http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/dec/31/labour-class-war-private-schools
I'm amazed Mr Jones managed to keep a straight face for the photo.
He manages to simultaneously work in a claim that many parents who send their children to private schools make 'huge sacrifices' to do so while also accusing Labour of returning to 'Class War' by considering ending tax breaks (that favourite tool of oppression of revolutionary parties!).
Surely if anybody who is willing to sacrifice can make use of private school services then there is no 'class' here to be victimised. That argument only holds together if such schools really are over privileged havens for grooming the children of the rich.
Typical woolly-headed thinking from a defender of the establishment.
P.s. Happy New Year to one and all. Please consider not voting Conservative or UKIP as a potential new year's resolution.
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
Saturday, 6 December 2014
Russia today, Britain tomorrow
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30326253
Putin's economy is in a mess due mainly to his alienation of key trading partners in America and Europe (unless you subscribe to the fantasy that OPEC are keeping oil prices down as an early Christmas present to all the motorists and industrialists out there).
The British coalition government should be carefully taking notes. A departure from Europe would not piss the international community off as much as Russia's annexation of Crimea and blatant intervention in Ukraine but no amount of austerity scrimping will suffice if we too succeed in annoying our main trading partners.
Putin's economy is in a mess due mainly to his alienation of key trading partners in America and Europe (unless you subscribe to the fantasy that OPEC are keeping oil prices down as an early Christmas present to all the motorists and industrialists out there).
The British coalition government should be carefully taking notes. A departure from Europe would not piss the international community off as much as Russia's annexation of Crimea and blatant intervention in Ukraine but no amount of austerity scrimping will suffice if we too succeed in annoying our main trading partners.
Wednesday, 22 October 2014
Miliband forgot the economy!
So I tuned into Prime Minister's Question Time last weekend - mainly to see Cameron get the kicking he royally deserved for hiring a welfare minister who thinks that it is acceptable to indicate that the disabled may not be worth paying a minimum wage (http://stochasticreview.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/lord-freuds-slip.html).
However, I was astonished to find that the Tories are still droning on about Miliband's accidential omission of mention of the deficit in his Manchester speech in late September. "I hope Ed remembers to attend the doctor's appointment for his sore throat" quips the intolerably smug Prime Minister in a show of mock sympathy for Miliband.
Insincere condolences are something that Britain has got used to under the Coalition. Perish the thought but some of us might even think we can afford to forget the economy every now and again rather than using austerity to justify a barrage of policies that keep the poor unsupported, vital national services privatised and growing numbers of young people excluded from adequately renumerative employments or affordable housing.
... but then such thinking goes against the austerity play book in an election where Cameron seems determined to pander to the privileged and/or UKIP supporters.
However, I was astonished to find that the Tories are still droning on about Miliband's accidential omission of mention of the deficit in his Manchester speech in late September. "I hope Ed remembers to attend the doctor's appointment for his sore throat" quips the intolerably smug Prime Minister in a show of mock sympathy for Miliband.
Insincere condolences are something that Britain has got used to under the Coalition. Perish the thought but some of us might even think we can afford to forget the economy every now and again rather than using austerity to justify a barrage of policies that keep the poor unsupported, vital national services privatised and growing numbers of young people excluded from adequately renumerative employments or affordable housing.
... but then such thinking goes against the austerity play book in an election where Cameron seems determined to pander to the privileged and/or UKIP supporters.
Wednesday, 15 October 2014
Lord Freud's slip
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29628557
In before the newspaper cartoonists - now that's what you call a Freudian slip!
But seriously we didn't need one idiot minister to let us know how the government plans to treat the disabled if they win re-election. Their current moves to reduce benefits for all those who need them whether they are working or unemployed, disabled or fit, shows how little concern they have for such groups.
In before the newspaper cartoonists - now that's what you call a Freudian slip!
But seriously we didn't need one idiot minister to let us know how the government plans to treat the disabled if they win re-election. Their current moves to reduce benefits for all those who need them whether they are working or unemployed, disabled or fit, shows how little concern they have for such groups.
