United Kingdom

NDPP wrote:

The Artist Taxi-Driver: GE 2015: Live From Westmonster OMG!!!

https://youtu.be/UkM1IxqjSXM

 

UK Election 2015: The Horror

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41788.htm

"English voters chose to reward one of the most vicious rightwing governments in British history with a near majority. It's a result that was made possible by a sheeplike, frightened and rancorous population that appears increasingly disposed to believe all the lies that it is told by its vile newspapers.

It is an irrational, stupid and fearful vote by an electorate that doesn't even recognize its own self-interest, let alone the interests of others..."

Welcome to the nightmare. I predict much the same will happen here...

Completely over-the top rhetoric. Apalling.

Burnham and Cooper, i.e.,, Mrs. Balls, leaders to replace Milliband.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/08/andy-burnham-favourite-t...

As a tagalong, from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long

Quote:

Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How’s that again? I missed something.

Autocracy is based on the assumption that one man is wiser than a million men. Let’s play that over again, too. Who decides?

Pretty easy to see that someone that's calling the voters "stupid" because he clearly knows better than they do has the answer to that last question.

montrealer58 wrote:

As they serve their Russian and Ukranian totalitarian masters, they show complete contempt for the democratic will of the British people. We can be assured that they hold an equal contempt for our democratic will here in Canada as well.

So you're claiming that the result of the vote didn't reflect the "democratic will of the British people"?  Or are you claiming that you know better than any number of million voters.  Enquiring minds want to know.

Maybe there's a grain of sense in this after all, in that, voters may have reasoned that the quicker it all goes down the flush bowl the better, and there's no one better to yank that chain than the conservatives.

What we learned from occupying our university

It is less than a week into the new government and some of us would love nothing more than to run screaming for the hills. Yet, amid this bleak political landscape, students have been occupying their universities.

Over the last six weeks we occupied the London School of Economics. Our demands concerned issues of free education, workers’ rights, university democracy, divestment and liberation on campus.

Nine of our demands were met, after five hours of negotiations with the vice-chancellor. The occupation ended on the night of 30 April on agreed terms that these demands will be followed through....

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/may/13/what-we-learned-from-oc...

“We have shown that occupations work and that students must articulate themselves.” Photograph: Natalie Fiennes

Ex MP George Galloway's Comment: 'How Can the Tories with Only 37% Support Stop UK Poverty?' (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/Video/2015/05/15/411169/UN-Yemen-humanitarian-crisis

We need an alliance of all radical forces to build an anti-capitalist movement in England. A movement that is both new but also prepared to search the past for help: the Grand Remonstrance of the 17th century, the Chartist rebellions of the 19th century, the more recent developments in South America, Greece and Spain also offer a way forward. As for the Labour Party, I think we should let it bleed. Here the Scottish route offers hope.

Tariq Ali in Counterpunch.org

re the sweep of the Scottish national Party!

British municipal outsourcing:

http://gu.com/p/49d5j/sbl

I'm sure that some Canadian right-wingers will admire this example.

The following article discusses what the effects of the budget plan for the UK have been during the last four years and will be during the next four years under Cameron's Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. Of course, none of this would be going ahead if Cameron didn't approve it. The article takes the perspective of how the UK will look in 2019 after four more years under the proposed budget plan.

Quote:

So what does Britain look like in these circumstances? In terms of the size of the state, it is like the Britain of the 1930s. Public spending has fallen to below 35%, lower than the postwar low under Macmillan in the late 1950s and back to the pre-welfare-state years when Neville Chamberlain was starting a rearmament programme. Osborne is offering a return to the world of Ukip’s dreams without the need to vote for Nigel Farage.

Here’s what it means. Public spending on services, administration and grants by central government account for just 12.6% of national output compared to 21.2% of GDP in the last year of Gordon Brown’s Labour government. Put another way, spending on public services per head is down from £5,650 to £3,880. Around 40% of that reduction in spending took place between 2010 and 2015; the other 60% came after 2015.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/03/osborne-plans-public-spen...

Cameron did what he had to do to survive in a coalition government - compromise - but even before the 2015 election victory this was his announced plan. He is taking a chain saw to government spending, refusing to take Mediterranean migrants, and threatening to pull out of the EU via a referendum, partly because he sees its human rights obligations as too onerous for a right-winger like himself. Just because his platform does not fit the extreme positions of the UKIP agenda or that of the ultra-right part of the Conservative party because it likely would have cost him more moderate right-wing votes than those gained by out-UKIPing UKIP, doesn't mean Cameron is not even more right-wing than Thatcher.

ETA: His approach typifies what one would expect of a son of a stockbroker and a lineal descendent of King William IV. He grew up in a privileged environment including an Oxford education that provided Cameron with good debating skills, but no ability and no willingness to look beyond the narrow interests of his elite class (unlike some in his class with his education). It is not surprising therefore that his viewpoint matches so closely that of his Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, a descendent of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, whose upper class views of economic privlege were also reinforced by a narrow but privleged Oxford education.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cameron

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G

bekayne wrote:

...

Cameron laid out the radical Conservative agenda that will dismantle most of what is left of the frayed social safety net in the Queen's Speech. One pundit called it the "most dangerous Queen's Speech in living memory".

Quote:

The Tories' slim majority of 12 will enable the party to pursue many of its manifesto policies, as well as some of the bills vetoed by its Coalition partner over the last five years.

