c-a-r-f-r-e-w
Member
A step on the way toward the demise of the liberal elite? Or just a blip…
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Aug 11, 2022 14:21:04 GMT
Gordon Brown’s recipe in the Guardian today… “So it is indeed urgent that the candidates to be prime minister – and the current prime minister and chancellor – meet to make not just one or two but several urgently needed decisions: to suspend and fundamentally reform the energy price cap; to agree October payments for those who will not be able to afford to turn up their heating; to home in on alternative supplies abroad and open up appropriate storage facilities at home; to agree voluntary energy reductions; and to help pay for these measures with a watertight windfall tax on energy companies and a tax on the high levels of City bonus payments. For if we could remove the opportunity to avoid or opt out, as we did when imposing the windfall tax on privatised utilities in 1997 and the banker bonus levy of 2009, we could raise not just £5bn but as much as £15bn. This would be enough, for example, to give nearly 8 million low-income families just under £2,000 each.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/10/tax-profits-freeze-energy-prices-bring-suppliers-into-public-sector-gordon-brown
|
|
c-a-r-f-r-e-w
Member
A step on the way toward the demise of the liberal elite? Or just a blip…
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Aug 11, 2022 14:23:02 GMT
Labour’s plan? labour.org.uk/members/campaignresources/campaignmaterials/costoflivingcrisis/?bsearch_highlightLabour’s plan to take real action now to tackle the Conservatives’ cost of living crisis:
- Cut VAT on home energy bills. - Save on energy bills now and in the longer term by insulating millions of homes. - Cut small business rates and support businesses through the cost of living storm. - Buy, make and sell more in Britain to create well-paid, secure jobs in every community.
|
|
|
Post by laszlo4new on Aug 11, 2022 14:27:04 GMT
Drought. For Hungary I could find only "10 years ago and now" satellite pictures. It is very telling. Still, a proxy measure is even more telling.
In 1990, the annual raspberry production was 30,000 tons (in 2000 it was 20,000 tons). Last year it was 500 tons, and less is expected for this year. The dominant cause is drought (although in the last few years the spotted wing drosophila appeared, and contributes to the fall in production).
The drought has been so effective that in the middle of the Great Plains (between the Danube and River Tisza) rain, irrigation, tree planting won't help (the latter would make it worse in this particular location), only regular, artificial flooding of the soil. It is feasible, just it is not economical because of the fragmented land ownership (the other alternative is the return of large scale outdoor cow herds).
In this terrible situation the Hungarian government removed the protection of all forests (in Hungary 40% of them are protected), and authorised ereasing of entire forests (supposedly for making winter heating cheaper). It is just beyond belief.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2022 14:27:17 GMT
Mark When Mercian is given the third degree and asked to account for his alleged hatred of humankind ,wouldn't it be fair , sensitive and humanitarian to alert him with a trigger warning of some sort. ? Or, as normal people might put it, was politely criticised for his lack of compassion (cunningly disguised as “wit”) for humans less fortunate than himself.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2022 14:39:11 GMT
I honourably concede defeat I thought you actually called us nut jobs but can't be bothered to go and check. By the way, I think Mercian has morphed into The Other Howard now.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2022 14:40:06 GMT
Crikey, temperature updates too now. I expect UKPR2s version of the speaking clock soon. If so, could I nominate Trev the Warnster? Get him back, he'd brilliant at it. "At the next stroke it will GSMT plus one less 13+ minutes and GDP minus two. Swingback plus 4 to follow." It's not cricket is it ?
