Comedy hour - The Times reckon Kwasi Kwarteng (Truss’s alleged former lover) is going to be chancellor and Suella ****ing Braverman is going to be Home Secretary, because Priti Patel is clearly too left wing.
We had talked about Aleksandr Dugin, the preeminent philosopher of Russian hegemony, some time ago. A car bomb that was intended to kill him has apparently killed his daughter instead. It's unclear who set up the assassination attempt; it would be a pretty big deal if the Ukrainians were setting off car bombs in Moscow, and it would be an even bigger deal if the Russians were trying to off someone who had provided a lot of grounding for their aggression (even if Dugin had been pretty critical of the execution). Either way this is probably the biggest strike within Russia since the war began.
**** privatisation. To put the blame on drivers not wanting to work additional overtime is preposterous. They should have sufficient staff to cover all routes, without needing to rely on the goodwill of the train drivers, with exceptions for illness and holidays. BRITAIN’S most under-fire rail firm paid £11million to its shareholders while accepting government cash during the pandemic. Figures uncovered by Labour show Avanti shareholders got the dividends for the financial year 2020/21. And between 2019 and 2021, the Department for Transport paid the firm more than £17million in performance and management fees. That was despite the fact that Avanti was the worst-performing rail operator, with almost half its services arriving late. Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: “Ministers have rewarded abject failure, it is scandalous. “Under the absurd system the Tories have created, passengers always come last.” Ms Haigh said Avanti’s “abysmal” rail services were “barely functioning” and it should be stripped of its franchise unless it improved. The company took over the London-Glasgow West Coast from Virgin in 2019. Since then it has slashed services, causing severe overcrowding, and hiked fares. An open return from Manchester to London is £369.40. There was uproar when it cut services between the two cities from three to one per hour. Avanti is 70% owned by FirstGroup, whose boss Graham Sutherland, 58, may be in line for a £3million pay package this year, including bonuses. Outgoing CEO Matthew Gregory got £2.2million last year. Avanti said: “We understand and apologise for the enormous frustration and inconvenience felt by our customers at the moment. “The decision to reduce our timetable was due to ongoing industrial action which has seen short notice availability of drivers to work additional overtime.” The Department for Transport said: “We are meeting with Avanti West Coast regularly to discuss its performance for passengers.”
P&O will not face criminal prosecution, for sacking 800 workers, despite their admission that they knowingly broke laws. Who’d have thought that? DEVASTATED seafarers yesterday urged transport chief Grant Shapps to quit after P&O escaped legal action over sacking 800 of them. News of the legal let-off came after the ferry firm’s parent company, DP World, recorded a staggering 52% rise in its profits to £600million in just six months. That sparked fury among unions and the staff who lost everything when they were given the boot by video message. Sous chef John Lansdown, sacked from the Pride of Canterbury, said: “Grant Shapps should resign. He’s been spineless. “He could have withdrawn their operating licence but he didn’t. The fact the Government hasn’t intervened has given companies the green light to do something like this again. “They marched in, sacked us all and got away with it.” John, 40, added: “The Government values DP World’s investment in the UK higher than 800 livelihoods. I’m devastated.” The RMT Union’s Dover branch secretary Lee Davison also called on Mr Shapps to go and branded the failure to prosecute an “absolute disgrace”. The Tories vowed to act after P&O boss Peter Hebblethwaite admitted it broke laws when it laid off the 800 in March. They earned an average £36,000 a year but were replaced with agency staff on as little as £3.94 an hour. He told MPs: “There’s absolutely no doubt we were required to consult with the unions. We chose not to do that.” But yesterday the Insolvency Service said its probe found that, because of Maritime employment laws, there are no grounds for a criminal case. The service is still conducting a civil investigation. Labour’s Karl Turner accused the Tories of launching a “sham” probe that gave “false hope” to seafarers. He said: “Asking the Insolvency Service to investigate, then pretending to be disappointed when they choose to do nothing is an insult. “They’d have known perfectly well... P&O could get away with these gross sackings.” The Government said it was “very disappointing” P&O will not face criminal proceedings, adding it “important the civil investigation runs its course”.
And this is why every worker should join a union. One of Labour’s first jobs, if they get in power, should be to reverse the rule that stopped union subs from being taken directly from wages. I think that many haven’t followed through on joining unions because of having to set up DDs for payments. UNITE general secretary Sharon Graham has led more than 450 disputes and put £150million back into members’ pockets in one year of leadership. The 53-year-old became the union’s first female head last August, beating Gerard Coyne and Steve Turner. Since then she has won an unprecedented 80 per cent of disputes and increases for members who took action over pay. Ms Graham said: “I felt the union needed to get back to what it says on the trade union tin: jobs, pay and conditions. It’s not rocket science. “But £150million of new money in the pockets of our members from the disputes we’ve won in the last year proves it works.” Unite now has a dedicated disputes team, which organised the 76,000 members who took industrial action. Key wins were against British Airways, Coventry city council and pallet company Chep. Ms Graham added: “We follow the money. We finish up knowing more about the corporate giants we are taking on than they know themselves.” She also took a swipe at top Tories such as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who unveiled a 16-point plan to “take on” unions following rail strikes. Ms Graham said: “Whatever they throw at us we will be ready.” The general secretary added the union was focused on industry rather than Westminster. She said: “We are not a branch of the Labour Party. We are a strong industrial organisation with the ability to deliver real benefits for workers.” Around 1,900 Unite members will launch an eight-day strike at Felixstowe today in a dispute over pay. The Port of Felixstowe said it “regrets the impact... on UK supply chains”.
