Trevor Phillips

Trevor Phillips Whilst the Patel issue was dying this has taken it off the front pages and I suspect the Phillips issue is going to run and run for some time It may well be a diversionary tactic in advance of EHRC Report >accusing many people and organisations of islamophobia with Labour’s change of definition broadening the range of accusations they are able to make The people running the Party are experienced political operators and obviously they were going to engage in mitigation tactics in advance of the report Strange that they should do it now at an important time in the Leadership election! Perhaps they think that if Sir K wins he will use the Report to clear out the Marxist left so they have to get their defence in now. Having launched it Sir K may find it difficult to stop! And who do you attack but one of the most respected anti-racist experts in the country whose opinions are considered pragmatic and common sense on race issues irrespective of your political allegiance I do not know if Phillips is popular with Members of the Labour Party and perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye>will Sir K be put on the spot? Will he be asked if he supports the new definition of islamophobia and the suspension? >hard to imagine that Sir K thinks Philips is a bad guy nor Landy but the likes of RLB and Burgon will just say they support the democratic decision of the Party and the investigation must take its course Am I reading too much conspiracy into this strange action!....there has to be a political dimension in this decision and it is certainly not to make Labour more popular with the electorate and Red Wall voters!

Rutnam and All That

Rutnam and All That

The story broke on Saturday with Rutman standing under an umbrella in the rain making his political point prompting a cynical comment that it was ‘a wet avoid the wet ‘!!

3 days in and it appears to be dying and coronavirus is more important to the public than a civil service tiff >not sure the public ever had much sympathy with Rutman

Anti Boris MSM are trying hard to make it run but Corbyn and his MPs did not give any impetus to that in Parliament>watching it was quite boring and very repetitious and Labour MPs did not look as though their heart was in trying to get a scalp! Actually it could be that the current runt of Labour MPs are not very inspiring or capable of making a contest out of issues such as this

The probability is that the fall out was six of one and half a dozen of the other with both sides briefing on each other but the general consensus is that the Home Office [not the Minister] is not fit for purpose, has been that way for some time, and Patel was sent in to sort it out

If so then flack was expected by the Government hence the complete laid back approach. In due course we will be told that whilst the Minister was inpolite she was not in breach of the code. Rutman is paid out and on we go!

Basically, who cares about a civil servant who doesn’t like the government policy which the electorate has soundly endorsed!

A cynic may say that Boris has been lucky again as coronavirus has taken everything off the front pages and the minds of the electorate

Some of the commentators I follow, who have been Boris Bashers and have not yet recovered from his landslide victory which they thought impossible , have had a last fling on this and hopefully they will also move on ! Normally, which is why I follow them, their views are interesting and relatively objective

So Rutnam has not even be a seven day wonder!  

      

Patel v Rutman

Patel v Rutman

For starters majority of electorate will know Patel and very few Rutman so when they see him on the news they will I suspect just reflect that here is another Civil Servant annoyed that he does not get his own way with Patel> Patel is elected he is not

No doubt Rutman has been a good servant to this country and has carried out his duties with diligence and competence but perhaps not with sufficient flexibility

As a septuagenarian I have seen several situations, when a new government takes over, with a large majority and on each occasion, I reflect, that there are civil servants who do not sit easily with the new masters

The colour of the government is generally irrelevant but not always. More normally amongst the top civil servants there are those who cannot adjust to a new regime and a new breath of fresh air flowing through their department

Since 2020 the civil servants have become used to first a coalition , then a small majority and finally a minority , government and all three give them more power and control over their departments>they are easily able to manipulate their masters

We must all appreciate that historically, perhaps, for all time the majority of our civil servants have little respect for their political masters! After all the politicians come and go and the civil servants are always there!

So we are seeing this happen again and yet again the publicity will rapidly disappear and Patel and the rest of us move on>the Government may well be saying, one down and a few more to come !!

Cynical perhaps but when you have a large majority you have to set out your stall straight away, take any flack from MSM, and then get on with the job of government

It is only a big issue for MSM not the electorate !

