I have just downloaded the Electoral Commission stats on donations for what looks like Q4 2023 and done some quick charts, I’ll put my spreadsheet up once I tidy it up. The Tories have collected a shed load of money, rich donors have failed to show up for Labour. Short money remains very important to…
Read moreEP Elections 2024
A note on the political manifestos of the EU parties.
Read moreBritain & sick pay
While considering motions to go to GMB’s National Congress, I and my comrades considered sick leave and sick pay. Some of the saddest stories I have from my time acting as an accompanying rep come from people who have been long term sick and thus suffered a serious decrement in their income.
Read moreLondon, Sadiq Khan & Brexit
Sadiq Kahn, the Mayor of London commissioned and released a report on the impact of Brexit on London. conducted by Cambridge Econometrics. This report was discussed at the London Assembly Economy Committee; I am trying to get the minutes or better the video recording. The Mayor issued a press release, on the report, entitled, New…
Read moreDown the rabbit hole
I am not sure where this started but I have known about Professor Danny Dorling‘s work for a number of years. He has written a book and authored a white paper called variously Shattered Nation or Shattered Britain. I watched the launch of AEIP’s joint report which he authored, “Brexit: A failed project in a…
Read moreBooze, weights and measures
The government have been consulting on weights and measures; to their chagrin the vast majority of those consulted want to keep grams and metres but they have decided to allow wine to be sold in pints, a measure enjoyed by Churchill.
Read moreCapitalism Divided
I am reading this, by Geoffrey Ingham and making some notes. At the moment, i.e. where I am in the book, he is examinimg why the British state is not acting as the executive committee of the [industrial] bourgoisie. As ever, here below or overleaf are my links and notes …
Read moreKier Starmer and Resolution Foundation
At the launch of the Resolution Foundation’s report, “Ending Stagnation”, [Press Release], they had a bunch of speakers, including Sir Kier Starmer, Labour’s Leader, whose speech is posted at Labour List. It seems Hunt was also there. Here are some notes and links …
Read moreVon der Leyen again
Ursula von der Leyen made a speech in which she said the EU had goofed up over Brexit. I have a number of articles collected in response to this speech, which I will add to this page at a later stage. But today I have reproduced an article entitled “Goofy” from EuroIntelligence, because it is…
Read morePolitics in Poland
What’s happening there? Tusk’s Centrist coalition has just won the election but I was challenged as to what I could do to help fight the far-right in Europe and given where I live and that the largest European ethnic minority in the UK is Polish, I thought I’d have a look at what’s happening there.
Read moreWho has the best song?
It seems Keir Starmer has chosen “Ode to Joy” as his choice as a representative song for the Labour Party, strangely given his “Not in 50 years” position, but it made me wonder who has the best anthem, I have made a little poll, sorry it’s a bit ugly but I don’t pay for the…
Read moreCatalonia
When the Catalunya independence movement made a declaration of independence, the reactions of the People’s Party led Spanish government were harsh and immediate. Today, the PSOE needs the votes of their successors to sustain their government. They are planning to pass an amnesty law, which the right wing opposition are calling an attack on the…
Read moreEU Reform
What chance is that there’ll be a convention and that the TEU will be amended progressively?
Read moreOn the legality of the Rwanda deportations
Two days after Sunak fires Braverman, predicted in the Guardian, the Supreme Court has ruled the Rwanda Scheme to be illegal. See below for details.
Read moreMoney & Lies in Starmer’s Labour Party
Novara Media point me at some work, presented in an article in the Times by Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke who track the role of Labour Together and its shady fund raising, Novara say, According to the Sunday Times account, between 2017 and 2020 McSweeney failed to declare £730,000 in donations from a slew of…
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