Ironic or what? "The Daily Express has repeatedly warned its readers that “militant trade unions” are bringing Britain to its knees – but this week many of the newspaper’s own staff will go on strike in protest at the outlet’s low pay." https://www.theguardian.com/busines...ightwing-daily-express-set-to-strike-over-pay
Apparently a new anti-Putin armed dissident movement called the National Republican Army has claimed responsibility.
I have to say that I am getting fed up with trade unions, striking for better pay and conditions, constantly being described as “militant”. Many of the strikes wouldn’t happen, if the employer and/or the government were less confrontational, which actually makes them militant. In fact, the only issues RMT have had, with regards to settling disputes, are the current ones in which the government are calling the shots. Grant Shapps is talking about going down the fire and rehire route, after saying it was acceptable when P&O did it, so how much more militant can you be?
The behaviour of the Conservatives since Johnson was toppled suggests that they have performed their final surgical detachment from reality. I could well be proved wrong but I feel the more out there right wing policies of the government were mostly tolerated under Johnson because of the Brexit carrot, now there is an incoming PM likely Truss who appears to be moving even further to the right wing with policies that don't appear to be attractive to 99% of the country, ignore the actual needs and situation of the majority of the population and she doesn't have the Brexit 'boost' that Johnson had. We have inflation now being projected to reach up to 18% (this is revised up about every couple of weeks so will probably go higher), energy bills moving up to completely unaffordable prices with the price cap expected to go up to £6000pa, real wages collapsing against inflation that will impact the majority of the population and the best they can come up with; - Minuscule personal tax cuts which will put about £200 back in peoples pockets against a rise of thousands with the added bonus there is no disclosure as to how this would be paid for. - Corporate tax cuts. - Anti-Strike laws, when the strike action appears to be supported by the majority of the population. - Cutting down on renewables... when there is an energy crisis. - Something about what toilets people use. Of course the strategy for winning a Conservative leadership election and a general election could be completely different, Truss may be appealing to the nut jobs to win but then become more moderate in post. However given the names linked with senior posts in her cabinet and the behaviour of the party post-May I think it is likely this is a genuine picture of the way they intend to proceed. I maintain I don't think the impact of the changes to the cost of living will be felt properly until Winter, when a sharp drop in living standards will hit the vast majority of the population in a way that probably hasn't been felt before by the living population and the Conservatives seem completely unaware and unprepared for whats coming, I would say they don't care but they do care about power and they are (hopefully) going to lose it if they follow up on their current plans. Truss and her party are like a pigeon standing in an A-Road with a truck heading full speed towards them, horns blaring and they are showing no sign of budging or even acknowledging the existence of the tonnes of pain heading straight for them.
The last paragraph in the article is the most ironic. Working for the express and being a union activist and the editor voting labour must tax the faculties. "Despite its rightwing political stances in recent decades, staff at the Express have a strong history of union activity. The NUJ general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet, worked for the Express before becoming a full-time union official. Even the newspaper’s bosses do not necessarily come from a rightwing tradition; the Daily Express’s editor, Gary Jones, is a lifelong Labour voter".
The Tory leadership battle has been a massive own goal for the Conservative Party. I concur with what Sir John Major is saying but I cannot help thinking that the damage has already been done by the time Liz Truss is appointed as the new leader. Irrespective of your politics, I think most sane people would realise that the bitter leadership battle has left her as seriously damaged goods. I have no doubt that the criticims by Sunak will be weaponised against her by the opposition. Her appeal is strictly limited to Tory party members and it is pretty obvious that she is a politician who will not resonate with the electorate. I cannot think of anyone who has been so scrutinized and come up wanting before they have even been appointed PM in the past. There were reservations about Boris which ultimately proved to be correct but he did manage to motivate the electorate with his zeal. With Truss, the situation is different as her appeal is limited entirel to a certain type of Tory member who is least likely to be affected by the cost of living crisis. It is fun to predict how things will pan out in the future and I would like to add my thoughts. I think that there will be a vote of confidence in her within six months if elected and that there will be no honeymoon period. It would not surprise me in the least if this even happened in 2022. There will be a general election in the spring of next year and I can see a reverse to the extent of not only "Red Wall" constituencies reverting back to Labour but a whole swathe of "safe seats" also being lost. I am not too worried about Liz Truss becoming PM because I think her tenure will be a blip as the economy tanks and you can see increased action by Trade Unions with whom most voters will prove to be sympathetic. I would also add that her government will ensure that the Conservative's reputation as a safe pair of hands with tthe economy will put her party back years. You can see a new Labour government having a sufficient majority to liaise with other parties to reform the electoral system from first past the post and this will also serve to thwart any future Conservative rennaisance. I had previously projected that Boris would be ousted although i was wrong that the fall-out of a Covid enquiry would do for him. Fingers crossed that I get this one right. Liz Truss is going to make Gordon Brown look like Winston Churchill in comparison.
