is now threatening to sue his employer after his job was axed following numerous complaints and "threats and abuse."

Although Jason Grant - a former tobacco salesman - is a man, he was thought to be the best candidate for the job after a selection process. Within weeks of being appointed to the role, he went from poster boy to fall guy.

I don't think there's many women who would be interested in talking to a young man about menstruation unless he was their family doctor. Nor do I think there's many men who are interested in talking to them about the subject.

The former Russian tennis star Martina Navratilova, thought Grant's appointment was f.....g ridiculous, and the SNP leader in Westminster, Ian Blackford, thought the job should have gone to a woman.

Why does the cream of the crap always rise to the top?

 

Boris the Greased  Piglet

We know the cream rises to the top but so does the crap. Nevertheless, it's intriguing why so many people become dazzled and are taken in with sociopaths like Boris Johnson and Donald Trump. 

Nesrine Malik, the Sudanese-born journalist, says the qualities that defined Boris's life and career, were dishonesty, lack of seriousness, laziness, and amorality. This is all sounds very true, but he doesn't seem to have done too badly for himself, in spite of being a pathological liar and a first-class shit. It's also likely that his notoriety and disgrace will make him even more marketable. Boris, who hasn't ruled out a come back, now says that his priority is to put hay in the hayloft. The Daily Mail has likened him, admirably, to a "greased piglet" for his ability to wriggle out of any situation when his back is up against the wall. They're also lining him up for a job. 

Needless to say, sociopathic/psychopathic types do get found out and exposed eventually. It was fascinating to watch Boris unravel before us. To watch him riddle about like a maggot on the end of a fishing hook. Whitewash by the bucketful, excuses on tap. The Tories threw him out not because he was a liar, but because he became an electoral liability, trying to duck and dive, and circumvent one scandal after another. 

Yet many ordinary people, that Boris would call the oiks and plebs, still have a sneaking admiration for this lying, amoral, toad, who disgraced the office of Prime Minister. They always called him Boris, as though they were on familiar terms with this Old Etonian. I remember listening to a Yorkshire woman who was being interviewed before the General Election in 2019. She said that she'd be voting Tory, and added that while she didn't trust Boris, he made her laugh, and she thought he was funny. 

What does all this tell us about the type of society we live in? That rogues can climb to the very top of society and often do so. That many people are happy to be governed and are impressed with clever con-men. 

Plato, who wasn't a fan of Athenian democracy, warned that the plebs were susceptible to the words of scheming demagogues and that's absolutely true. Ignorance has become a virtue, and truth and honesty, count for nowt these days. It's all about competing realities and alternative facts. 

Truss appoints cigar chomping Coffey, as Health Minister

 

Health Minister - Theresa Coffey

Meet the new Tory Health Secretary. The grossly obese, cigar loving, boozer, Therese Coffey. 

The new UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has moved Coffey from Work and Pensions, to Health, and has made her the Deputy Prime Minister. Coffey, a spinster and Roman Catholic, opposes abortions, same sex marriage, and assisted dying. 

In 2020, she was criticised for showing a lack of compassion when she was questioned about the death of Mercy Baguma, a 34-year old asylum seeker from Uganda, who was found dead in a Glasgow flat, with her malnourished baby beside her. She had been living in abject poverty and was left destitute after her leave to remain expired. The cries of her distressed baby, alerted people to her plight. When asked about Mercy Baguma, Coffey said she wasn't familiar with the facts of the case. 

Coffey was also criticised when she said that obesity and an ageing population had contributed to the high Covid death rate in Britain.

Why won't Truss make the energy companies pay for rising energy costs?

 

UK Prime Minister - Liz Truss

Cutting taxes and freezing energy bills at the same time, seems like something of a conundrum. But that is what Liz Truss says she's intending to do. Where's the money coming from? The government say they're going to borrow the money as they would have to do to finance Lizzie's tax cuts which will largely benefit those on higher incomes. 

We're constantly told there's no magic money tree. Yet, the Tories don't seem keen on increasing taxation on the energy companies that are making colossal profits because of higher prices, or the rich, who won't be struggling with the cost of living or paying their fuel bills. You don't hear the Tory government calling on energy companies to exercise restraint over prices and profits, as they urge the workers to do with their pay claims. I don't doubt that something needs to be done about spiraling energy prices, because higher energy costs are likely to have a domino effect throughout the whole British economy leading to higher prices for everything - higher inflation, businesses closing, and higher unemployment. As they say, for some people it will be a choice between heating and eating and we could see people dying of hypothermia. 