Sunday, 12 October 2014
Of Tokyo and Foster Parents
Sadly I wasn't quite as thrilled with the second outing for the Peaky Blinders as I was with the action-packed return of the series.
Don't get me wrong - I am interested in Arthur's growing psychopathy and the fate of Polly's adopted children but I would have liked to see further developments in the Irish and London expansion elements of the plot. One growly meeting with Tom Hardy in a London distillery was pretty much all we got this time around (though kudos to the producers for featuring a Jewish gang that look like real 20th century immigrants rather than being exclusively Haredi with side curls).
Still this caveat is more personal taste than anything and I'm definitely looking froward to the next episode and (hopefully) a restored focus on Campbell's intrigue and brawling with Italian crime bosses.
Don't get me wrong - I am interested in Arthur's growing psychopathy and the fate of Polly's adopted children but I would have liked to see further developments in the Irish and London expansion elements of the plot. One growly meeting with Tom Hardy in a London distillery was pretty much all we got this time around (though kudos to the producers for featuring a Jewish gang that look like real 20th century immigrants rather than being exclusively Haredi with side curls).
Still this caveat is more personal taste than anything and I'm definitely looking froward to the next episode and (hopefully) a restored focus on Campbell's intrigue and brawling with Italian crime bosses.
Friday, 3 October 2014
Explosive start to the second series of Peaky Blinders
(Spoilers ahead - be warned)
Absolutely fucking fantastic first episode! The twist before the credits rolled dragged you in nice and fast and the promise of a simultaneous expansion into the vicious gang politics of 1920s London and the politics of the Irish civil war should ensure that the series remains fresh.
Admittedly it seemed a bit cheesy that both Grace and Campbell survived the shooting incident at the end of the first series. We hadn't previously been given any evidence that Grace was the sort of double agent that would fail to finish off a dangerous and ruthless opponent. However, when it means that we get another series of three great central characters facing off against each other you can hardly bemoan the methods.
All in all I'm not sure that this episode could have been bettered. Let's hope the series shapes up well after this early promise!
Absolutely fucking fantastic first episode! The twist before the credits rolled dragged you in nice and fast and the promise of a simultaneous expansion into the vicious gang politics of 1920s London and the politics of the Irish civil war should ensure that the series remains fresh.
Admittedly it seemed a bit cheesy that both Grace and Campbell survived the shooting incident at the end of the first series. We hadn't previously been given any evidence that Grace was the sort of double agent that would fail to finish off a dangerous and ruthless opponent. However, when it means that we get another series of three great central characters facing off against each other you can hardly bemoan the methods.
All in all I'm not sure that this episode could have been bettered. Let's hope the series shapes up well after this early promise!
Saturday, 9 August 2014
Miliband jumps on bandwagon
Come on Miliband - I've defended you every time the newspapers have tried to present you as a clueless moron because the press always does that to any Labour leader who isn't actively pursuing right wing policies.
However, it's going to be hard to do so when you appear intent on jumping on the Conservative's 'goad the Scots into voting for independence' campaign. It might win a few votes in the more bumptious areas of Little England but basically it is up to Scotland whether they stay or go and antagonising them is only likely to push more towards a 'fuck England' attitude.
Scot-baiting is an even worse move for Labour than for the Conservatives as the left can actually expect considerable amounts of votes north of the border. The Conservatives have little to lose but Miliband risks killing the goose that lays the golden eggs and marginalising Scottish voters.
However, it's going to be hard to do so when you appear intent on jumping on the Conservative's 'goad the Scots into voting for independence' campaign. It might win a few votes in the more bumptious areas of Little England but basically it is up to Scotland whether they stay or go and antagonising them is only likely to push more towards a 'fuck England' attitude.
Scot-baiting is an even worse move for Labour than for the Conservatives as the left can actually expect considerable amounts of votes north of the border. The Conservatives have little to lose but Miliband risks killing the goose that lays the golden eggs and marginalising Scottish voters.
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