European Commission expects no growth, and no hope
Reading through the European Commission’s Autumn Forecast for 2011-2013 doesn’t inspire too much by way of optimism.
The recovery of the EU economy, as it points out in the first line of the press release, has stopped.
Growth for 2012 is forecast as half a per cent, rising by 1 per cent in 2013. Investment will either be postponed or cancelled, banks will restrict lending, confidence will only return once these problems are rectified and we are facing a mutually afflictive “viscious cirlce”.
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Why the Met’s deployment of rubber bullets is very worrying
Though the tactic of kettling was devised under former Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone’s term, and used before recent student demonstrations (notably as a means of keeping EDL thugs from clashing with counter protests), it was still a shock the first time I saw it being used on young people, who were visibly scared and certainly no threat.
On more than one occasion I have seen tensions rise, not before, but as a consequence of, the tactic of kettling.
It was my opinion at the time that police were using kettling as a way of putting young people off protesting.
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Eric Pickles’ latest wheeze: ensuring poorer areas get left behind
Communities Minister Eric Pickles has revealed that councils will be able to keep the rates they raise from local businesses, a change from the current system which sees councils collect rates on behalf of central government, which then redistributes it to councils according to population size.
But critics have pointed out that poorer areas will benefit the least, since they’re the ones having difficulties in attracting local business.
Pickles has promised central government will pay a fee to councils as a safety net, in case business rates fall – but this will not suffice to cover costs in area improvements or bids to attract businesses.
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The Orwell Prize, Johann Hari and nicking words
Man writes amazing words. Man wins prize for writing amazing words. We later find out that man’s words are stolen from another man’s book. You may think I’m referring to Johann Hari, but in actual fact this is an account of George Orwell.
It is widely recognised that the plot of Nineteen Eighty-Four (man lives in totalitarian society, has instincts towards rebellion, is encouraged by female companion to write down thoughts of rebellion, system finds the man and woman, brainwashes man into believing he loves the system he lives in) is identical to Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novel We, originally published in English in 1924.
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‘Chavs’ and the assault on the working class: A review
‘Chav’ is that rare beast, denoting a section in society which almost nobody would want to touch with a bargepole, but yet, or so according to Owen Jones, has a well-defined target, at least as far as the mainstream media is concerned, as the newly consumerised working classes – and even in some cases the lower class made good.
Though, rather than being a category worthy of collected denunciation, ‘chav-bashing’ is a concerted campaign against the working class itself.
The fact that many working class people would choose not to identify with the term is important in the way it has been used by many middle class people and self-appointed ‘neo-snobs’.
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Could the BMA seriously disrupt Lansley’s plans for the NHS?
This morning the FT reports that Andrew Lansley has opened the door to further concessions on the NHS bill, as Libdem members “rejected his sweeping reform plans”.
Already a bad day for the UK health minister. Then at around 11.45am, 15 March, the British Medical Association (BMA) “voted to call upon Andrew Lansley to withdraw the bill” adding that “any willing provider will hurt the provision of healthcare in the NHS in favour of private industry“.
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Libya and its oil: reason enough not to interfere?
One thing supporters of liberal intervention in 2003 did, as part of their campaign to convince the left they were right, was try and forget that it was a US neo-con Christian with a history in oil deals taking forces into Iraq.
For them, it didn’t matter who was going to take out Saddam Hussein, just as long as somebody did; their left wing credentials, they supposed, were still intact. Unfortunately for them they were wrong. So should there be similar concerns about Libya?
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Why even Conservatives should support Stella Creasy this Thursday
This Thursday a motion from Stella Creasy MP and Justin Tomlinson MP will be moved in the House of Commons calling for Government to give regulators the power to cap the total cost for credit.
In brief, the consumer credit (regulation and advice) bill seeks to integrate credit services with the post office network, impose a levy on consumer credit agencies to fund debt counselling and advice services, and give councils greater powers to regulate the amount of credit agencies in their local area.
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Support the UCL Occupation
The wry protest songs, satirical posters and occasional smiles on the faces of students involved in the occupation of UCL, Jeremy Bentham room, does not take away from the fact that the room is a place of constant work, intense planning, sporadic meetings and tweeting (something which Channel 4 have now congratulated the occupiers on).
One moment there is an English Literature lecturer admitting his flaws as a protestor and his dislike of filmic depictions of Maoists, and then even before you have time to put on a second jumper in the bitter cold, a group has formulated to discuss the next way of attracting media attention and capturing the hearts and minds of the public. continue reading… »
Coalition should be cautious about today’s GDP growth figures
Today’s GDP growth figures act as a Rorschach test; the coalition government and its supporters see growth at 0.8% in the third quarter of 2010, and growth for the last six months at 2%. What the opposition will see is a drop of 0.4% when between April and June growth was positioned at 1.2%.
Since growth was forecasted far lower than expected, many – such as Vince Cable, who was said to have a big smile on his face this morning, probably because it will make for easy smoke and mirrors. ‘Look we can cut and grow, it’s easy.’
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» Why Quantitative Easing doesn’t make common sense
» Barclays was also bailed out – Diamond doesn’t deserve a bonus
» Ten myths about private rented housing
» Even on the left, morality has its limits
» The NHS bill could be a Waterloo moment for the govt
» Ken Livingstone and gay rights – it just isn’t an issue
» Abu Qatada deportation: what about our principles?
» New study shows a Robinhood tax would boost growth
» In defence of Sky News’ re-Tweeting ban
» Another reason to continue banker bashing
» An attack on the wind industry is an attack on UK jobs
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