The campaign group, 'Don't Pay UK', has called for mass non-payment of energy bills to force the energy companies to reduce energy prices. The Money Saving Expert (MSE), Martin Lewis, says it would "cause exponential problems" for consumers as well as energy companies. Boycotts and non-payment campaigns can be an effective means of exerting leverage. But don't be surprised if you start to see energy companies offering discounts on bills to those who pay by direct debit. OVO Energy are to offer customers a £400 discount within weeks if they pay by direct debit. 

The cost of freezing energy bills is going to be costly. According to The Times, it could be between £90bn and £130bn. There are only three ways the government can pay for freezing energy bills; it borrows the money, it raises taxes, or it prints the money. Higher inflation leads to higher interest rates and increases the cost of borrowing. 

UK inflation is at a 40-year high and is expected to peak at 16% next Spring. Last month, an analysis by the FT, suggested that government debt servicing costs, are likely to double from £50bn to £95bn by next year, and that doesn't include the cost of borrowing to freeze energy costs or anything else. The Bank of England has also warned of a forthcoming economic recession, which would mean less tax revenue. With the self inflicted economic problems arising from Brexit, the COVID pandemic, and the Russians using energy supplies to Europe as an instrument of warfare, these problems are not going to go way soon.

Irish teacher jailed after refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns

 

Under Arrest - Enoch Burke

An Irish teacher who refused to use gender-neutral pronouns, has been sent to Mountjoy prison, for contempt of court. Enoch Burke, a devout Christian, refused to call a transitioning student a girl, when he was a boy, and refused to use the pronoun 'they' rather than 'he', when addressing the student. He was incarcerated because he insisted on going to work after the court banned him from doing so. Mountjoy jail, is where another Irish martyr, Kevin Barry, was imprisoned, before being hung by the British in November 1920, aged 18.

Article 9 of the Human Rights Act, protects an individuals right to freedom of thought, belief, and religion. You also have the right to put your thoughts and beliefs into action. This also applies in Ireland. After the judge sent him down, Mr Burke, said: "It is insanity that I will be led from this courtroom to a place of incarceration, but I will not give up my Christian beliefs."

Surveillance technology being used to control citizen behaviour!

 

Chinese surveillance cameras

Many countries, such as China, are now using facial recognition technology as a means of surveillance and as a way of exercising social control over their citizens. It's a kind of dystopian 'Blg Brother' system that the British author George Orwell, warned us of in his novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'. 

China uses surveillance as a way of inculcating 'positive' behaviour in its citizens using a 'Social Credit' system. If a Chinese citizen acts in a way that the CCP approves of, and shows loyalty to the party, their credit rating score goes up. If they break the rules, such as fighting with a neighbour, or not wearing a COVID face mask, they lose points. This can affect your ability to obtain credit, obtain housing, or employment. 

The Iranian government, are also now planning to use facial recognition technology to identify women who don't comply with their strict laws on wearing the hijab. In 2014, six Iranians - three men and three women - were identified and sentenced to one year in prison and 91 lashes, after a video showed them dancing in Tehran, to Pharrell Williams's song 'Happy'. The video had more than 150,000 views.

Truss says it's fair to give more to those who have more!

 

Liz Truss

Slave driver, Liz Truss, who is likely to be anointed the UK's next Prime Minister on Tuesday, says it's fair to give those with money, even more money, through her tax cuts which will cost £30bn and which are likely to increase borrowing and inflation. She says her priority is economic growth rather than redistribution and welfare handouts, to those on low incomes and benefits.

But the Tories, are not averse to redistribution when it comes to giving handouts to their rich backers. Last year, BP paid no tax on its North Sea oil operations. In 2019, it paid an effective tax rate of -54% thanks to rebates from the treasury. In 2020, the effective tax rate was -19% despite making billions of pounds in profits. Since 2016, the 19 North Sea oil companies have received net rebates of £2.4bn.

Amid soaring household energy bills, BP's profits have tripled to $8.5 billion dollars.

I suspect that Truss won't be in a hurry to call a General Election, but already, some Tories are plotting to get rid of her, because they believe she's hopelessly out of her depth, is far too right-wing, and will lose the Tories the next General Election. The opinion polls also suggest that she's not exactly popular with the voters. One Conservative MP has said that Truss has inherited a "cluster fuck of nightmares" from Boris Johnson.

Rwandan refugees being given asylum in the UK

 

Home Secretary - Priti Patel

How low can the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, stoop? She's the daughter of Asian/Uganda immigrant refugees who wants to send asylum seekers on a one way trip to Rwanda. 

According to the Government, Rwanda is a "safe and prosperous" nation, but so far, this year, Britain has granted asylum status to at least seven refugees from Rwanda. The Home Secretary, says that 76% of people crossing the Channel are bogus asylum seekers and economic refugees. But Home Office figures tell a different story. In the year ending this June, 75% of those claiming asylum were successful and half of those who appealed against refusal, were also successful, pushing the total success rate to almost 90%. 

