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| Total Unique Visitors: 5395 |
| Visitors Out: 233 |
| Total Visitors Out: 233 |
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| A Bill Off Balance |
| 2008-06-26 16:45:40 |
Controversy once more within the comments pages as Labour today announced the introduction of a bill designed to allow 'positive discrimination' in favour of women and ethnic minorities. Harriet Harman wheeled out the latest government addition to the statute book under the guise of an enhancement to equal opportunities laws, but in the eyes of many pundits this is another government miscalculation. Instead of nods of approval for Labour's noble efforts to bring equality to the workplace, there was derision at what is seen by many as another blow for the silent majority. The Daily Express headlined with 'White Men Face Jobs Ban', while a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development advisor remarked that she thought the bill 'incoherent' and risked introducing a 'box-ticking approach ...
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| The Exercise in Futility |
| 2008-06-22 10:33:13 |
Gordon Brown will by now, one presumes, be starting to appreciate the futility of his mission to the Middle East. With despondency amongst his cabinet, mutterings of revolution within the backbench ranks and evaporation of goodwill from the electorate, it's not clear precisely what audience he is playing to. He would like us to see his trip to Jeddah to persuade OPEC oil producers of his 4-point plan to ease world oil market mayhem as befitting the experienced statesman he sees himself to be. He is acting as though his guests have a scintilla of empathy with his aims, and as though his domestic protagonists will see the move as anything greater than a vain attempt to be seen to be doing something, anything to shift the focus away from him and his increasingly tenuous administration. Brown...
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| Chicken, Egg, Scrambled Message |
| 2008-06-18 18:04:24 |
Alistair Darling can only be applauded for trying. In his Mansion House speech he called on employers and employees, private and public sector, to exercise restraint over pay increases. A valiant but vain attempt to curb inflationary pressures bubbling up from the workplace in a way not seen for over 15 years. The news that Shell tanker drivers had received a 2-year 14% pay deal must have been greeted with a grimace by the Chancellor as he prepared to convince City bigwigs that pay must be controlled. And with the Bank of England Governor's inflation letter in his pocket, announcing the CPI has breached 3.3%, perhaps even Alistair could be forgiven for disbelieving his own message. Inflation, once it gets a foothold, is self-perpetuating - as we all know. As fuel, food and housing costs...
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| Randomly Muttering Again |
| 2008-06-15 08:17:12 |
The Shell tanker drivers strike continues, and confirms the pernicious attitude of both the drivers themselves and their myopic Unite representatives. Secondary strikes are adding to the disruption, with BP drivers reportedly joining in and secondary picketing sparking up at fuel depots. Thanks to labour laws that protect these guys from intervention from their employers it isn't possible to do the sensible thing and sack or suspend them, to allow replacements to be brought in. So Joe Average, already pushed around with scandalous petrol prices and looking forward to a seaside summer break to beat the air fuel surcharges, now faces the prospect of getting no fuel at all. Going to be some unhappy kids this vacation. These drivers already earn way over the national average for doing a job...
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| Stand, and Deliver the Fuel! |
| 2008-06-13 16:23:27 |
Shell tanker drivers are hell bent on holding the UK to ransom to squeeze a pay increase from their employers. Incenced and goaded by their union, Unite, they today failed to agree to a 6.8% pay rise that would put driver's on a basic pay of £39,000 per annum - before overtime.We need tanker drivers. No one would deny them a decent wage. But consider, by way of comparison, what other trades and professions earn - take a look at the table for some typical examples: Notice anything? If your work means you may get killed for your country, have to work long hours in a hospital mending people, meant you had to slave for years to earn professional qualifications or must work long or unsociable hours to cart drunks around on public transport then you must be feeling a bit of a mug right now. Al...
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| Oiling the Bicycle |
| 2008-06-07 14:00:41 |
In the basic economic theory of supply and demand, prices rise when there are more people wanting to buy than there is capacity for sellers to sell. Likewise, when there is a glut of product available prices fall to entice more buyers. So much for theory. How does this apply to oil? The world's demand for oil is not subject to such simple laws. Despite the USA's dominance in world consumption, growth in demand in China and India particularly over the last decade has surged. It must be said that much of this increased consumption is simply from the displacement of industry from the west to the east; as factories close in Birmingham and open in Guangzhou, the requirement for oil to fuel production and transport moves too. But the increased opulence and rapid move to a more capi...