Plans to cut welfare and limit strike action immediately highlighted the new government's "freedom from Lib Dem shackles", says Iain Watson, political correspondent for BBC News. But, politically, the Conservatives are focused on consolidating any ground taken from Labour, he says. Cameron borrowed the opposition's language of "one nation" and defied Ed Miliband's predictions that a Tory government would increase VAT and cut child benefit.

Nevertheless, if a Tory majority is maintained, Britain will be "transformed in ways which are likely to be controversial", says Watson. "The size of the state will reduce. Working age benefits will be less generous. The deficit will be eliminated. And, if successful, the idea of a 'Northern Powerhouse' will help re-balance the economy away from the south-east."

Stephen Pollard at the Daily Express describes it as a "huge and radical programme of change", while the Daily Telegraph's Mary Riddell says it may even go down as the "most dangerous Queen's Speech in living memory".

By the end of this parliament, Britain may have exited the EU and scrapped the Human Rights Act, she says. "Two such momentous issues require a deft government and a valiant opposition. Britain can rely on neither."

But George Eaton at New Statesman thinks the greatest danger is that the death of one union could lead to the death of another. "Were Scotland to vote to remain in the EU and the rest of the UK to vote to leave, the SNP would cite this as grounds for another independence referendum," he warns. "By the end of the parliament, should the Union fracture into two nations, [Cameron's] promise of 'one nation' could look like the bleakest of ironies."

Here's what else was announced in the Queen's Speech:

Employment

Measures on work were at the heart of the Tory's first legislative programme, with the employment bill set to be "fast-tracked" through parliament. This will push for two million more jobs and three million more apprenticeships over the next five years with the aim of achieving the highest employment rate of any major economy.

Security

The government is hoping to fast-track a new counter-terrorism bill that will impose greater restrictions on extremists trying to radicalise young people. Proposals include new powers to close premises, including mosques, where extremists are attempting to build influence. The controversial bill was previously vetoed by the Liberal Democrats but was revived in the Tory manifesto.

Government

Chancellor George Osborne has pledged to devolve greater powers to English cities if they agree to be governed by a directly elected mayor. The cities devolution bill is seen as a balance to the powers that Cameron has promised to the Scottish parliament and is expected to offer elected city mayors the opportunity to control health, transport, housing and planning.

Business

Cameron has named Thatcherite Sajid Javid as Business Secretary, with plans to cut red tape and boost exports. The Financial Times says the appointment is "emblematic of Mr Cameron's plan to lead a government with free market instincts allied to a series of measures to show the Conservatives are on the side of aspiring working families". Ministers have said they will push ahead with plans to make public sector striking illegal unless it is backed by at least 40 per cent of all workers entitled to vote on industrial action.

Welfare

To pay for the three million apprenticeships, the employment bill also plans to reduce the annual benefit cap from £26,000 to £23,000 per household. Returning as Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith will oversee the implementation of the party's welfare plans.

Childcare

Another bill to be "fast-tracked" through parliament concerns childcare. The Tories want to double the amount of free childcare for working families with three and four year olds to 30 hours a week.

Europe

Cameron has promised that "early legislation" will be introduced to provide for an in/out referendum on the UK's European Union membership before the end of 2017. He has also pledged to "bring forward proposals" for a British Bill of Rights. More solid plans to scrap the Human Rights Act appear to have been put on hold following opposition from senior Tory MPs.

Tax

Cameron wants to introduce legislation to freeze income tax, rates, value-added tax and national insurance for the next five years. He will also try to raise the earnings threshold for income tax from £10,600 to £12,500 during this parliament and legislate for a permanent tax-free minimum wage for people working at least 30 hours a week.

Housing

The government looks likely to press ahead with plans to extend Margaret Thatcher's controversial right-to-buy scheme, which would allow housing association tenants to buy their homes with similar discounts offered to council tenants.

Health

Government will increase the health budget, integrate health and social care and ensure the "NHS works on a seven-day basis". Measures will also be introduced to improve access to GPs and to mental healthcare.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/election-2015/63629/queens-speech-whats-on-davi...

How much is inheritance tax in Canada?

montrealer58 wrote:

How much is inheritance tax in Canada?

See for example:

http://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax-resources/inheritance-tax.jsp

Lots more will come up on a search on "inheritance tax canada".

Being a smelly asshole must be a pre-requisite for the job of UK Prime Minister, considering how many apply and get awarded the position.

Chagos islanders go to supreme court in battle to be allowed home:

http://gu.com/p/4a2v4/sbl

But Britain would have to throw the U.S. out, probably in contravention of a secret agreement. So another turndown or a very nasty scuffle.

Jeremy Corbyn has a real shot to win Labour leadership.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jeremy-corbyn-beat-andy-burnham-611...

Corbyn s views and UK opinion

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-jeremy-corbyn-policies-that-most-people-actually-agree-with-10407148.html

DaveW wrote:

Corbyn s views and UK opinion

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-jeremy-corbyn-policies-that-most-people-actually-agree-with-10407148.html

Problem is the while the people support it, the opinion makers in the media, political, consultant and business classes don't. And they hold a lot of sway over the politicians. In Britain, with the prevalence of the Murdoch press, this can be especially potent (remember Nightmare on Kinnock Street?). Nonetheless, a courageous leader who is able to communicate over the heads the neo-liberal iron triangle can win.

Jeremy Corbyn's popularity understandable says economist Joseph Stiglitz:

http://gu.com/p/4b22m/sbl

Jeremy for Labour!

What Jeremy Corbyn offers his supporters is clarity:

http://gu.com/p/4b5v2/sbl

Rush for dual-nationality passports as EU migrants fear Brexit:

http://gu.com/p/49zx4/sbl