Nevertheless, not all claims for political asylum in Britain are successful even when people are in danger of their lives. A former Afghan judge who had jailed dozens of Taliban fighters went into hiding with her son because she feared for her life. Many of the Taliban fighters she jailed have now been freed and some are in the Taliban government. Although the judge has family in Britain, her claim for asylum was rejected by the Home Office.

GM Buses on track to be brought back under public control

 

As a pensioner, I use the bus on a regular basis. The bus service in Greater Manchester is not that reliable and they often don't turn up on time. Even the last bus service is known not to turn up or even the one before that. 

On Sunday's it's advisable not to travel far, if at all. In the evenings some services run one bus an hour just to travel a couple of miles. On bank holidays, when people have time on their hands, and might want to go out, they often run a Sunday service. Over the Christmas holidays,  bus services in Greater Manchester are atrocious. You either stay at home, walk, or pay for a taxi, if you haven't got a car. 

When the pandemic was on, it wasn't unknown for bus drivers to berate passengers for travelling about if they thought you were joyriding, and you might even be asked if your journey was essential travelling. If city planners really think that people are going to give up their cars for a bus service like this, they must be deluding themselves. 

Good luck to Andy Burnham in his quest to bring the bus service back under public control in Greater Manchester. He promised us a London style bus system and I hope he keeps to his word. The bus service was never deregulated in London. Today, a standard single bus fare in London is £1.65 and under the 'hopper' scheme, you can use that ticket on any bus for one hour from purchase and you can also use it on the tram network. If you live in Greater London you will also get a free bus pass at 60, which can be used to travel throughout Greater London.

GP salaries soar as patients struggle to see a doctor!

 

Average GP salaries have gone up by £10,000 in a year, bringing average GP salaries to £110,000 per annum. If these pay increases were linked to performance, then many GP's would be having a pay cut. Since the COVID lockdown in March 2020, many GP's have stopped having walk-in patient surgeries and now operate a triage system which determines how the practice will deal with your case. 

Many GP's are now extremely reluctant to conduct face-to-face appointments with patients preferring to do telephone consultations. Some GPs have been known to ask patients to cough into the phone. Just how you check a patients pulse or examine their chest or tongue over the phone, remains a mystery. Many people complain that they have difficulty getting to see a GP or complain that they can't get through to their practices by phone, because of the length of time it takes to make contact with the receptionist. Patients say they feel like they've been thrown under a bus by GPs and are not receiving adequate medical care. 

Many GP practices are now staffed by nursing practitioners or other medical assistants who are taking the place of a GP. The doctors union the BMA, say that GPs are overworked but to many people, it looks like they're being mollycoddled or becoming sinecurists. Though GPs, who are self employed, can please themselves whether they see a patient face-to-face, NHS doctors and nurses have no choice in the matter. In desperation, many NHS patients are going private to get medical treatment or are turning the the NHS emergency services to get help. This is putting the NHS under tremendous strain.

McCabe says Mar-a-Lago was "a spy's dream."

 

Andrew McCabe - Former Director of the FBI

Andrew McCabe, the former FBI Deputy Director, was fired by former U.S President Donald Trump less than two days before he was due to retire in March 2018. Trump said McCabe's dismissal was "a great day for democracy."

McCabe said his dismissal was part of an effort to undermine the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election and potential collusion between Trump aides and Moscow. He told CNN that his downfall was the result of "a series of attacks designed to undermine my credibility and my reputation." As a consequence of his abrupt dismissal from the FBI, after working for them for nearly two decades, McCabe lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in pension entitlements.

In December 2017, Trump hinted that McCabe's days were numbered when he tweeted: "FBI Deputy Director, Andrew McCabe, is racing the clock to retire with full benefits - 90 days to go." Trump also tweeted: "Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI."

McCabe had been accused of allegedly making an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and of lacking candour under oath. The criminal pursuit of McCabe ended in February 2020, when a grand jury did not return an indictment against him. McCabe sued the federal government for being fired and asserted that he'd been dismissed illegally for political reasons. The Justice Department settled rather than face a federal lawsuit. The Biden administration rescinded McCabe's dismissal, restored his full pension and other benefits, and allowed him to officially retire.

Donald Trump is now under legal investigation for allegedly removing classified and top secret documents from the White House, which were found at his estate and social club, Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Andrew McCabe said: " Mar-a-Lago is a spy's dream. It's a public place, easy to get into. A determined trained intelligence officer could get themselves in and likely get an audience with the former President, who had access to the utmost sensitive secrets that we have." Rolling Stone magazine recently reported that "Trump has bragged to associates that he has knowledge, some of it gleaned through U.S. intelligence of Emmanuel Macron's illicit love life..."