|
|
c-a-r-f-r-e-w
Member
A step on the way toward the demise of the liberal elite? Or just a blip…
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Aug 11, 2022 14:44:06 GMT
The Governor only has one vote on the panel that sets interest rates. If the other 8 members of the panel had disagreed with him they would have voted through earlier interest rate rises. In fact, you could argue that they were almost all 'asleep at the wheel', because before the rises there were at most one or two in favour of a 0.25% rise, and no-one in favour of the 0.5% or 0.75% rises that we saw in the USA. Yes you're right, they were all asleep at the wheel, but the governor is the boss and should carry the can. They have a very simple job - to raise interest rates as soon as it looks like inflation is going up significantly over 2% in order to stop a spiral developing - and reducing them when it comes back down. Many economists, as well as colin and others on this site were saying they had to do it last year - but they just sat on their hands until it was too late. Except it’s not necessarily that efficacious to raise interest rates, esp. when you have the threat of stagflation (inflation with a potential recession) due to high commodity prices, since raising interest rates worsens the recessionary outlook. Thatcher had the highest interest rates ever in the history of the BoE, for quite a while, and inflation stayed stubbornly high, because it wasn’t caused by too much money sloshing about and bidding up prices (which interest rates might cure as it incentivises saving rather than borrowing to spend, thus reducing the money in circulation). It was caused instead by high energy prices in turn caused by issues abroad. (Though Heath’s miners’ strike temporarily exacerbated the energy shortage). Upping interest rates didn’t force global energy prices down, it just trashed our manufacturing sector. (Which might not be entirely unintentional, given an interest in undermining the unions and giving capital more clout under conditions of rising unemployment) Thatcher was saved by a collapse in oil prices as her first term ended, that killed off the inflation and ushered in a world boom, giving our economy a boost for which she wound up getting the credit.
|
|
|
Post by thexterminatingdalek on Aug 11, 2022 14:53:07 GMT
Can I just point out that reading lists are put together by module/course co-ordinators (i.e. the leading lecturer of the particular module or course) and not by the university, the faculty, the department or the subject area group? The only people who look at the reading lists are the librarians (as most need to be available online via a link on the module/course Blackboard page). I used to work in an academic bookshop at a prestigious business school, before this new fangled internet took off, and in the days when students bought physical books. Even though we were on the campus and knew all the lecturers, only one or two ever thought of giving us copies of their reading lists. Most remained unchanged from year to year, but there was always at least one curveball, usually a long out of print American title which never made it to the British Library, let alone the library on campus. Being at a prestigious business school, the MBA students were, with a few honourable exceptions in each cohort, spoiled sociopathic nutjobs. We had regular paddies at the start of every term and grew weary of explaining what out of print and simple phrases like "we cannot get this book for you no matter how much you shout at us" mean. Which is why, having lived and worked among these people, I can't watch The Apprentice, even ironically.
|
|
|
Post by crossbat11 on Aug 11, 2022 14:54:07 GMT
I honourably concede defeat I thought you actually called us nut jobs but can't be bothered to go and check. By the way, I think Mercian has morphed into The Other Howard now. An affectionate term really, Nick. That said, the poetry and song lyrics thing was a bit weird, wasn't it??
|
|
alurqa
Member
Freiburg im Breisgau's flag
Posts: 781
|
Post by alurqa on Aug 11, 2022 15:01:31 GMT
I find it really interesting that we rarely mention the really obvious issue of those companies which are both producers and suppliers of energy. I think, although someone else may have to check, that all the energy companies left in the market (except OVO?) are both. The producer arms are making huge profits at the expense of ordinary people and businesses. When my energy supply company went bust, we were transferred to British Gas, a company making huge profits and charging huge amounts for customers. There is of course no opportunity for the forseeable future to "shop around" and get off the highest tarrif. The energy price cap is not working in the way it should, it is no longer a reasonable maximum price per unit, but the de-facto profit maximisation price which all companies charge, and it will now be varied upwards every three months. In addition of course, the standing charge is not covered by the cap. The "market" is broken, capitalist privatisation has resulted in massive profit taking and penury for ordinary people. The only Company which seems to be actively investing in new generation facilities is ecotricity, which has a derogation from the cap. What a mess. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prize%3A_The_Epic_Quest_for_Oil%2C_Money%2C_and_PowerIn late 1950 the British were worried that Iran would nationalise the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), and America was worried about the Russians gaining control over it. AIOC was nationalised in 1951 and the British and CIA then organised a coup to put the Shah back on the throne and get 'their' company back. Iran didn't want any British involvement in their oil industry, even though it was down to the British that the industry existed at all. The US State Department then asked the major oil players in the US, who had recently formed Aramco in Saudi Arabia -- where virtually unlimited amounts of oil had recently been discovered -- to get involved in the AIOC, seeing it as strategically important to the US. They were unwilling on two counts. First, they were having to make an enormous capital investment into a trans-Arabian pipeline to get oil over to Lebanon where it could more easily be shipped to Europe. And second, the US Justice Department were conducting an anti-trust investigation into their collusion, keeping prices high in the US!! Oil has been both a boon and a curse, and in the US the problem stemmed from the competition between federal needs and individual state needs. It was only when the Attorney General guaranteed immunity in the anti-trust investigation with respect to AIOC that the companies acquiesced to government pressure. Being an oil executive is not an easy job!! The book is littered with examples like this. (Chapter 23 offers you the full, gory mess!)
