"Military housing: Families say they're living in damp, mouldy conditions" Will Gove tell Wallace to Resign?

 

Check out on this daming BBC report and pictures on the dreadful conditions that so many of our military families live in. 

While I am broadly supportive of the often justifiable criticisms that Secretary State, Michael Gove has made of social housing providers, who fail to deal with damp, will he now tell Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace to resign, after this appalling report? 

Charles I: Killing a King

 

Last week I watched all 3 programmes on BBC iPlayer about the trial and execution of Charles 1. A mix of traditional factual historical presenting with clips of actors playing the main characters.  

The killing of a King following a legal process (no matter how flawed) was hugely important. 

None of the main characters appear to be at all attractive to our modern eyes and values but we still live in parliamentary democracy with a hereditary monarch as our Head of State which was shaped by these events.  

"How to get around the BBC block in Russia" (By fascistic war monger Putin)

 BBC link  "As we've been reporting, the Russian authorities have restricted access to BBC websites in Russian and English, as well as other international and independent media, accusing them of circulating "false information" about what is happening in Ukraine.

In response, the BBC said "access to accurate, independent information is a fundamental human right which should not be denied to the people of Russia, millions of whom rely on BBC News every week".

Record numbers of people have read the BBC's Russian language news website since the invasion.

Here's a reminder of how to get around the BBC ban in Russia:

Download the Psiphon app from the AppStore or Google Play Store

Look for the dedicated BBC site on the Tor Browser which can be found using this URL. Note that this URL only works using the Tor Browser or the Onion Browser (on iPhones)

If access to the apps is restricted then send a blank email to get@psiphon3.com or gettor@torproject.org. An email will be sent in response with a direct and safe download link

The BBC has also launched two new shortwave frequencies broadcasting World Service English news for four hours a day to Ukraine and parts of Russia:

15735 kHz from 14:00 GMT to 16:00 GMT

5875 kHz from 20:00 GMT to 22:00 GMT

Ukraine Holodomor - killing by starvation.

If anyone wonders why so many Ukrainians cherish their freedom and are willing to fight against Russian military aggression, then check out this BBC report on the deliberate murder of 4 million people in the 1930s by Vladimir Putin's role model. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60353677

Picture The Road of Sorrow by Marchenko Nina

FTSE 100 chief executives 'earn average salary within 3 days'

 

By 5.30pm today (Wednesday 6 January) the average FTSE 100 Chief Executive would have already earned more this year than the average annual salary of UK workers. They only had to work 34 hours to earn £31, 461 which is the average medium wage for full time workers. 

Median FTSE 100 chief executive pay was £3.61m in 2019.

This is 120 times more than average. .

While many would accept that Chief Executives of large successful companies should get decent pay why has this ratio from average to top earner increased from estimated 50 times in 2000 and 20 times in the 1980s? 

A rather strange justification from the Adam Smith Institute for such a massive growth in pay for Chief Executives. Claiming that studies show the negative impact of deaths of CEOs on company share prices? A Vicky Pollard justification for such silliness. Of course a company share price would tend to be negatively impacted if its CEO dies suddenly. 

The Adam Smith Institute ought to remember what their names sake wrote in 1776 about shareholders being ripped off by agents (modern day chief executives) 

All these pay deals for chief executives are voted upon at annual general meetings. ESG advisor PIRC reminds pension trustees such as myself that "There's a pretty easy test for trustees here - check your asset managers' voting records. If they are voting for most executive remuneration policies they are helping to create this outcome. If you don't like what you see, don't let them vote your shares".

I shall look forward to my next trustee meeting

Hat tip BBC, High Pay and TUC. 

BABS

Just watched BBC biopic of actress Barbara Windsor on Netflix.

A lovely film with with great acting and serious themes. It is definitely recommended. 

I think it supports my firm view (not in any way original) that a patriarchal society is not only damaging for women but also for men who cause the damage. 

While Barbara is obviously a talented actress and singer I cannot go into an east end pub without wondering how she would manage it.

Brexit and suspending Parliament: What just happened? (in 100 & 500 words words from BBC)

From yesterday's BBC news which explains everything really well:

"In a dramatic move on Wednesday morning, Britain's new Prime Minister Johnson set in motion the suspension of the UK Parliament - which means MPs have much less time to debate Brexit, the process of the UK leaving the European Union.
Boris 

Parliament is to be suspended for five weeks ahead of 31 October, the day the UK is due to leave the EU.

That's just nine weeks away.

People who want the UK to remain in the EU are calling it a coup - and even some in favour of Brexit have criticised the move.

