Covid hit UK hard because of years of Conservative rule, Keir Starmer to say Labour leader to claim that poorer people have been disproportionately hit because Tories ‘weakened foundations of society’ Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage please log in to view this image Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will use a speech to call for a Beveridge-style reassessment of life in the UK. Photograph: Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA Heather Stewart Wed 17 Feb 2021 22.30 GMT Last modified on Wed 17 Feb 2021 23.40 GMT Labour leader, who has faced internal criticism in recent weeks for failing to chart a clear political course, will say Rishi Sunak’s budget next month is “a fork in the road” and should be a moment to “diagnose the condition of Britain and to start the process of putting it right”. “We can go back to the same insecure and unequal economy that has been so cruelly exposed by the virus, or we can seize this moment and go forward to a future that is going to look utterly unlike the past,” Starmer will say. Advertisement He will argue that the aftermath of the pandemic that has claimed more than 100,000 lives, with those in poorer communities disproportionately hit, calls for a Beveridge-style reassessment of life in the UK. “The terrible damage caused by the virus to health and prosperity has been all the worse because the foundations of our society had been weakened over a decade,” he will say. “This must now be a moment to think again about the country that we want to be. A call to arms – like the Beveridge Report was in the 1940s.” The report paved the way for the welfare state. Boris Johnson has insisted he wants to “build back better” from the pandemic, but the Labour leader will suggest the prevarication over whether to extend the £20-a-week increase in universal credit introduced a year ago showed that the Tories were only offering “a roadmap to yesterday”. By contrast, Starmer will say the pandemic has “shifted the axis on economic policy” and Labour would seek a new relationship between government, the public and business, with no return to “business as usual”. “The age in which government did little but collect and distribute revenue is over. The mistakes of the last decade have made sure of that,” he will say. “I believe people are now looking for more from their government – like they were after the second world war. They’re looking for government to help them through difficult times, to provide security and to build a better future for them and their families. They want a government that knows the value of public services, not just the price in the market.” Starmer will argue that the Conservatives undermined the country’s resilience by cutting back public services and leaving too many people vulnerable to the pandemic because of inequality, insecure jobs and overcrowded housing. Allies say he has been influenced by Prof Michael Marmot’s landmark work on health inequalities. Marmot was commissioned by the last Labour government to examine the underlying causes of the stark differences in healthy life expectancy across the UK. Reviewing the impact of his work in 2019 against the backdrop of a decade of austerity, Marmot said a more progressive tax system might be necessary to tackle health inequalities. He has recently given a presentation to the shadow cabinet, according to one Labour source. Starmer hopes his critique of the government for undermining the UK’s resilience to the pandemic will lay the groundwork for an attack on the Tories as effective as George Osborne’s claim that Gordon Brown failed to “fix the roof while the sun is shining”. Osborne and David Cameron’s success in pinning the blame for the 2008 financial crash on what they claimed was Labour mismanagement of the public finances helped shape the debate in the 2010 general election and beyond. Some of the Labour leader’s critics have argued that he has failed to land enough blows on Johnson for mismanaging the Covid crisis – or to link the government’s failings to a wider narrative. As well as seeking to address that challenge, the speech, to be delivered from Labour headquarters by video-link, is also expected to set out new policies. Another influence, Starmer’s allies say, is new CBI director-general Tony Danker’s recent speech advocating “governments and businesses working together” to tackle challenges such as decarbonising the economy. One frontbench colleague said the speech marked a shift away from focusing solely on Johnson’s incompetence, towards setting out a distinct political stance. “He wants to put an ideological stake in the ground,” the MP said. The shadow cabinet office minister, Rachel Reeves, recently promised a wave of “insourcing” to undo the large-scale use of private contracts to carry out key public services, and Starmer has reaffirmed Labour’s intention of abolishing tuition fees – but some internal critics have complained that the policies are not yet part of a coherent story.
“HyperNormalisation” is a word that was coined by a brilliant Russian historian who was writing about what it was like to live in the last years of the Soviet Union. What he said, which I thought was absolutely fascinating, was that in the 80s everyone from the top to the bottom of Soviet society knew that it wasn’t working, knew that it was corrupt, knew that the bosses were looting the system, knew that the politicians had no alternative vision. And they knew that the bosses knew that they knew that. Everyone knew it was fake, but because no one had any alternative vision for a different kind of society, they just accepted this sense of total fakeness as normal. And this historian, Alexei Yurchak, coined the phrase “HyperNormalisation” to describe that feeling. I thought, “that’s a brilliant title” because, although we are not in any way really like the Soviet Union, there is a similar feeling in our present day. Everyone in my country and in America and throughout Europe knows that the system that they are living under isn’t working as it is supposed to; that there is a lot of corruption at the top. But when ever the journalists point it out, everyone goes “Wow that’s terrible!” and then nothing happens and the system remains the same.” Adam Curtis. Gives it to us straight like pear cider which is made from 100% pears. Welcome to hypernormal Britain. Let’s just ignore it and hope it goes away. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04b183c Enjoy. You probably won’t.