|
|
|
Post by crossbat11 on Aug 11, 2022 15:05:24 GMT
Some weeks ago I said I was looking forward to the redoubtable Mick Lynch's verdict on the Tory leadership race. I expected it to be the definitive one really, and while he's probably said a lot more that I haven't either read or heard, I did hear this zinger from him the other day: -
" We've outsourced our choice of the next Prime Minister of this country to a Surrey Golf Club."
|
|
|
Post by alec on Aug 11, 2022 15:17:04 GMT
Haven't been through this is detail, but the authors say that their research into school mask mandates using populations of schools with mandates retained and removed clearly shows the benefits of masking in terms of reduced transmission, absences etc -
|
|
|
Post by hireton on Aug 11, 2022 15:19:27 GMT
colin You really don't read anything do you? There is no censorship. A book being taken off a reading list in preference for another is not censorship. You and the Time shave no evidence of censorship nor of your other word "deprivation". You are simply twisting the meaning of words to suit your prejudices which is very on trend for the Tory Party at the moment. But keep waging the war against woke it clearly makes you very happy. You are content with the removal and the trigger warnings in those institutions and settings. I am not. I leave the semantics of it to you. Thanks for agreeing that there is no censorship and no deprivation involved.
|
|
alurqa
Member
Freiburg im Breisgau's flag
Posts: 781
|
Post by alurqa on Aug 11, 2022 15:21:39 GMT
Mark When Mercian is given the third degree and asked to account for his alleged hatred of humankind ,wouldn't it be fair , sensitive and humanitarian to alert him with a trigger warning of some sort. ? Posts normally begin mercian. Does that count?
|
|
|
Post by alec on Aug 11, 2022 15:22:48 GMT
And last month, English ambulance waiting times for suspected heart attacks (cat 2 emergency) rose again to 59 minutes (that's the average, FFS) with 1 in 10 waiting for over 2 hours and ten minutes.
This is a perfect illustration of the impacts of failing to do anything to control covid transmission.
|
|
c-a-r-f-r-e-w
Member
A step on the way toward the demise of the liberal elite? Or just a blip…
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Aug 11, 2022 15:40:01 GMT
Some polling in 2020, asking why people favour nationalisation: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/privatisation-inequality-uk-nationalise-railway-pacer-trains-royal-mail-a9383056.html“ Voters believe that privatisation of public services has deepened regional inequality and “left behind” parts of Britain in the name of profit, new research has found.
Polling conducted by Survation asked members of the public why they supported the renationalisation of public services such as public transport, utilities and the Royal Mail.
The most popular reason given by supporters of public ownership was that extra funds should go back into services rather than to shareholders, with 41 per cent citing this as the reason for their support.
