MORE COMMENT ON THE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIANS

Labour must build on – not step back from – its commitments to immediate recognition of the state of Palestine and an end to the blockade, occupation and settlements as outlined in 2017 and 2019 Labour Manifestos, and in the motions overwhelmingly passed by the Party’s annual conferences in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Last June, the UN human rights commissioner, called on Israel to comply with international law after it launched deadly air strikes with helicopter gun  ships on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. This intervention barely made the news, and western politicians mostly ignored it.

Clearly encouraged, Benjamin Netanyahu them announced the building of 5,000  new homes in the occupied West Bank, a move which a US spokesperson criticised as undermining “the geographic viability of a two-state solution”,but which prompted little reaction elsewhere. All governments should have ben not merely calling on Israel to exercise restraint but demanding sanctions against it”.

Bernie Evans, The Guardian.

In June 1982, Palestinian gunmen attempted to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to the UK. Israel responded by invading Lebanon to attack PLO bases there, leading to many civilian casualties. The Thatcher Government’s response was rapid condemnation. And an Israel arms embargo was imposed which lasted until 1994.

Private Eye.

LIFTING THE LID ON THE MODERN VERSION OF ‘PENAL TRANSPORTATION’

• The numbers of those claiming asylum was lower in 2022 than some 20 years previously. What has changed is other routes being sealed off and the visibility of small boats. The real issue is the lack of legal routes.
• The largest single group crossing the channel are Afghans, fleeing the Taliban, but abandoned by the UK.
• “Sunak’s hare-brained plan to get round the Supreme Court is an emergency Bill, that designates Rwanda as safe and disapplies the Human Rights Act for the purposes of the legislation. Legal experts still think it would be in breach of international law”.

The Observer, Editorial.

THE TORY MISSION WAS TO EVISCERATE OUR SOCIAL FABRIC

First, embark on privatisation of what is essentially a public service, weaken regulation, then loosen or abandon financial controls.

This model has been repeated over the water industry, rail, health and probation, as well as the housing construction sector. The effect of this is to enfeeble public services and transfer the inevitable ensuing costs on to households and individuals and to divert the billions “saved” to the corporate sector while undertaxing it’s profits and executive salaries.

Question: What exactly is Labour going to do to address this? For sure, Labour’s Five Misions are not up to the job!

This article was based on an excellent letter in The Guardian.

THE DAMAGE THE TORIES HAVE WREAKED

The National Audit office has reported that Environment Agency flood defence plans have been cut by 40%. An extra 350,000 children fell into poverty in 2021-2022, largely because of the withdrawal of the Universal Credit uplift that kept families afloat during Covid. Benefit reductions have been targeted at, families with children. Whenever Sunak extols work, he seems not to know that 71% of poor children live in working families.

Schools have suffered a 9% reduction in real-terms funding and the education attainment gap is widening. Funding for parks has been cut, school playing fields sold off, swimming pools, youth centres and libraries closed. There are fewer children: the birth rate rose under Labour, but fell to its lowest level in two decades recently, with childcare and housing unaffordable. Cancer Research UK has estimated that there are 33,000 extra cases of cancer in the UK each year linked with deprivation.

THE DEPTH OF INEQUALITY – SOME TORIES ARE PREPARED TO SPEAK THE TRUTH

This is what Penny Mourdant, Tory MP, had to say a few months ago – “For those with, the least, the whole system can seem rigged against them… The very continuation and success of capitalism hangs in the balance”.

What worries Penny has been spelled out very clearly by Nesrine Malik, an investigative journalist.

• Since the onset of the pandemic, the world’s richest 1% have captured nearly twice as much new wealth as the rest of the world’s population combined – their fortune rocketing by $26 trillion. The super rich benefit from lack of regulation and low taxation on wealth.
• A key factor is the diminished bargaining power of labour. “Weak, labour is cheap labour”. In 2021, an investigation discovered that in the UK Amazon was by passing its own employment standards and hiring (via agencies) thousands of employees on zero-hours contracts  with no employment protections.
• A key pillar propping up global inequality is tax avoidance. Oxfam has revealed that no less than 143 of 161 countries actually froze tax rates for the rich during the pandemic and 11 countries reduced them.

The whole sorry state of affairs has been summed up by Peter Goodman (author of: “Davos Man : How the Billionaires Devoured the World”).

“Quite simply, wealthy people have used their wealth to purchase democracy, to warp democracy in their own interests”.

Sadly, Starmer and Reeves seem to have no real understanding of all this.

“TAX US MORE FOR THE GREATER GOOD” – THE SUPER RICH TELL THE GOVERNMENT LEADERS PRESENT AT DAVOS

Per the TUC, a mere 1.7% wealth tax on the richest 140,000 people in the UK could raise more than £10 billion, given that the richest 250 UK families have a combined wealth of some £748 billion.

KEIR STARMER’S “FALSE DICHOTOMY”

“Keir Starmer is framing Labour as “economically responsible”, with a focus on growth rather than “big spending”, and is scaling back or delaying previous commitments, including a green prosperity fund. While Sunak’s plans show a lack of confidence in the state’s role in the economy, Starmer’s are falling victim to a false dichotomy between spending and growth…In my 2013 book, The Entrepreneurial State; Dunking Public v Private Sector Myths, I made the case for governments to invest (rather than cut) their way to growth…The importance of taking an active hand in the UK economy is not about big v small government; rather it is about advocating for smart capable governments that understand their role in directing growth.

Unless this direction is aligned with sustainability, health and inclusion goals, a thriving, resilient economy will remain elusive”.

Professor Mariana Mazzucato, economist, The Guardian.

“LESSONS FROM HISTORY”

“Ultimately, finance is a trick performed by a bad conjuror. We lend our savings to banks, who then lend it on to City and international money markets etc. The banks expect (hope!) that we don’t all  demand our money back at once. Most times it works but occasionally, disastrously, it all goes wrong!! – long queues at banks and banks going bust.”

Quote from the Investors’ Chronicle.

A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW THE MEDIA DISTORTS EVENTS

Lest we forget, the classic example of media distortion, was during the miners’ strike, when on TV it showed miners throwing things at the police and then the police on horseback charging at the miners. In reality, the order of events was the reverse of those on TV.

FINALLY, A KEY QUOTE AND A KEY QUESTION

“Trust in politics is now so low, so degraded, that nobody believes anyone can make a difference”.

Sir Keir Starmer

QUESTION – “Will Sir Keir make much (any!) difference?”