Having said that Rutman may well win his redundancy claim but I wonder why he bothers as no doubt he will get a very good retirement benefit consistent with his Civil Service status without resorting to lawyers!

Perhaps he has marketing advisers so needs the publicity for his future role in politics or after dinner speech circuit     

     

Keith Starmer> a Tory view

A Tory’s views on Sir Keith Starmer

As a Tory the selection of a new Labour Leader is not really of my concern except that whoever is elected could influence the results of future elections

He was only elected as an MP in 2015 so is relatively inexperienced as a front line politician. He became a front bench spokesman almost straight away probably because he was a lawyer and had been DPP/CPS for 5 years

I can find no record of him actually being involved in grass roots politics and it is almost certain that he was not a regular at Labour Party Conferences in the run up to becoming an MP as he was DPP/CPS from 2003 to 2013

So he did not earn his spurs by working for the Party and was selected as an MP in safe seat due to his public profile

Initially he was anti Corbyn but then, probably as the only way to progress his political career, he became a fan. A loyal guy so one can find little , if any, criticism of Corbyn in the run up to the election and even now he avoids criticism

So whilst experienced in public duties he is very inexperienced in basic politics yet he is the front runner to lead the Labour Party out of the wilderness> does no one wonder or even ask questions how he will deal with the very experienced people in charge of the Labour Party now. Who know how to manipulate people and Party rules to achieve objectives

You could almost call him a novice political operator which may be the reason that he proposed the neutral stance on Brexit completely unaware of how political life works at grass roots level

As a lawyer and his CV he obviously has talents of presenting an argument which accounts for his success in pushing through ‘his’ Brexit policy

This  is all good for the Tory Party as if and when he wins civil war will break out when he tries to move the policies to the centre> it is very hard when reading his CV to conclude that he is a Marxist or any further to the left than Blair or even Boris  

The Tory Party would never nowadays elect such a novice as their Leader > mind you the other two candidates are also not that experienced but do have a grass roots background

Modern Toryism is effectively Blair Mk4 as Blair was Thatcher Mk2 and ‘real’ Sir Keith Starmer would sit nicely within  its ranks.

I doubt that Boris fears any of the candidates as he proceeds hell bent on implementing his Manifesto as amended by having the freedom of an 80 majority   

Future Relationship with Europe

Negotiating parties, before they start, normally put themselves in the opposition shoes to work out their strategy and final outcome they are seeking

So when the EU published their document on the future relationship they would have or should have anticipated the UK reaction

And today the same applies to the UK

So there are no surprises on both sides as of now

It is appreciated that those involved are competent

The MSM like to build it up as a big surprise perhaps to make it a story to sell !!

It would be strange if the EU are not fully aware of the changed scenario due to the election  but you never know as the EU States who run the show have always had a tendency to overestimate their own capabilities and underestimate the determination of the British

So the opening position is that both sides have a good idea where we will end up

Boris is in a strong political situation and has a mandate whereas each 27 of the EU States have their own vested interests

And the easy solution for their economies is to give the British what they want>they have lost the war over EU style Brexit

And it is now a matter of EU gracefully moving to that position>we will make it easy for them by being firm but pragmatic      

Politics is Drifting !

Politics is drifting

Those of us who follow politics are perhaps lamenting that it is all drift now and no excitement!

Whilst the majority of us are pleased that we now have a government with a working majority we no longer wake up in anticipation of unexpected events to make the day interesting

Even the tweeters seem down hearted and I suspect the number of tweets are well down>mine are!

This weekend we have read about the civil service being put in their place because they have become over powerful in the last decade due to either coalition government or unmanageable majorities

Then we see MSM demanding that the PM should be out and about with his mop whilst the Nation just expects him to run the country, keeping in touch via his Ministers who ply their trade> electorate only want to see a lot of their PM during elections!

And of course the Labour Leadership election which catches the imagination of no one!

As a septuagenarian I have seen this scenario three times!