A roughly equal number, 40 per cent, also said they believe that “privately owned companies prioritise profitable areas over providing a good service to everyone”.” … “ The findings are interesting in the context of the government’s so-called “levelling up” agenda, under which ministers have pledged to help parts of the country that have done less well in recent decades.
It also gives a clue as to why support for public ownership is so high among supporters of all political parties – a fact of public opinion that flew under the radar for many years after privatisation.”… “Other popular reasons were that voters believed services were more accountable in the public sector, and that when privately owned services fail the public sector ends up picking up the cost anyway. Both these reasons were cited by 33 and 32 per cent of voters respectively.
29 per cent of voters said public ownership was a moral issue and that services should simply not be run for profit, while 22 per cent said the fact promises made at privatisation hadn’t been kept was important.
Claims that publicly run services would offer better value or higher standards were cited by only 17 per cent and 14 per cent of those who said they agreed – a relatively marginal reasoning.”
|
|
|
Post by guylemot on Aug 11, 2022 15:57:54 GMT
Can I just point out that reading lists are put together by module/course co-ordinators (i.e. the leading lecturer of the particular module or course) and not by the university, the faculty, the department or the subject area group? The only people who look at the reading lists are the librarians (as most need to be available online via a link on the module/course Blackboard page). Yes indeed laszlo4new The Times FOI requests were reported as sent to "individuals". And the the university personnel objecting to the requests on social media were all lecturers and "professors" It does ( as on other occasions of controversy) highlight the relationship and balance of competence between the institution and the academic staff . Interesting. …and from my experience of working in a HEI, foi requests are cascaded to module and course leaders from their manager. So the lecturers complaining on Twitter probably recognise that this foi would have been a complete waste of their resources. We amend reading lists all the time in response to changes in our disciplines.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2022 16:07:31 GMT
Truss (or Sunak of course) could really take advantage with a massive bail out of citizens, nationalise utilities and put up higher rate tax.
Steal the clothes that Starmer refuses to put on, and also steal the next election.
|
|
neilj
Member
Posts: 5,990
Member is Online
|
Post by neilj on Aug 11, 2022 16:10:27 GMT
Some polling
|
|
neilj
Member
Posts: 5,990
Member is Online
|
Post by neilj on Aug 11, 2022 16:12:36 GMT
More polling, surprised the substantial lead by Labour for lower taxes
|
|
|
Post by JohnC on Aug 11, 2022 16:21:15 GMT
I like the warning that comes up saying “This film contains language.” It was interesting to see the warning sticker that "That's TV" put on their showings of "Monty Python's Flying Circus". "This programme reflects the standards, language and attitudes of its time. Some viewers may find this content offensive." It struck me that the best parts of Monty Python came in the second half of the of the first series and through the second series. The "argument" sketch was a high point of the third series. I wonder which of today's popular programmes will carry that warning sticker in 50 years time?
|
|
pjw1961
Member
Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
Posts: 8,374
|
Post by pjw1961 on Aug 11, 2022 16:21:36 GMT
Truss (or Sunak of course) could really take advantage with a massive bail out of citizens, nationalise utilities and put up higher rate tax. Steal the clothes that Starmer refuses to put on, and also steal the next election. The co-author of Britannia Unchained will not be doing that.
|
|
|
Post by alec on Aug 11, 2022 16:26:01 GMT
neilj - fascinating that the polling seems to imply that "Opposes more covid restrictions" is a positive. That's really rather sad, but again, typical. Even the description of "covid restrictions" is loaded. We are talking about measures that enable more people to regain their freedoms to interact, help save the NHS, stop people dying, and that cost next to nothing, yet such measures are made out to be a bad thing.
|
|
oldnat
Member
Extremist - Undermining the UK state and its institutions
Posts: 6,082
|
Post by oldnat on Aug 11, 2022 16:26:39 GMT
c-a-r-f-r-e-w
From that report, "Claims that publicly run services would offer better value or higher standards were cited by only 17 per cent and 14 per cent of those who said they agreed – a relatively marginal reasoning."