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| Plug. |
| 2008-06-05 16:44:43 |
NoBollocksPolitics has been soiling the bedlinen of the political blogosphere for a little while now, and is steadily picking up readers. Or at least there are people who are freakishly unable to remove me from their feed list. If you find an idle moment while you're waiting for your beer to warm up or your cappuccino to cool down, why not come over to NoBollocksPolitics and catch up on previous mutterings. All comments welcome so long as they are words of more than 4 letters. Free speech required and admired. nbp.......
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| Random Mutterings |
| 2008-06-04 17:10:02 |
Some thoughts meandering through my mind from recent news stories. Firstly, the attempts by some - principally Bob Crow of the RMT - to lay the blame for the tube 'alcohol ban' disturbances at the door of London Mayor Boris Johnson. Following Johnson's announcement that a ban would be put in place, a social website-driven party was organised by, one assumes, well meaning fun seekers to mark the event with a final drinking session on the trains. Predictably it turned to violence and anti-social behaviour amongst the cretinous types that get drawn to this sort of thing. Mr Crow should point his finger in the right direction. Johnson's intentions are honourable and he should not be held responsible for the disgraceful behaviour of a few morons. Bravo Boris for taking the decision to help ge...
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| Love, love me do |
| 2008-05-31 15:10:27 |
Labour just wants to be loved. But it seems that whatever populist move the party makes just now, there are as many people showing derision as delight. Brown's announcement that he has instigated measures to help the 'fuel poor’ is a case in point. Many blame the government for the sorry state of the nation, including the economic hardships faced by many in the face of rising food and energy bills. Perhaps that's a little harsh - the world markets, substantially to blame for these price rises, are hardly under the control of UK politicians. But the public certainly have a reasonable gripe when it comes to high taxation, the spiraling costs of benefits and allowances, the daylight robbery of petrol duties and VAT and ever growing local government costs...
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| React for goodness sake! |
| 2008-05-28 14:59:31 |
What's all the fuss about nuclear power? There's not enough of it for one thing. As one of the pioneers in the field, Britain was among the first countries in the world to develop commercial nuclear power plants in the forties and fifties. Right up until the mid-80's, nuclear was seen as the way of the future for a UK that was powerful, independent and forward looking. But by the time of the Chernobyl disaster, with environmental groups waging war on the industry and fossil fuel prices having stabilised after the 70's oil shortages, nuclear was starting to lose favour. Britain opened its last nuclear power station, Sizewell B, in 1994. But by then the appetite for nuclear power was all but dead. And New Labour was not too keen to give it the kiss of life. Currently we have a handful of...
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| Pigs have more pride |
| 2008-05-25 16:19:44 |
So the expenses and allowances of our MPs are being revealed. How many of us are genuinely surprised to hear that some bare-faced cheek has been applied by our representatives when making their claims against the public purse? What's that I hear? Silence. Some examples: Health Minister Ann Keen drawing £100k allowances against the procurement of a luxury Westminster flat; she and her husband insuring their lives for £430k and claiming the premiums; David Cameron claiming £1,742 per month on mortgage payments; Margaret Beckett's £19,000 claims for housing costs, including 120 visits by her gardener. All of today's papers have a set of favourite 'shocker' claims to report. It's clear why MPs were so reluctant for this information to be revealed, and their spending over ...
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| Arrivederci Milano |
| 2008-05-25 14:20:24 |
I recently visited Milan on business, so thought I'd share some brief observations.The first thing that you notice is the general smartness of the people. Designer clothes abound, people take pride in their appearance. Considering the high cost of clothing this is praise indeed! Versace, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada - everyone seems to enjoy being stylish.There is little litter on the streets. There is graffiti, though it tends to be artistic rather than crude.At night I walked between restaurants and bars without concern for my safety. There is a high police presence on the streets. The local police patrol on foot or by bicycle; the Polizei and Carabinieri are highly visible, particularly in the city centre. Most police officers carry firearms.Young soldiers are often to be seen in ...
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| Beautiful Backhand |
| 2008-05-17 10:56:43 |
Thank you Heather Brooke, Ben Leapman and Jonathan Ungoed-Thomas.Through dogged determination these three individuals have brought about a landmark change in the way our present and future politicians will conduct themselves.Brooke, Leapman and Ungoed-Thomas used the Freedom of Information legislation to request detailed information about the expenses claimed by a sample of MPs, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Opposition Leader David Cameron.The House of Commons objected, particularly on the question of revealing expenses and allowances paid for MPs’ second homes on the grounds that the request was “intrusive” and that security might be compromised. But yesterday the High Court ruled that the information must be disclosed by the end of next week.Doubtless there are many MPs...