please log in to view this image Derek Brabrook @DJBrabrook it's quite astounding how much the EU actually costs EU citizens & businesses for this "free trade" they bang on about and they don't hide it either, it's all there in their own documents.... over 12% of the EU's GDP is regulation that's before they've made or sold a thing https://t.co/ci5fKr6t1X?amp=1
Sturgeon Replaces Union Jack with EU Flag Nicola Sturgeon’s war with reality continues in earnest this week, as the First Minister has instructed that the Union Jack should now only be flown from government buildings on Remembrance Sunday. For the remaining 364 days of the year, it is to be replaced – of course – by the EU flag… The petty move fits a trend for the SNP. Last January, the party narrowly voted to keep the European flag flying over Holyrood in perpetuity, despite the UK having left the bloc the same month. And as the Brexit transition came to an end on New Year’s Eve, Sturgeon herself asked the EU to “keep a light on” for Scotland, claiming she “will be back soon”. Changing the flags flapping in the wind won’t change the result, Nicola…
Negotiations on the UK's Future Trading Relationship with New Zealand: Update The third round of Free Trade Agreement negotiations with New Zealand took place between 25th January and 9th February. Published 18 February 2021 From: Department for International Trade and The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP please log in to view this image Over the course of this round, negotiators carried out over 40 sessions across the Free Trade Agreement. Twenty-five new texts were exchanged before the round – building on the 35 texts shared prior to the second round – allowing for more detailed discussions. Good progress was made building on the constructive relationship established in the first two rounds. Discussions were pragmatic and identified considerable areas of convergence. Negotiators on both sides continued to recognise high levels of alignment and commonality in objectives; this has led to many chapters moving to consolidated text. Both the UK and New Zealand also continue to engage stakeholders to ensure our respective proposals are informed by their views. Both sides exchanged their initial goods market access offers before the round. This exchange of goods market access offers is an early milestone, and the speed at which this stage has been reached demonstrates the momentum behind these negotiations. There continues to be rapid progress on areas of shared ambition, one result of which was the provisional agreement of the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises chapter. This chapter aims to ensure that SMEs will be provided with the information necessary to take informed business decisions and to take advantage of the opportunities created by this agreement. It will also address priority asks of the SME businesses, including increased transparency on rules and regulations, and international cooperation. We have seen progress towards agreement on text in a large parts of various chapters notably Customs, Good Regulatory Practice, Rules of Origin and Procurement, with aims to exchange initial procurement market access offers ahead of Round 4. We have also seen considerable progress made in Competition, Remedies, and Disputes. We have continued productive discussions on sustainability issues and shared Environment text on both sides, including on environmental goods and services, which reiterates the opportunity to support clean growth for both countries through a Free Trade Agreement. We have also agreed to several intersessional discussions, including the Investment chapter as well as the State-to-State Dispute Settlement chapter, to ensure the pace is continued heading into the next round. Discussions on a second market access offer will continue in parallel with discussions across the Free Trade Agreement. By the start of the fourth round, we expect the majority of text proposals to have been tabled. This will enable the shape of the agreement to become clear for both sides as well as supporting progress to close further chapters. The UK and New Zealand both remain eager to continue the momentum of discussions, and the fourth negotiating round is expected to start in April. Below is a summary list of those areas discussed in the round, which continued to take place by video conference: • Anti-Corruption • Competition • Consumer Protection • Environment and Clean Growth • Financial Services • Good Regulatory Practice • Indigenous Trade • Intellectual Property • Investment • Legal and Institutional • Procurement • Rules of Origin • Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures • Services (including Professional Business Services, Transport and Delivery Services, and Movement of Natural Persons) • Small and Medium-sized Enterprises • State Owned Enterprises • State to State Dispute Settlement • Technical Barriers to Trade • Trade and Development • Trade in Goods • Trade Remedies Any deal the UK Government agrees will be fair and balanced and in the best interests of the whole of the UK. We remain committed to upholding our high environmental, labour, food safety and animal welfare standards in our trade agreement with New Zealand, as well as protecting the National Health Service (NHS).
please log in to view this image Paul Embery @PaulEmbery Anyone else noticed how the same people who spent 20 years pursuing a culture war against anyone who didn’t conform to their elitist liberal-progressive worldview are now accusing their opponents of being obsessed with fighting a culture war? Don’t let them get away with it.
Big day for Good Brexit News hiring soggy biscuit victim Tom Harwood. Looking forward to some thought-provoking insight there.
The Left does seem to be worried about GB News. If Andrew Neil has anything to do with it - and he will - it will be nothing like Fox News. I see them giving the government a hard time on a number of issues. Granted, they may ignore Sir Keir and Aniseed Dodds, but then, doesn't everyone?
Massive Supreme Court judgment today in favour of Uber drivers. Could spell the end of the gig economy.
I think it’s fair enough to be worried about the impact it will have. It’s boringly predictable what sort of narrative it will be churning out and who it will draw in which I don’t think will prove to be particularly healthy.