Mr Johnson wants to start a new parliamentary session, with a fresh programme, from 14 October. Instead of a normal three-week autumn recess, parliament will now wrap up some time around 10 September.

With so little time, MPs would find it difficult to stop the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Wait, what just happened?

Parliament always stops work for a few weeks in the autumn. But this isn't a normal recess: Mr Johnson is cutting short the current parliamentary session at a critical time.

The UK was originally scheduled to leave the EU on 29 March. After Parliament rejected the deal negotiated with the EU three times, that deadline was extended. Departure day is now 31 October.

Mr Johnson, who was one of the key figures in the Leave campaign, has promised to complete Brexit "do or die" - with or without a deal.

However, most opposition members of Parliament (MPs) and many from the governing Conservative Party don't want to leave the EU without a deal. They fear it would damage the British economy, putting up prices and limiting access to the UK's biggest market.

They've threatened to bring legislation ruling out a no-deal Brexit. Failing that, they could also call a vote of no-confidence in the government.

• Do MPs have the power to stop a no-deal Brexit?

Is it legal to suspend Parliament?

Yes. It's what normally happens between the end of one session and the beginning of the next. However, the circumstances are unusual.

A legal challenge would be difficult, since the government isn't breaking any law. It's just using parliamentary procedure, as Mr Johnson tries to fulfil his campaign promise to get the UK out of the EU.

MPs could either go along with the suspension, with the risk of a no-deal Brexit, or they could trigger an election with a vote of no confidence in the government.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has called the suspension a "constitutional outrage" designed to prevent MPs from debating Brexit.

• How do you suspend Parliament?

What about the Queen?

She does have a say, but it's limited. Technically, the government had to ask her for permission to suspend Parliament.

This is normally a formality: the Queen keeps out of politics. If she had refused, that would have been unprecedented.

She did not refuse.

What happens next?

Good question.

Parliament will go back to work next Tuesday 3 September, but will then go into recess.

If Mr Johnson gets his way, Parliament returns on 14 October, two-and-a-half weeks before the UK leaves the EU.

However, if MPs pass a vote of no-confidence before 10 September, there could be a general election in October". hat tip BBC

"Last Week they were thanking us for saving the free world in 1944...This week they have taken our TV licence off us..."

Shocking but the blame lies with this Tory Government for this cut - not the BBC.

Free TV licences for the over 75's was a long standing policy which was paid for by the Government. Then the Government said they will not pay for it anymore.

Are we now going to start jailing D-Day veterans for not paying for their TV licences?

What a cruel and incompetent Government we have.

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48583487

BBC "World Tonight" LOBOs Loans and why Councils including Newham are still being being ripped off by the Banks

On BBC Radio 4 "World Tonight" on Wednesday there was a feature on the LOBO derivative loans scandal  and how they have played a role in the recent bankruptcy of Northamptonshire County Council.

Check out World Tonight - 36 minutes 25 seconds into programme. (lasts about 10 minutes).

Northamptonshire had £150 million exposure in these toxic loans. Local Councillors were quoted as saying that they have to pay twice as much as they should - an extra £3 million per year. Paying up to 11.35 % interest per year, which is 22 times the current base rate.

Joel Benjamin from the campaigning group, Debt Resistance pointed out that these are 50-60 year loans and not only do you face financial mark risks from such derivatives but that you face crippling exist penalties of up to 90% of the face value if you try to get out of them.

The biggest LOBO derivative loans borrower in the Country is Newham with exposure at one stage of £532 million (now apparently reduced).

I was interviewed as one of the many Councillors in Newham, who are convinced that we have been totally ripped off by the Banks.

"We are paying far more than we should.  If we had taken out different loans from the government we would be paying about 1 or 2% per year but instead we are paying up to 7.6% in interest per year. We we are paying millions of pounds per year, to the banks, rather than spending that money on services to our residents"

I was pleased to hear on the programme Rob Whiteman, the CIPFA Chief Executive (which is the professional accountancy body for local government) made it clear that Council should actively consider suing the banks. Whiteman (a former Chief Executive of  next door Barking & Dagenham Council) said that councils could consider suing banks over the issue.

He said, “If councils have made bad deals I think they should not be defensive about that but go to litigation and challenge the banks and say, ‘We think we have been mis-sold’, or, ‘We think there are bad deals here and we want to change the nature of the deal’.

“It is very difficult for banks to defend what may be demonstrably a bad deal and so I see no reason at all why councils shouldn’t try and remedy this through the courts if that is the right thing to do.