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| Sink the Bismarck! |
| 2008-05-15 16:45:07 |
Is there any chance of redemption for Gordon Brown? To read the headlines it is more like resurrection than redemption that is needed. Throughout his time as Chancellor, with the winds of economic growth, negligible inflation and historically low interest rates pushing him along, he comfortably balanced the books of the country and rejoiced in his own competence. He liked to be known as the ‘Iron Chancellor’ – a moniker purloined from Otto von Bismarck, the 19th century Prussian statesmen responsible for German unification (the first time around). But will Brown share the fate of Bismarck’s namesake battleship from WWII, destined to be holed below the waterline and sunk without a trace in these choppy political waters? In the ‘nice decade’ as Mervyn King, the Bank of En...
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| Tears in the Rain |
| 2008-05-11 13:42:11 |
Blogs and newspaper comments pages are today dominated with an outpouring of outrage, sadness, despair and sympathy following the death of a young man, Jimmy Mizen. 16 year old Jimmy was attacked and brutally killed by an as yet unidentified assailant. The attacker had been threatening the staff of a baker's shop and Jimmy stepped in to defend them. For his bravery he was rewarded with a slash across his throat with a piece of glass that left him dying in the arms of his brother. For many people this death, if none before have done so, epitomises what is wrong with law and order today. Described as a gentle giant, altar boy Jimmy was arguably an example of what is best in our younger generation and a stood as a stark contrast to the so-often reported violent youth culture that shames B...
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| In Respect of: Respect |
| 2008-05-10 15:26:35 |
Respect. What is it, who should have it, is there enough of it and what does it matter? Respect - in my attempt at a definition - is about recognising the rights of others to not be imposed upon, adversely affected by, be fearful of or suffer from you or your actions. It is a building block of civilised society (there's that word again!) and is more notable by its absence than its presence. Who should have it? Everyone, for if respect is not equally and equitably applied to all, by all, then it has no worth. It is fundamental that respect is to be given to everyone who deserves it. Most people will have similar views on these points, I guess. The question of whether there is enough respect in today's busy world is hotly debated. Here's my view. You ...
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| Lost-Benefit Analysis |
| 2008-05-07 17:58:19 |
A Government initiative I endorse? Whatever next!http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7387042.stmA scheme to catch out benefit cheats by using lie-detection equipment to analyse their voices over the telephone made the papers today. Seven councils have trialled the system and savings are being claimed of hundreds of millions of pounds as a result. The Home Office has decided to roll out the programme around the country. The national saving could theoretically run to billions.But there are naysayers afoot. The TUC claims that some honest claimants might be scared off making their legitimate claims for fear of being wrongly labeled as a fraud. The proponents of the scheme counter that anyone with nothing to hide has nothing to fear.To be honest, I'm not completely oblivious to the 'trampling on ci...
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| Fiddling while Feedburner Burns |
| 2008-05-05 17:32:02 |
The observant (or plain bored) among you will notice that I have added Feed links, so if you want your NBP delivered to your News Reader or to email, click away.Back with more political stuff soon.........
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| NBP :) BNP :( |
| 2008-05-03 17:20:46 |
The recent council elections across the UK this week have seen radical change imposed on the local political landscape, and the real prospect of change nationally in a general election. Labour took a predicted drubbing and lost many council seats, in general being picked up by Conservatives and to a lesser degree, the Liberals. There was little surprise in these results; Labour has been in power centrally for 11 years and is suffering from the voter fatigue that so often brings to a close the political lives of long-term incumbents. A series of well publicized gaffs, most recently the 10p tax rate fiasco, were also prominently in voters’ minds. And Gordon Brown’s personal credibility and integrity has been called into question repeatedly since he came to office in his ‘coronati...
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| The 42 Day War |
| 2008-04-30 15:46:46 |
I’ve spoken before about the needs of the many outweighing those of the few. Specifically, is it acceptable to infringe the liberty of individuals in order to make the lives of the greater public better, or safer? Last time I was talking about restrictions on underage drinkers on our streets. This time I’d like to comment on something altogether more serious – detention without charge for suspected terrorists.There is a running debate in the corridors and chambers of Westminster and across the pages of our newspapers, about the Government’s proposals to extend the powers of the police to detain suspects for a longer period of time before charging them. Currently a suspect can be held for 28 days, but the plan is to increase this to 42 days. Note that this is in cases of suspected i...
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| The Right to be Different |
| 2008-04-28 16:31:05 |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7370637.stmBoys sentenced over Goth murderI blogged earlier about this case and promised to return to it when sentencing had been handed down. Today the main teenage perpetrators of this heinous murder were given prison terms of 18 and 16 years. For a pointless and savage crime this is, in my humble opinion, barely the minimum acceptable tariff for these lowlifes. But Judge Russell should be commended for at least trying to fit the punishment to the crime, and for explaining (as best as is possible to young men of such low intellect) the error of their ways.I fear that there is little that explanation will have achieved, however. I grow increasingly convinced that logic and a sense of what is right, what is wrong, is devoid in certain sections ...