In terms of water and sewage, that is perhaps surprising, considering that in the UK we have examples of these utilities being kept in public hands in Northern Ireland and Scotland, while England (or at least its Tory government) opted for a system of extreme privatisation found nowhere else.
While English water companies started off debt free (as the UKGov wrote off the public sector debts), make English consumers pay for system improvements and borrow heavily to pay dividends which are not clearly reported in their accounts - "As well as investing more, Scottish Water charges its users about 14% less than the English companies, has reduced its level of debt since 2009, and does not pay out dividends." (University of Greenwich)
werugreenwich.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/2022rev-34274-hall_water_and_sewerage_company_finances.pdf
That significantly better outcome is nothing to do with it being Scottish, but that it is a public sector company.
To renationalise water in England would not only require buying the equity in the companies, but paying off the high debt burden that has been used to pay shareholders.
alec might like to consider that, while running his tap [1] to rub his water wealth in the faces of those in drought stricken areas, that water is costing him more than it should.
[1] I'm sure he wasn't really, but perhaps it was "not very nice" and reminiscent of Bullingdon club members burning £20 notes in front of those living on the street.
|
|
pjw1961
Member
Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
Posts: 8,374
|
Post by pjw1961 on Aug 11, 2022 16:43:38 GMT
It was interesting to see the warning sticker that "That's TV" put on their showings of "Monty Python's Flying Circus". "This programme reflects the standards, language and attitudes of its time. Some viewers may find this content offensive." It struck me that the best parts of Monty Python came in the second half of the of the first series and through the second series. The "argument" sketch was a high point of the third series. I wonder which of today's popular programmes will carry that warning sticker in 50 years time? Attenborough's nature programmes probably - "Viewers may suffer emotional distress from seeing film of species, 80% of which are now extinct due to human caused climate change and habitat destruction".
|
|
|
Post by bardin1 on Aug 11, 2022 16:45:16 GMT
I wonder which of today's popular programmes will carry that warning sticker in 50 years time? Boris's parliamentary Questions speeches (I already find them offensive)
|
|
pjw1961
Member
Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
Posts: 8,374
|
Post by pjw1961 on Aug 11, 2022 16:50:38 GMT
I wonder which of today's popular programmes will carry that warning sticker in 50 years time? Boris's parliamentary Questions speeches (I already find them offensive) Not sure they count as a popular programme
|
|
|
Post by robbiealive on Aug 11, 2022 16:56:08 GMT
[b I wasn't allowed to watch Quatermass as it was too late on a Sunday? I think I hv just about got over the disappointment. Donlevy was a film favourite of mine. Tough fast-talking guy with a touch of humour. Like Cagney -- my hero-- he never got the girl. Donlevy was certainly a very hissable baddie, particularly memorable in the wonderful tragi-comic musical western Destry Rides Again. Re Cagney, you obviously haven't seen Footlight Parade for a while . Destry wonderful n has the best saloon brawl. Between two women; the town bad girl, Marlene, n good girl. Stewart ends up marrying good g but being wistful about Marlene. Who would not shed a tear when Dietrich is killed saving the town, when the women revolt against male violence. Cannot get hold of footlight parade.
|
|
|
Post by Mark on Aug 11, 2022 17:02:58 GMT
A quick then-and-now snapshot look at inflation.
Early 1990's
Pack of ciggies :£1.95 Mixed shish kebab : £3.80 Takeaway (Indian/Chinese) : £4.00 Chart CD : £13.99 Basic mobile phone : £50+ DVD Player : £200
Now
Basic mobile phone : £2.50 Chart CD : £7.99 Pack of ciggies :£12 Takeaway (Indian/Chinese) : £14 Mixed shish kebab : £15 DVD Player : £24.99
|
|
oldnat
Member
Extremist - Undermining the UK state and its institutions
Posts: 6,082
|
Post by oldnat on Aug 11, 2022 17:11:30 GMT
A straw poll from YouGov
|
|