Whilst the UK is reeling from the introduction of means testing for the Winter Fuel Allowance, Spain is looking to introduce a universal benefit of €200 per child per month, in an attempt to reduce the number of children living in poverty, which is currently at 30%. The benefit will not be means tested. https://www.elfac.org/the-spanish-g...ounced,regardless of their economic situation.
Much frothing and foaming in the right wing media at the huge number of EU flags at the last night of the proms. https://www.gbnews.com/news/bbc-proms-eu-brexit-flags-protest-woke-madness https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/n...eu-flags-are-distributed-at-the-proms-382808/ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...rs-delivered-thousands-Royal-Albert-Hall.html
Sir Keir Starmer may have broken parliamentary rules in failing to declare clothes bought for his wife by Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli. According to the Sunday Times, the donations also covered the cost of a personal shopper and alterations for Victoria, both before and after the general election. The prime minister reportedly approached parliamentary authorities on Tuesday to make a late declaration after being given fresh advice on what items needed to be disclosed. A No 10 spokesperson said Sir Keir believed he had complied with the rules, but had since declared further items. MPs are required to register gifts and donations within 28 days of receiving them. A No 10 spokeswoman said: "We sought advice from the authorities on coming to office. "We believed we had been compliant, however, following further interrogation this month, we have declared further items." Lord Alli has previously bought clothes and glasses for Sir Keir, which have been listed on his entry on the register of MPs' interests. Most recently, the prime minister declared the fact Lord Alli had provided him with accommodation for several weeks, which is recorded as being worth more than £20,000. In August, it emerged Lord Alli had been given a temporary Downing Street security pass despite having no formal government role. The Conservative Party has called for the prime minister to face a "full investigation" into the "apparent serious breaches of parliamentary rules". Andy Carter, a former Conservative MP who sat on Parliament's Standards Committee, told the BBC that registering interests was a "base level responsibility of MPs" and that Sir Keir "has form on this". The prime minister was referred to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner in 2022, when he was found to have been late in registering eight interests, including tickets to football matches and the sale of a plot of land. The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner has not yet commented on the Sunday Times report.
Interesting points in an article I’ve been reading by a psychoanalyst. Addresses the inadequacy of countering populist stoked anger with logic … Rightwing populism manipulates the transference to erode autonomy of mind and promote a parody of justice. Trump and Farage take the trust and belief their followers place in them, and their rage against traditional politicians, not to restore justice but to keep their constituencies in a state of permanent anger. Trump’s long campaign of election denial sustains a mass rage that can’t be assuaged. For Trump, anger is the political gift that keeps on giving; his task is to keep it flowing. To achieve redress would risk switching off the tap. But after Brexit and Trump, it has become clear that the appeal to facts and best interests is an inadequate basis on which to resist far-right populism. Perhaps it is not so much the rational appeal to facts we need to be making so much as contact with the depth and complexity of our feelings. The politics of “Stop the boats!” and “Build the wall!” feeds off a reactive, defensive rage. Lurking under that coiled anger is a rich and complex seam of emotional experience. Perhaps it is time we started listening to this teeming life of feeling, instead of to the noisy slogans drowning it out.
It’s time for all gifts and donations to come under a new set of rules. Personally I would make a rule that prevents all donors from being offered jobs, contracts, honours etc and I would extend that to include family members. It should be illegal for donors to receive rewards because the donation can effectively be considered a bribe. Accepting a gift of clothes, when you are earning so much, is pathetic imo.
If it’s an allowance from the government purse, I could live with it - just but I wouldn’t like it. But when it comes from individuals who will quite possibly expect to receive more back in contracts, jobs or honours, then it shouldn’t be allowed, imo. It’s bad enough that Starmer is pleading poverty, which is correct, but I want him to lead by example and start by quashing some of the benefits MPs receive, right down to the subsidised bars and restaurants. I say this as a left of centre voter, who still doesn’t trust Starmer or understand what he really stands for. Starmer should not behave like the scroungers that were in power before him.
Why would any prime minister need a clothing allowance? If they needed some sort of specialist clothing then maybe there'd be an argument but politicians only need business wear and all MPs are paid more than enough to cover that, particularly as the PM already gets free housing in central London plus a country residence.
I don’t like Starmer and I don’t like donations like this. They do feel like bribes. This is how government has worked for ever… but it shouldn’t. Getting rid of the house of lords and all those peerages might help!
If I was to hazard a guess , I would say some Trump supporters have fired a few shots in the air , in an effort to create sympathy for trump , this leading to a surge in the republican vote .
His and his sycophants catalogue of racist lies have sown the seeds for an increasingly violent society.