First post 1966 victory by Wilson when exactly the same happened and Wilson got rid of civil servants indoctrinated by the Tories [after 1966 win he was not powerful to do that]. Wilson got on running the country and the Opposition [Tories] were irrelevant

Then post 1979 when Thatcher did exactly the same and the Opposition [Labour]was irrelevant to be followed by Blair carrying on in the same way after 1997

So our PM personally known as Boris does exactly the same now and why not!

 On each occasion there were advisers attacked by MSM and now it is the turn of Cummings to take the flack> MSM London bubble will never forgive him for his work during the referendum which eventually took us out of their beloved EU!

I suspect that many of electorate are bored stiff with MSM hate of Cummings and after seeing Boris on the hustings, first to become Tory Leader and PM , and then to win a landslide , they just laugh when BBC Newsnight, R4 or any other media say that Cummings is running the country

Read one interesting comment that Boris and No 10 are happy with this as Cummings takes all the flack and Boris is the good guy ! although some BBC people still call him all the bad names under the sun!!.....and Cummings has broad shoulders

I should have mentioned that Boris is now criticised for demanding briefings to be no longer that 4 x A4 pages > one of the long standing tactics of civil servants, at national and local level, of managing their political masters is to bog them down in detail!

After the last decade of interesting politics we are now in a decade of boring politics  whilst the government gets on with implementing it’s Manifesto >which is exactly what the electorate want so that they can get on with enjoying the Roaring Twenties Mk2 !!     

Corona, Ciara, Schofield>damp start to February 2020

As February get going MSM is trying desperately hard to find an issue to catch the imagination of the public to no avail

Over the weekend Storm Ciara took over from Corona Virus and Schofield>we just do not seem able to handle these storms and as a septuagenarian I look back and reflect that nothing has changed ! although so far Boris has not been blamed which is surprising as normally MSM blames the government of the day for everything: perhaps just now MSM aore worried about
 their future not only from social media but from Boris & Co for all the ‘Boris Bashing’!
If MSM has nothing to Bash Boris about they turn to Cummings, the man who hates HS2 and I see today we now have the Boris Bridge causing a stir

As for Schofield I suppose MSM will break ranks and let us all know the full storey before long and they can now blame Joan Collins for letting the cat out of the bag>reality is that no one really cares he is gay as a cynic would perhaps say that it is just part of the entertainment scene unless of course he has been naughty ! now that is an old fashioned word to use!!!

Brexit now seems history and MSM find it very hard to create any interest. Maybe Sinn Fein has benefited from Varadkar wanting to make a European name for himself and thereby talking his eyes of domestic policies back home>he looks a loser now

Even an attempt to build up the reshuffle as a big event has been spoiled by Boris who will just make changes around the edges of his Government! Although we heard today that it has nothing to do with Boris as it is a decision battle between the ‘hated’ Cummings and the ‘less hated’ Carrie Symonds> the rest of us know that Boris is his own man, likes to delegate but a controlled delegation…..well so it appears so far

Even Mr Lammy cannot get the Country to get on the streets over Windrush. As soon as the electorate hear that we are deporting criminals they decide to stay at home and the Home Secretary walks out on him in the Chamber!! …the political world really does change with an 80 majority

Now I haven’t mentioned the Labour Party Leadership contest and MSM stays away unlike the Tory contest last summer reflecting that the Nation does not care who wins as they have just given Boris a free hand to give us all another ‘Roaring 20’s and are happy to wait until 2024 before a mid-term review>basically Labour are irrelevant to our daily lives and will only be of interest again if it appears that Boris has made a hash of it all! Even then sticking to Corbyn policies will be great  for Boris

So February starts with a bit of a whimper unless you played in the England/Scotland match in those weather conditions>as a forward in my youth it looked like a good scrap upfront and a cold bore for the backs. England deserved to win and now for Ireland and Wales at hone and the Championship   

Leaving the EU 2020

So we have left the EU but nothing has happened which will in practice affect our life and I doubt that we will notice any changes on January 1^st 2021 when the transition ends

But them most of us do not do business with EU and if we do then the odd click on the laptop will deal with any extra customs procedure or if travelling having to show an App on our mobiles that we are entitled to enter a EU27 country. For business with AI it may well be done without any human actions at all once set up
And we will never know if our economy would have been better if the vote had gone the other way 

For most, if not all, of us the result on 12^th  December 2019 has more implications as for the first time in a decade we have a Government able to govern

And if we don’t like what they do over the next 5 years we can vote them out in 2024

If there is any cheer to be had this weekend it will , for me anyway, seeing England beat France!