Everyone pays the cost as the rich keep spending.

 

Everyone pays the cost as the rich keep spending

The Financial Times (FT) columnist, Rana Foroohar, wrote that she recently took a holiday vacation in the Hamptons, a wealthy area that lies just outside New York. On a shopping trip she says that she was "stunned to pay $800 dollars for a single shopping cart of groceries", at the IGA, the American equivalent of the UK's Tesco. She says that wealthy locals and vacation shoppers notice, but don't seem to curb their spending habits.

In the U.S., the top 40% of people in the income distribution, account for 60% of consumer spending, whereas, the bottom 20%, account for a mere 22% of consumer spending. Foroohar, points out that in the U.S., those who are in receipt of higher incomes, tend to receive a greater percentage of compensation from stock and home equity which fuels consumer spending. Indeed, the top 20% of Americans as a whole, enjoy 80% of wealth effect from rising stock and home values.

As the American economy becomes increasingly financialised, she asks why would the wealthy invest in factory or workplace training when they can by back stock to increase shareholder value by driving up the price. While that wealthy American plutocrat, Jeff Bezos, can build a half-billion dollar yacht for himself, Amazon have just offered a 35p an hour pay rise to increase rates of pay to £10.50 and £11.45 an hour, depending on location. The pay offer led to a walk out by Unite and GMB union members.

Evening Standard survey shows a majority now want a General Election.

 

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss

An Ipsos survey for the London Evening Standard, shows that 51% of respondents want a General Election this year, regardless of who becomes the next Tory leader and the next UK Prime Minister. 

Whoever, is elected the next Tory leader on 5th September, they will be the third Conservative Prime Minister in the last 6 years, to have been anointed Prime Minister without being elected by the general electorate. 

Those who participated in the Evening Standard survey felt that the country is in crisis and needs to find a way forward (46%). Some 39% want to change the Government and 38% of respondents say that the public should be more involved in decision making. Crucially, some 37% of respondents, said that the next Tory Prime Minister will not have won a General Election. 

Once again, the fate of the nation and the next UK Prime Minister will be decided by some 160,000 Conservative Party members. They represent 0.3% of the UK total electorate. Demographically, the people who will decide who is to be the next UK Prime Minister, are male (63%). Some 39%, are aged 65+ (36% 25-49), and 80% are in the Upper, Middle, and Lower middle classes. Some 36%, live in London and the South and around 76%, voted to leave the E.U. and are pro-Brexit.

Coffey to use the unemployed as scabs and strikebreakers!

 

DWP MINISTER - THERESA COFFEY

Under new rules sneaked in by Therese Coffey, the DWP Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Universal Credit claimants will now be required to attend weekly compulsory intensive work regime sessions, beginning next month. This will also apply to people who have health problems. 

There are concerns that the government is intending to force the unemployed into filling  27,000 agency worker vacancies, which could form part of government plans to build an army of strike breakers and blacklegs to undermine industrial disputes. The Tory Government recently repealed Regulation 7 of the 'Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003', which prohibited employers from using agency workers to cover an employee who is taking part in a strike or industrial action. Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, recently informed British employers that the government had now introduced state-sanctioned strike breaking. He tweeted: 'This was a criminal offence. Now it's an option for business." 

Since the introduction of the Tory Industrial Relations Act of 1971, which saw British worker's imprisoned, successive Tory governments have pursued a 50-year-long crusade to neuter British trades unions, to make strikes more difficult, and to outlaw solidarity action and secondary picketing. The major objective was to give employers the greatest possible scope to prevent and break strikes, and to make it easier for Britain's bosses to sack workers and to unilaterally change their conditions of employment. 

As inflation spirals upwards into double digit figures and the cost of living goes through the roof, we are starting to see more industrial disputes as workers try to improve their pay and conditions or to resist pay cuts. The value of average wages in Britain, has fallen steadily for 12years. Many people are working for or near the National Minimum Wage of £9.50 an hour. Energy prices will increase by 80% from October and many people will unable to pay their fuel bills. This is also going to have a domino effect which will see businesses closing and workers laid off. Prices are likely to increase further as costs increase. 

At the same time, energy companies are making vast profits as consumer prices go stratospheric and C.E.O. salaries have risen by 39%, since last year. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), estimates that out-of-work working-age benefit claimants, are likely to see their real income fall by £12 p w. The IFS, estimate that in October, the poorest fifth of the population will face an inflation rate of 18% compared with a rate of 11% for the tip fifth of households.