He did however couch his remarks with caution about making sure there was a proper legal case before spending money on suing the banks.

This is what Newham Councillors including myself, Cllr Roksana Fiaz and Cllr John Whitworth have been saying for years.

Finally, LOBO stands for the seemingly innocuous "Lender Option, Borrowing Option" derivative loans. However, LOBO is also the Spanish term for "wolves".

Apparently, it was the Bank's sale teams who coined the term "LOBO" and these City traders who earned millions in commission had a great laugh at our expense that they were really wolves ripping off local government treasury teams. Who had forgotten this biblical warning:-

Matthew 7:15:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves".

Cathy come home: 50th anniversity tonight on BBC4

"In 1966 the powerful Cathy Come Home shone a light on the desperate housing problems gripping Britain at the time. When the programme first aired, the extent of the crisis shocked the nation – 3 million people were living in slums or stuck in a brutal private renting market. It was a far cry from the popular notion of the swinging 60s.

The film generated massive public support for Shelter, which was established only a few weeks later. We’ve been working tirelessly to make life better for those struggling with bad housing and homelessness ever since.

But while, thankfully, the slums have faded into memory, the sad truth is that this country is once again at the mercy of a housing crisis – and a new generation of Cathys have nowhere to call home.

Private rental sector is the 'new home of poverty' in the UK

Brian Robson

Urgent action is needed to empower local authorities to drive up the standards of privately owned homes

Read more

On this, the film’s 50th anniversary, homelessness is on the rise again. Every day at Shelter our advisers support families across the country who have lost the battle to stay in their homes. We see the heartbreaking toll that bad housing takes on people’s health and wellbeing, and the way it breaks up families and communities.

This is the tragic result of decades of failure by successive governments to tackle the root causes of this crisis and build the genuinely affordable homes we so desperately need. From people forced to live in unstable, unsuitable and often unsafe private rented homes, to the thousands of families stuck in temporary accommodation, right though to a generation of young people who have lost hope of ever getting on to the property ladder.

Everyone deserves the chance to have a stable home where they can put down roots and build a life for themselves, but today’s sky-high housing costs mean this is nothing more than a distant dream for many. And with millions living on a financial knife-edge, it doesn’t take much, such as an illness or a reduction in working hours, to tip a family into the downward spiral towards homelessness.

W​e need nothing short of a wholesale review of housing policy​ after Brexit

Bob Kerslake

The report by the House of Lords economic affairs committee should be required reading for the incoming housing minister, Gavin Barwell

Read more

But if our history tells us anything, it’s that together we can make a difference. The new government has a chance to turn things around, by committing to building homes that people on ordinary incomes can afford to rent or buy, and strengthening the welfare safety net that is there to catch those who fall on hard times.

Shelter will continue to fight for everyone to have a safe, secure and affordable place to call home and will be there to support those who have lost the battle to keep a roof over their heads, for as long as we are needed. But ultimately, I hope we won’t still be here in another 50 years.

For the sake of future generations we cannot make this someone else’s problem. Together, we all face the consequences when thousands of families and children grow up in homes that are simply not good enough. And together, we can fix it.

• Cathy Come Home will be screened tonight at 10pm on BBC4

Custom House Labour Branch New Year Social - 14 January 2016

This looks good. RSVP customhousebranch2016@gmail.com

Why did Sports Direct call ambulances 82 times?

"Dear Friend

Sports Direct’s Shirebrook warehouse is the heart of the giant sportswear retailer, handling clothes and kit that will be sold all over the country. The pace of work there is relentless, and the harsh conditions have long been protested by Unite, who represent workers there. But now a new BBC investigation has confirmed just how damaging Shirebrook is to its workers’ health.

The BBC’s Inside Out team used freedom of information requests to find out that over the last two years, ambulances have been called out a frightening 82 times, with 36 occasions described as ‘life-threatening’. The emergency cases uncovered by the BBC included incidents of chest pains, breathing problems, convulsions and strokes.

View the BBC report here: http://bbc.in/1QWgx0s

Shirebrook operates a ‘six strikes and you’re out’ policy, with even minor infractions of the strict work codes – like chatting to colleagues or taking an excessively long toilet break – punishable with a warning. It’s no wonder many feel scared to take time off sick, even when they really need to, and people are pushed to the limits of their health.

This can’t be allowed to go on.

Please help increase the pressure on Sports Direct to treat its staff decently by sharing Unite’s petition with friends and colleagues. Forward this email, or use social media to spread the word about this campaign: http://bit.ly/sportsdirectpetition

Every time we tell someone about Shirebrook we shine another spotlight on what’s happening there, and help the Unite members who are fighting for respect and decent work.