Brexit will no longer be with us from breakfast to supper and those of us who have followed the politics will have to find something else to do! Don’t say follow the Labour election battle as that is very uninteresting> you have the main contenders trying to be more Corbyn than Corbyn but without his CV and telling the Members that is the way to a victory in 2024!
Labour will only start to become interesting again when, and if, they start to face reality and try to devise policies which can compete with the policies of Boris!

I suppose that I will remember two very exciting political evenings both with high drama> Brexit result 23^rd June 2016 when I was devastated that we were leaving and 10 pm 12^th December when I was overjoyed that Boris would get Brexit done with his landslide
In between I have been on a journey as a democrat to supporting leaving EU and the journey from not thinking much of Boris to being a supporter 

Quite honestly I now consider that under Boris this Country will be a great place for my middle aged Children[3] and my Grandchildren [8] to thrive and achieve their aspirations
As for myself and my wife in our late 70’s I do not expect to see another Labour Government , nor high inflation. 3 day working week and the Winter of Discontent or anything similar happen
And I do accept climate change and see great opportunities for technology to solve those issues and that I will not have to stop eating beef because they fart too much!

A new positive future is in our grasps and it is up for everyone  to reach out and enjoy the benefits, both those who have and those who do not 

Amazing, 12 months ago I would not have been a Boris supporter !!!!

Sturgeon> No short cuts to Independence 2020

Sturgeon> No short cuts to Independence 2020

This is Sturgeon’s first step to accepting reality>acknowledging that Indi Ref 2 will not take place in 2020
Her only hope was a hung Parliament with Labour in control and she knows that the probability is that is inconceivable until 2029 at the earliest
It will also become apparent that Brexit will not have a noticeable affect on the Scottish economy so her EU argument disappears. Reality she knows is that Boris will use fiscal measures to ensure that under his Premiership Scotland benefits economically

So this is just the start of the route to acceptance that there will not be a second referendum for a generation or ever

And as she puts the issue on the back burner she will start to concentrate on domestic Scottish issues and here lies her problem>take Brexit and Second Referendum out of the spectrum and SNP are exposed as very poor governors of Scotland!
Now that may give an opening for the Centre Tory Party of Boris to advance    

Saracens Premier League Punishment

Saracens Premier League Punishment

PL relegation competition now a dead rubber>winning PL from also runs however good Chiefs think they are> 2020/21 Championship teams no chance of promotion & always a caveat to winner of PL for second year running>all from a Salary Cap system which plainly does not work for Clubs, players and supporters>Report illustrates the complexities of the Cap: try reading it without a lawyer at your side!

If you want to understand how the Salary Cap works just read the Report on Saracens>I’m being cynical here!
It is so technical and complicated that after trying to read and understand it I felt that no wonder there have been breaches and I also wonder how many other Clubs have been in breach or could have been
A big play had been made about the media and market rights of one player. One of the top firms were asked to value them and this Report obtained another valuation ay half the amount. The difference being a major part of the breach for that particular year  

As a trained albeit retired valuer [property] it is interesting that the assumptions made by the two firms who valued these right are not stated and compared> every valuation is based on a set of assumptions. It follows that the decision to favour the lower figure fits nicely in with the accusations against Saracens
Then we come to the property loans>where they considered benefits in kind by HMRC and subject to tax . We all know  how keen HMRC are to tax us and if they were not so caught by our tax laws why should they be caught by a Salary Cap>anyway it is the ‘interest element’ which is ‘income’

