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Reply | French Government on verge of collapse
at 08:00 9 Sep 2025
France's other big problem is falling productivity. AI says: "Since 2019, apparent labour productivity has fallen markedly in France. Defined here as the ratio of value added produced to the number of people employed, labour productivity in market sectors was 5.2% below its pre Covid level (final quarter of 2019) in the second quarter of 2023."
Other economic indicators are poor too.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2025/06/19/why-the-french-economy-is-s
It should be noted that the economic situation in Germany is also pretty dire.
EI membership and high levels of low-skilled migration to try to counter low birth rates do not seem to offer a solution. |
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Reply | I should have paid more.
at 17:23 7 Sep 2025
I agree with the argument that Angela Rayner's fate is not the result of discrimination based on social class, but it is still interesting to reflect on what is at issue when Angela and her supporters say she is "proper working class". From my own experience as somebody from a humble background, the working class is itself quite highly differentiated and there are sharp internal differences of opinion about what "proper" behaviour entails. One has only to read Hoggart's The Uses of Literacy or J B Priestley's Studies in English Culture to see what I mean about gradations of respectability and deservingness in traditional working class cultures. I'm not sure that everyone on the estate where I grew up would think pregnant at 16 and a granny by 35 was a typical working class trajectory, and there would probably have been quite a lot of gossip back in the day about national assistance and the like. If Angela indeed served as a useful representation - an icon - within the Labour Party of working class identity as understood today, all I can say is that things have moved on a lot since Hoggart's day. |
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Reply | This Government
at 07:57 6 Sep 2025
Bit of an irony that a government so packed with lawyers is in trouble because of poor compliance with the law. |
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Reply | Yvette cooper now Foreign Sec
at 20:25 5 Sep 2025
The cupboard is bare when it comes to new Labour talent, and in part the leadership seems to be turning to the old hands in desperation. Mandy was seen going into Labour HQ today. |
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Reply | I should have paid more.
at 20:20 5 Sep 2025
I'd expect that the outcome will be that HMRC fine Rayner 20% or 30% of the unpaid tax as a penalty. HMRC's normal policy is to pursue civil penalties for underpayments or even fraud, and in this case the penalty would be regarded in that way. Only exceptionally do HMRC initiate criminal proceedings. |
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Reply | I should have paid more.
at 13:17 5 Sep 2025
After the conveyancing firm denied providing tax advice, one assumes that the other two experts said to have been consulted did not step forward with anything that could help Angela Rayner. I suppose we could say her misconduct was on a smaller scale than some, but she was not aided by her record as a bit of an attack dog when it came to probity in government. What strikes me is that, irrespective of whether there was intentional deception, Ange has a track record of "winging it" with little regard for detail. That is not a positive attribute for a prominent minister. She had no choice but to resign. |
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Reply | I should have paid more.