Thanks for all your help,
Unite Campaigns Team"

Hat tip GoingToWork.org.uk

Update: controversial owner of Sports Direct, Billionaire Mike Ashley has now been charged with  a criminal offence following collapse of one of his companies. 

Murad Qureshi AM on West Ham and the Olympic Stadium

It is the last chance tonight to watch the BBC investigation "When the Hammers struck Gold" on iPlayer.  The programme was first shown on August 6th and alleged that the UK taxplayer has been ripped off in the deal over the use of the Olympic Stadium in Stratford and the private owners of West Ham FC have made a fortune out of it.

"It's costing taxpayers hundreds of millions to convert the Olympic Stadium into a home fit for West Ham Football Club. With the amount spiralling, BBC Sports Editor Dan Roan investigates a deal that is shrouded in secrecy, and that could make the club owners even richer while leaving us to foot the bill".

This clip is from the programme and shows London Assembly member, Murad Qureshi, being interviewed about the secret deal between the London Mayor and West Ham FC. Murad quite rightly questions why the deal has to be secret when a similar arrangement with Manchester Council and Manchester City FC over the Commonwealth Games Stadium was open and transparent.

Murad is standing to be the Labour Candidate for the GLA seat "City and London". He has the support of Greater London UNISON and his stance over the Olympic Stadium shows he is very capable of holding the Mayor to account. 

AMNT Summer Conference 2014 - Stephanie Flanders

I was only able to attend the first two sessions at this year's AMNT Summer conference before having to dash off to a represent a union member in a meeting out of London.

Our first speaker was Stephanie Flanders, who is now the Chief Market Strategist for JP Morgan but much better known as being the former BBC Economics Editor.

She has been told that she has 20 minutes to speak and is reminded of the advice that G.B. Shaw gave to an orator who claimed that he couldn't possibly say all he knew in 20 minutes. Which was "talk very slowly".

Stephanie pointed out that we have had a terribly long period of recession. UK growth is now ok and near its long term trend but we need to do recover faster to make up for the past 5 years. Risk asserts have struggled to find momentum. While it pays to be a risk taker it may not pay as well as did in the past.

Money is cheap still by historic standards, there will be less austerity in the next 3 years than the last 3 years. National Debt is levelling out. The unemployment rate has crashed in the UK and even Spain has managed to increase employment . Deflation is falling prices not reduced inflation, which is something she had to constantly explain to John Humphrys on the Radio 4 Today Programme. WDIAM use to be her favourite 6pm BBC News spot - "What does it all mean?". 

Long term growth and recovery is now so slow that the recent recession could be more damaging to the economy than the First world war or even the Second world war.

We are overdue a correction on equity markets but loose money will not cause a crash. Diversification matters.

My question to her was that the USA and EU recovery may be more genuine and sustainable than the UK due to our over heated house prices and soaring household debt. Stephanie agreed that there was a fear of a bubble in UK housing market but more confident about UK growth which is now far more balanced.

Comic Relief being "done over" by BBC Panorama over investments

I see from the headlines that the BBC flagship investigation programme Panorama will tonight  damage the reputation of Comic Relief because the charity's fund managers invest some of its money in tobacco, alcohol and arms firms.

The Church of England got itself into a similar pickle a little while ago over its pension investment in "Wonga".

The question is not whether charities or pension funds should invest in these companies or not. It is what are they doing with their voting powers and influence given by this shareholding. They should be holding companies to account. While I have some sympathy with disinvestment in Big Tobacco if you start not investing in anything to do with alcohol or "arms" manufacturing, where do you stop?

Don't invest in Banks or insurance companies because they are usurious? don't invest in mining stocks or oil extraction because they ruin the environment? don't invest in drug companies since they experiment on animals?

Needless to say the BBC appear to be just a rather hypocritical here. I have just looked at the BBC pension fund and guess what....they have :-

British American Tobacco - £37.8 million
Imperial Tobacco Group - £30.9 million
BAE Systems - £25.3 million
Reynolds American - £18.9
SABMiller - £22.3
Diageo - £14.7
Greene King - £8.2

They are full of "sin" stocks and this is just the closed DB scheme. How much is invested in their DC and AVC schemes? It is waste of time to indulge in finger pointing over investment issues. You need to get your hands dirty and engage with companies to try and sort them out, not just running away and dis-investing.

Daily Mail caught out lying again & turning into your Dad

When I was growing up my father banned newspapers from our house. He said that they were all biased and we should get our news from the BBC TV at 9pm. He knew that the BBC (bless it) was not perfect but he was satisfied that they meant well and usually got their reporting right most of the time.

