A refreshingly candid political analysis. But who is it by?
"The destructive legacy of Thatcherism is typically analysed through an economic lens, namely that free-market dogmatism rewarded corporate greed at the expense of our public services."
"Less focus is paid to another kind of war she had to wage to win this economic battle; by curtailing the rights of trade unionists, disempowering local governments and handing over public resources to unaccountable private companies, Thatcher was waging a war on democracy."
"40 years later, the Conservative government’s anti-democratic assault rages on. The Minimum Service Levels Bill overrides our fundamental right to strike."
"The Public Order Bill curtails our right to protest. And new voter ID laws will effectively deny millions of people the ability to exercise their right to vote. Across the board, our democracy is under attack."
"However, if the government’s recent theft of our democratic rights is cause for concern, so too is recent behaviour of the @UKLabour leadership, which casts serious doubt over their willingness to win these rights back."
(Last week, @UKLabour’s National Executive Committee passed a motion – proposed by Keir Starmer – to bar Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate in Islington North).
"This was a flagrant denial of natural justice, and a shameful attack on the democratic rights of Islington North @UKLabour Party members. It is up to them – not party leaders – to decide who their candidate should be."
"At a time when the government is attacking our rights to strike, protest and vote, the @UKLabour leadership should be defending democracy. Instead, it is debasing it."
"Ultimately, only a democratic movement rooted in its local communities can generate the bold solutions needed to tackle the crises facing us all. It is no coincidence that the NEC’s anti-democratic motion took aim at our political campaign between 2015 and 2019."
Blocking Corbyn's candidacy is "an insult to the millions of people who voted for our Party in 2017 & 2019, & to all those who voted for his leadership on the basis that he would “defend [the] radical values” we put forward."
FYI @UKLabour achieved 40% of the vote share in 2019.
"Keir Starmer has abandoned his pledges to defend trade unions, bring key industries into public ownership, reverse #NHS privatisation, raise corporation tax, protect free movement & abolish tuition fees."
"#Solidarity is now saved for CEOs, not striking workers. Trust is placed in corporate interests, not party members. Human rights issues are cherry picked at the expense of a consistently ethical foreign policy."
"And empathy for desperate refugees is eschewed to appease the right-wing press.
As the government plunges millions into hardship, Keir Starmer has decided to attack the democratic foundations of his own party and the principles he once proclaimed to support."
"There is huge demand for a more hopeful alternative: decent pay rises, democratic public ownership, housing for all, a wealth tax to save our #NHS, and a humane immigration system grounded in dignity, empathy and care."
"Those who continue to campaign for these transformative policies – and against the NEC’s assault on democracy – show great courage. Indeed, they have sent a message to all those who have been hesitant to fight back."
"Ultimately, if the @UKLabour leadership is happy to denigrate its own party’s internal democracy, how will it treat democracy more broadly if it is given the chance to govern?"
"One thing’s for sure: the @UKLabour leadership will not be able to defend democracy in society if it cannot even respect it in its own movement."
So I'm assuming you've already guessed the author of this candid political polemic...
Regardless of what you think of Starmer or Corbyn, almost everyone now wants an end Tory misrule, but given our antiquated FPTP electoral system, the ONLY REALISTIC way of achieving this is through most people voting @UKLabour at the next general election. islingtontribune.co.uk/article/jeremy…
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A research paper from the University of Greenwich, 'The case for a progressive annual #WealthTax in the UK' (updated 12th June 2024), analyses the revenue potential of a progressive annual net wealth tax on the top 1% in the UK...
A progressive net wealth tax is a tax on the stock of net wealth (assets minus liabilities), that is designed to raise revenues primarily from only the very wealthiest individuals, primarily to fund public & other essential services, which benefit *everyone*.
#TaxTheRich
The authors present a baseline progressive net wealth tax that only taxes the top 1% wealthiest individuals. Individuals with net wealth above £2.2M (the top 1%) are taxed at a marginal rate of 1%; above £3.6M (the top 0.5%) at 2%, & above £11.2M (the top 0.1%) at 4%.
#TaxTheRich
Today, you might get the impression from news and social media that the far-right has 'taken over' the EU, which is in its death throws: the evidence does not support this view: nationalist/populist hard/far-right parties are on course to get just a quarter of EU seats.
Hard/far-right parties have made not insignificant gains in several countries across the EU, not least France, Italy, Germany & Austria, producing uncertainty about the EU - and Europe's - political direction & future.
However, it's certainly not the landslide you may think.
Europe's nationalist parties have capitalised in the EU Parliament election on voter disquiet over spiralling prices, migration, & the cost of the green transition & will seek to translate their seat gains into influence on EU policy - basically Reform UK's policy platform.
We face housing & climate crises, not migrant & overcrowding crises.
We need more affordable housing, but health is often forgotten about in housing policies. Amid the clamour for economic growth & house building targets, housing quality loses out. Decent regulations & standards are often derided as unnecessary 'red tape'.
In 2022, 'political risk & intelligence analyst' & Egyptian immigrant to the UK, Khaled Hassan, explained in a podcast hosted by the controversial UK-based Campaign Against Antisemitism why he, now 'a proud Jew', converted from Islam to Judaism.
In March 2022, The Jewish Chronicle featured Hassan, describing him as a "hero moderator" of @YouTube videos, "who dared to speak up (but) was silenced as Whistleblower".
He described what he perceived to be as YouTube's failure to remove hateful videos.
Rumour has it, the character leading Nigel Farage away is George Cottrell, an interesting chap, who may give some insight into Farage's 'anti-elite' Reform UK team.
(Btw, I don't agree with chucking drinks over anyone).
Cottrell's mum, The Honourable Fiona Watson, daughter of Rupert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton, is a former gf of King Charles!
I accept no-one chooses their parents, but opportunities for the privately educated like Cottrell, Tice, Farage & Habib are greater than for ordinary folk.
Given Kemi Badenoch's well-documented history of gaslighting, performative cruelty, divisive rhetoric & questionable judgement - which includes the time she told the Covid Inquiry 'there's no cure for poverty' - here's a short thread of some of her 'best bits'... 😬
That time an irritated & condescending Kemi Badenoch told the Covid Inquiry that "we don't have a cure for poverty".
That time Kemi Badenoch was asked how she felt when she first heard about Tory donor Frank Hester saying looking at Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all Black women” & she “should be shot”, & replied: 'It didn't make me feel anything in particular'.