at 17:27 3 Sep 2025
I do admit the possibility that this was a naive mistake, but I think we need full and convincing corroboration that incorrect legal advice was indeed given before letting her off the hook. Angela was, as has been said, Minister for Housing, and it is pretty damning if the Minister can't get correct information about a matter like this. |
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Reply | Judges and European Democracy
at 17:19 3 Sep 2025
Who knows how policy on the ECHR will develop in the UK. The really controversial parts are Articles 8 and 3. Even there it is not so much what the original 1951 version of the instrument says, but how the Strasbourg judges have developed the meaning of the rules. A8 about the right to a private and family life has been used in quite bizarre ways to avoid return of persons who claim they will lose a right within the meaning of this article if they are forced to leave the UK. A3 is about avoidance of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment and has been used to block returns to certain countries, where for example, a person who says they are a Christian convert or gay or needing specialist medical treatment argues that they would be harmed if they returned to their native country. Even Labour politicians like Jack Straw and David Blunkett are saying that these articles should be temporarily suspended or disapplied. Straw who helped draft the Human Rights Act that brought the ECHR into domestic law claims that the intention was only that UK courts should take account of ECoHR judgements rather than follow them, and says that British judges have erred in interpreting the Act to mean that Strasbourg judgements have binding force. So there appear to be a range of options from temporary suspension of certain provisions to complete withdrawal and creation of an alternative British charter of rights. Labour are at the minimal change end of the spectrum with their proposals to offer guidance to judges to interpret the rules in a way closer to their original meaning and reduce the number of exceptional dispositions they grant. |
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Thread | Judges and European Democracy
at 08:36 3 Sep 2025
Here is an interesting statement from a German judge who believes that expanding interpretations of law by European judges are leading to a kind of political paralysis that stops politicians dealing with problems, like mass immigration, with the result that people are losing faith in democracy.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/europe-s-democracy-at-risk-without-asylum-r
A few of us have discussed this in the past, including how supra-national law created by conventions and treaties hems in what national governments can do, and means that national electorates come to realise that voting for something doesn't mean a current policy will be changed. One of my main objections to the idea of rejoining the EU is that the framework of union law (the acquis communautaire), which is separate from the ECHR, waters down democracy in the member states via devices such as qualified majority voting. One ends up with a kind of stasis where 27 member states (or the required majority) take so long to agree anything, or to overcome legal challenges, that the population loses faith in the ability of governments to deal with existential problems. |
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Reply | Manuel Benson update Josh Ginnelly contract terminated
at 16:41 2 Sep 2025
Probably. I imagine there will have been a cash settlement as part of the agreement and any saving will depend on this being significantly less than the remaining payments due to the player in the contracted period. |
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Reply | Ongoing situation in the western world
at 20:35 31 Aug 2025
Correct about Thailand. I have been in government buildings when the appointed time comes and everybody stands to the anthem. It seemed a good idea not to be the odd one out. |
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Reply | Court rules asylum seekers must be moved from hotel ...
at 20:27 31 Aug 2025
New twist in the case. It probably won't change much but the outcome will be interesting . Another barrister has complained to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office saying that LJ Bean should have recused himself from this case because he should have known that the public would look at his background and believe he was likely to be biased, and that he will be perceived to have been affected by a conflict of interest.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/epping-hotel-judge-reported-conduct-16403040
It is worth noting that the JCIO can only investigate complaints about conduct and not the substance of judgments. Therefore, the complaint needs to argue that LJ Bean's failure to recuse himself, given his history and what he should have known the public would make of it, was so serious as to amount to judicial misconduct. The easy way out would be for the JCIO to say the complaint is out of scope. |
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Reply | Rossis
at 12:08 30 Aug 2025
I like Swansea fish and chips, but going further afield I've had good experiences in the West Country (in places like Brixham) and also the east coast of Scotland. When I lived in Dundee I often used to consume a really delicious haddock portion from the Silvery Tay fish bar. This was presented in a different style from cod here - quite thin and crispy. I left the fried mars bars alone though. |
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Reply | All this Budget Speculation
at 08:36 30 Aug 2025
Just to add another piece to the jigsaw, Starmer has hired Baroness Minouche Shafik to join his economic policy team. In the past she worked with Torsten Bell and chaired the Resolution Foundation’s “Economy 2030 Inquiry”. Since then she briefly served as deputy governor of the Bank of England, and then went to the USA to take up a post as President of Columbia University. That ended badly in August last year after criticism of her handling of pro-Palestine protests on campus and tolerance of anti-Semitism. |
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Reply | Rossis
at 02:57 30 Aug 2025
Back in ancient history when I was an impoverished urchin, our local fish and chip shop used to give local lads like me "gribbles" free, even if we bought nothing. |
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Reply | Court rules asylum seekers must be moved from hotel ...
at 19:54 29 Aug 2025
There seems to be considerable interaction between senior politicians and top judges. Lord Justice David Bean was a founder member of Matrix Chambers along with Hermer, and a friend of Starmer. If the PM had wanted to handpick somebody to be the lead judge in the appeal case this looks about as perfect a slam dunk as one could get. |
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