I disagreed and use to love reading newspapers. As a teenager I worked in a Newsagents and in the school holidays would try and read every paper in stock. I found it fascinating how different papers would report the same story. Over the years I have become more and more disenchanted with newspapers and have now pretty much stopped buying them.

The latest example of lies and smears published in the Daily Mail last week about Gordon Brown MP just beggars belief (see rare retraction above). You would have thought with the current phone hacking criminal trial and unease about the proposed press regulation charter they would have been just a little big careful about what they publish?

The broadsheets are better but not that much better.  Leaving aside the Sunday Times which I don't believe anything it says anymore. They all seem to be aimed at wealthy middle class elites who obsess over super expensive cars, Waitrose cooking ingredients and exotic holidays in the Seychelles. I exaggerate slightly to make my point and I do on occasions read something interesting and well written but I usually get bored reading them and end up throwing most of it away unread.

Provocative and opinionated stuff you can nowadays get very easily on the Internet. 

I will still read the local press and specialist weeklies but I find myself in yet another way, turning into a slightly updated version of my old Dad. I have decided not to buy daily or Sunday papers and rely on the BBC for my main news.  Now of course largely via their website and PC, tablet, laptop and smartphone.

Poor Pay More in Taxes than Rich

Hat tip to BBC Mark Easton tweet on this table left (click to bring up details).

The poorest 20% of households pay more of their income in taxes than the richest 20%.

36.6% against 35.5%.

Actually the poorest pays more than anyone else! I suspect that the Tory VAT tax hike may be one reason. Indirect tax rises punish the poor the most.

So - we are not all in this together!

Suspended Coffee - Forest Gate style

Check out this link to a BBC news report on this scheme in a Forest Gate cafe which is just down the road from where I live.

Customers can when they buy themselves a coffee at the same time pay for another, which could be claimed later by someone who couldn't afford it.

h/t tweet on http://forestgate.net/

"No Work, No Money, No Doctor"

Tonight I watched a disturbing Panorama programme called "Poor America". You can watch it on BBC iPlayer soon. The coverage of hungry school kids and tent cities of the homeless poor was a pretty appalling thing to watch take place in the
most wealthy country in the world.

But what was really, really horrifying was the mass charity medical clinics for hundreds of Americans with no health insurance.

Many of whom suffer appalling serious medical conditions that would be dealt with immediately by our NHS without question but in the USA they simply cannot afford to get treated. We also saw videos of one of the leading American Republican Presidential candidates appearing to call for child labour and that none of the rest condemn a scenario that someone in a coma with a treatable disease should be allowed to die if he didn't have the correct medical insurance. 

"No Work, No Money, No Doctor" is what one of the Americans queueing up for treatment outside the  clinic said. Is this our NHS future under Lansley reforms?

Virgin Media Sticky Fingers

Following Richard Branson’s ignorant attacks on trades unions I have been trying to cancel my cable service with Virgin Media without much success. So far I have been told various complete and utter porkies, threatened with a £141 charge, been shouted at and then my Virgin landline goes mysteriously dead.

The story so far is on Tuesday after various doomed attempts to cancel online (you can’t), I rang Virgin Media to find out how to stop my account. After the normal 15 minute wait and going through various menus and being cut off twice. I was finally connected to an operator who asked why I wanted to leave. I told him that Richard Branson had made a very anti-trade union video for Virgin America and as lifelong trade unionist I want nothing to do with him or any company associated with him. I was told firstly that Branson had nothing anymore to do with Virgin Media (He does, he owns the Virgin "Brand", I think 9% of shares and is their biggest single private investor). It was then claimed that Branson owns shares in BBC so will I boycott them? I said that he doesn’t have shares in the BBC, it is public broadcaster and was told again yes he did. I was also told that I either had to give 6 months notice or pay £141 to leave. When I said that this was unfair it ended up with me being shouted at! Then the following morning I found that my Virgin landline is suddenly not working.

I have been a customer of Virgin Media (and the previous cable companies they bought) for 15 years. I pay £70 per month. At times this has been a pretty miserable experience but this is really the pits. I have also worked in front line customer services organisation for over 20 years and have never come across such an appalling service or attitude.

I have made an official complaint about Branson and his remarks; about their so called “contracts”; the lack of supervision and training given to staff; called for the Virgin Cable monopoly to be broken up and for greater regulation and also that my phone is fixed. Needless to say some 48 hours later nothing has been done. I’ll post on future developments.