Perhaps all this has been considered and dealt with and I am just trying to illustrate that it is perhaps the rules of the Salary Cap which is the root of the problem
Some may say that Saracens played at the rules to the edge and lost but when you are building a team it is not just to win the PL but to win in Europe and you are up against teams playing to different rules
Our teams are at a huge disadvantage competing in perhaps the most competitive rugby competition after the World Cup>yes perhaps more competitive than the Six Nations!
So naturally Clubs will play the system to the edge as they play the rules of Rugby to the edge
Saracens did exactly that and continued with practices which have been around a long time in Rugby Union and at one time was the only way to keep amateur players at Clubs
I have to admit that I gave up reading the Report [and when working I was used to reading legal reports] as soon as it became abundantly clear that Salary Cap System is not fit for purpose
And the consequences will have a detrimental affect on both the PL and Championship for two years
Besides making it easier for the French Teams to win !

Starmer >Left or Marxist

Sir Keith> a Marxist/Far Left or Blairite?

Does anyone really believe that Sir Starmer, a Knight of the Realm really supports Corbyn's far left, Marxist polices and approach to politics!

From the start of his appearance in politics in 2015 he has always given the impression that he was very much of the 'Blair' ilk and that he served under Corbyn only because he was a committed Remain and Second Referendum supporter and by doing that he could turn the Labour Party into a Remain Party>he nearly succeeded !
He had to compromise and bite his tongue many times but compromise to achieve a target is just part of politics>as a lawyer he was well tuned
So it will be interesting to see if he can con enough of the far left/Marxist to get elected Leader
Perhaps he is the 2020 version of 1983 Kinnock!.....and young Kinnock the new 'Smith/Blair' waiting in the wings for 2029 and beyond

LIfe after Brexit

International headlines replace Brexit as we start 2020 and few will be sorry about that

The Labour Leadership contest is not very inspiring to the public at large and neither will be the technical side of the enacting the Withdrawal Agreement 

The media will focus on the Tories for the foreseeable future as the views of the Opposition Parties are irrelevant

The Middle East blows up and dies down and will be a continual thorn in the side of western Leader for the foreseeable future

Iran will take it’s time in responding to the assignation of its General and that will enable it to diffuse the situation

The real politics of the incident is that Iran became careless and misjudged Trump and Iran thought it could attack America and its Allies via its proxy organisations with impunity>perhaps the balance has returned

The consequences of the mistake over the airline will resonate and negotiations will start for a new deal later in the year>such is the power of sanctions!

Our MSM always follows the US elections which will be the international event of 2020. At present Trump looks like the winner and as they say it is his to lose

The political excitement of the last 3 years has ceased although there may be a hiatus late in the year as the end of transition gets close ending up with a new deal around middle November to allow both sides to ratify before the end of the year

So social media will not have the attraction as hitherto

As a country we are now moving into a period where there will be relatively massive infrastructure investment and much of that in the North

And private investment will get a boost from the conclusion of Brexit 

The NHS management will be improved and brought up to date but pressure will continue due to the advance of medical science and demand

A cross party commission will report on social care both for now and the future

On both these issue the Tories must show progress by 2024

Climate change targets and progress will increasingly become the central issue of the next decade

Our grandchildren at 16 plus are well and truly orientated in that direction and they will vote in 2024 and by end of decade the movers and shakers of our future > my eldest will be 29 , then 28 26 and youngest 23 [besides I will be 81 at next election and 86/87 at end of decade ]

I am confident that we are looking at a Tory decade whoever is the Labour Leader  

There will be crisis and events and the Government will make mistakes but the next decade will not be like the last

Because 2010 started with a coalition and then half way we had a small then minority government >it had to deal with crisis issues and austerity to get us back on track and that was basically unexciting until Brexit came along

We start the 2020’s with a bang and lots of positive vibes

Labour went to the extreme/Marxist left and lost heavily and they start 2020 in disorder and having to find a focus which appeals to electorate

As Boris is firmly in the middle ground that is not going to be easy

Some will think that the same policies and approach with a different Leader will with one more push turn the Country deep red As at day one of 2020 they are in control of Labour so drastic changes are unlikely in short term

But anything can happen in the next 5 years