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| When you shake a politician’s hand, count your fingers |
| 2008-04-27 16:33:21 |
We are repeatedly told by the government that their good management of the economy over the last 11 years has ensured that we are in strong financial shape as a nation. And there is a lot of evidence that the economy is fundamentally strong, with relatively low interest rates and good employment numbers. Whether or not you put that strength down to Gordon Brown’s abilities, there are some questions you might want to ask. And like any financial advisor I’d caution that past performance is no guide to the future.“NBP, you old cynic!” I hear you cry. Well it wouldn’t be me if I was prepared to accept everything the politicos tell me. If our economy is well placed to weather the current financial storms, then please tell me:Where is all the VAT from food cost increases going?Where is...
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| Remove sock, take aim, FIRE! |
| 2008-04-24 05:36:17 |
You don’t have to look far in the world of politics to find some of the ‘B’ in this blog’s title. Almost by definition, politics is about not quite telling the truth, not really revealing your intentions. And occasionally, outright lying.Take dear old Gordon for instance. Back in his halcyon days as Chancellor he brought in his Tory-killing, poverty-stomping 10% starting income tax rate. Millions of people would be all but taken out of the tax system, goodness and light would prevail all around. Fast-forward a few years and the lovable old Scottish dear thought up an even better ruse. Axe the 10% tax rate and reduce the basic rate from 22% to 20%. What a masterstroke. The first reduction in the basic rate of income tax in, well a bloody long time. (OK, 75 years – I looked it up.)...
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| Laughing all the way to the Bank of England |
| 2008-04-21 16:06:12 |
So the banking sector is getting a bail out from the UK taxpayer. 50 big ones – billions of pounds that is.Now consider the following scenarios:1) The mortgage debt that the banks are being allowed to exchange for government bonds is not ‘damaged goods’ in any way. It is, and always was, worth substantially all of its value in the banks’ balance sheets before the credit crunch.2) The mortgage debt that the banks are being allowed to exchange for government bonds is ‘damaged goods’. It is worth substantially less than its value in the banks’ balance sheets before the credit crunch.Choose a scenario, any scenario. OK, you picked 1). Does the fact that these mortgage assets are unimpaired tell you that in reality the credit crunch was, and is, lar...
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| The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy |
| 2008-04-16 18:15:39 |
Credit crunch. Financial meltdown. Recession. Depression. Worst economic outlook since the 30's.The effects are here to see - property slump, stock market volatilty, mortgage availability drying up. No-one seriously denies that the economy in the UK, like that of our former colonial friends across the water, faces some real challenges right now.Most pundits lay the blame at the door of the US (and to a lesser extent British) banking sector, which was seemingly only too willing over the last decade or so to lend money to, as it turned out, uncreditworthy housebuyers.The newsreels scream of impending doom, TV economists are wheeled out on every news programme to make us squirm with prophecies of job losses, house repossessions, rampant inflation and economic doldrums.People love to frighten ...
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| A Drain on Society |
| 2008-04-13 14:12:07 |
The UK press is today rife with vitriol aimed at the mother of Shannon Matthews, in custody and under suspicion of complicity in the kidnapping of her daughter. Allegations abound, including questions about family attempts to obtain access to community funds given to help in Shannon's recovery. It is even reported that the trustees of the Find Madeleine (McCann) fund were approached for cash. However this case, absorbing though it is from a criminal law point of view, is raising at least as many questions concerning the lifestyle supposedly led by Karen Matthews and her partner.Of course facts are difficult to come by, and as a NoBollocksPolitician I am loath to speculate where facts are lacking. But there are important questions to be answered and facts to be sought - not particularly abo...
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| Spread a Litter Love |
| 2008-04-12 04:08:54 |
A lot of people talking about litter lately. Bill Bryson and his 3-year clean up plan. New fines for drivers throwing litter from car windows.When I was a schoolboy I had a teacher who once promised a shiny 50p piece to any member of the class who could ever catch him dropping litter. No one ever did.When I was at college, one day a tiny old lady watched as my friends and I threw empty chip wrappers on the floor. This plucky old dear, half our size, came to us and asked us why we didn't just put them in the litter bin yards away. Shamed, we picked them up and walked to the bin. I have never littered since.So what does it take to persuade our public that littering is wrong? What is the difference between my biology teacher and the little old chip lady, and the thousands who blithely throw c...
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