Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th December 2014

[tinyclanger2]

www.economistsview.typepad.com/economis ... 7s+View%29

'The Imaginary World of Small State People'

The ... claim that Osborne’s cuts have been such a success that they will cause a “deeper intellectual wound to the left than we currently understand” is simply delusional. These are fantasy ideas from those living in an imaginary world, while in reality the policies they support do serious harm.

[AngryAsWell]

Sunny Hundal ‏@sunny_hundal · 22s22 seconds ago
Important development coming tomorrow regarding abortion clinics in the UK #cantsaymoreyet #embargoed #sorry

[frightful_oik]

I used to work for Premier Foods in the 80s. They were Rank Hovis McDougall then though. Lord Rank, the miller, was a philanthropist. Then they got sold to some private equity groups. Still got a fair bit of my pension with them however.

[TechnicalEphemera]

Interesting.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comm ... s-BIS.html

This is the latest in a series of articles from The telegraph suggesting the financial system is in serious trouble.

The issues with the gold markets, and the fall in commodity prices are also warning signs.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I used to work for Premier Foods in the 80s. They were Rank Hovis McDougall then though. Lord Rank, the miller, was a philanthropist. Then they got sold to some private equity groups. Still got a fair bit of my pension with them however.

When my grandfather was blacklisted from the London docks for union activism he retrained as a baker and ended up working for Joseph Rank; he got to know both him and his son J Arthur pretty well, never had a bad word to say about either of them until the day he died. With a lot of these older established companies (Tesco is another one that springs to mind) you feel their founders would be appalled at what is now being done with their legacy.

[citizenJA]

In addition, Ashcroft said that half of those who have turned away from the Conservative say they are planning to vote for the eurosceptic UKIP party.

Ashcroft said the findings showed that Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives are facing a “very uphill struggle” and the opposition Labour party is on the course to win a “comfortable” majority.

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/09/2 ... r-support/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The date on the article is 29 September 2014. The drop in Tory membership is correct; it hasn't changed. We'd have heard no end if it materialised. The New Statesman put up an article the end of July, this year, indicating the Tories were going to announce their rise in party membership. It never arrived. Even with the £1 Tory party membership mug.

[ohsocynical]

In case anyone wants a list of the Premier Foods brands (I do as I'm going to do a foodbank shop soon ... and I will be making sure I don't touch any of their products).

Our Brands
Ambrosia
Batchelors
Bisto
Loyd Grossman
Mr. Kipling
OXO
Sharwood's

Phew. I don't buy any of those.

[WelshIan]

I'm not sure if by voluntary you mean those making a 'lifestyle choice'? If you resign a job without a good reason then you can't get JSA for up to 6 months. Even with a good reason you may find it hard to claim!

In response to FOI requests, the DWP has figures for numbers of JSA claimants who have claimed for at least 10 years:

August 2012 - 1,070
Feb 2014 - 1,130

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... b-feb-2014" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Are these people voluntarily unemployed, though, and making a 'lifestyle choice'? We can't conclude that as there are a variety of factors in why they are unemployed. It would be interesting to have an age breakdown of when they 1st became unemployed as some of these may have been made redundant in their 50's and have not been able to get a job since because of their age.

edited to make last sentence read a bit better, I'm sure it could be improved again!

A few might be, but if you're out of employment it must (often) get harder and harder to get a job - both in terms of the psychology of the job seeker and the attitude of the potential employer. I'm guessing that the negative attitudes come from people assuming that people are unemployed out of choice, am trying to think about possible ways to tell the story. eg: how involuntary redundancy, self-service checkouts, outsourcing and offshoring, etc etc etc contribute to unemployment figures in UK.

Yes, it does get harder the longer you're unemployed.

That's a fairly major research project! Some links, etc to start delving into:

http://www.technologyreview.com/feature ... ying-jobs/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This reviews the work of a couple of economists, Brynjolfsson and McAfee, who are looking at the impact of technology on jobs. Recent papers by Brynjolfsson can be found here: http://ebusiness.mit.edu/erik/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've tried to look for the number of jobs outsourced from the UK but have not had much luck. I've found a few things on outsourcing within the UK (ie companies who provide IT, HR, etc to other companies), and thought that this market could be a source of downward pressure on wages as contracts may be awarded to the lowest cost provider.

This report prepared by Oxford Economics for the Business Services Association is from 2011, The size of the UK outsourcing market – across the private and public sectors:
http://www.bsa-org.com/uploads/publicat ... iginal.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is also interesting:
http://www.thersa.org/action-research-c ... ing-abroad" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As manufacturing costs rise in China, etc then the marginal saving of moving manufacturing becomes less and there is potential for some of these jobs to come back onshore. Could be quite positive if it happens? March of the Makers, indeed.

Hope this helps, I enjoy research and looking for information, reports, etc - it was my job for about 10 years. Just say if you want anything else looked at.

[tinyclanger2]

Thanks WelshIan - will take a closer look tomorrow. Interesting stuff.

[AngryAsWell]

In addition, Ashcroft said that half of those who have turned away from the Conservative say they are planning to vote for the eurosceptic UKIP party.

Ashcroft said the findings showed that Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives are facing a “very uphill struggle” and the opposition Labour party is on the course to win a “comfortable” majority.

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/09/2 ... r-support/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The date on the article is 29 September 2014. The drop in Tory membership is correct; it hasn't changed. We'd have heard no end if it materialised. The New Statesman put up an article the end of July, this year, indicating the Tories were going to announce their rise in party membership. It never arrived. Even with the £1 Tory party membership mug.

Date at top is Sunday Dec 07, 2014, so an easy mistake, but thanks for pointing it out.

[rebeccariots2]

Please stop this car ... I want to get off.

IsImmigrationToBlameForTrafficJams.jpg (46.81 KiB) Viewed 13386 times

How could anybody ... and I mean anybody ... vote for this nasty nonsense?

[WelshIan]

Tinyclanger - A bit more for you.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs ... shore.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This article from 2012 refers to a CIPD survey on offshoring, I think this is it:
http://www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/labour-m ... spring.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I couldn't find an update on this survey, and I'm not sure how useful it will be as it doesn't include real numbers.

http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/surv ... picgroup=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I hope that this will take you to the start of a list of their Labour Market Surveys, which may include some useful info.

That's it from me, good night all.

[tinyclanger2]

Another excellent contribution.

al-sasha bhat ‏@shubly 21m21 minutes ago
Immigrated to England 23yrs ago, caused M4 traffic chaos today #sorrynotsorry #muslimapologies #telekinetic #FarageBlamesImmigration

[mbc1955]

Sometimes I think that the East German government had it right (per Brecht), and we should dissolve the electorate and vote in a new one.

[tinyclanger2]

an ABSOLUTE CORKER:

Jon Abbott ‏@jon_abbott 2m2 minutes ago
If #Farage has such a problem with congestion why doesn't he just rub on some more Vicks?
#FarageBlamesImmigration

[tinyclanger2]

and finally ...

An apology from Clintons:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/30368218" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[citizenJA]

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/09/2 ... r-support/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The date on the article is 29 September 2014. The drop in Tory membership is correct; it hasn't changed. We'd have heard no end if it materialised. The New Statesman put up an article the end of July, this year, indicating the Tories were going to announce their rise in party membership. It never arrived. Even with the £1 Tory party membership mug.

Date at top is Sunday Dec 07, 2014, so an easy mistake, but thanks for pointing it out.

Of course - it's not long ago, the information isn't out-dated.

[rebeccariots2]

Dan L ‏@Think_Become 1h1 hour ago
#FarageBlamesImmigration Because the Immigrants are taking our jobs? - " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[youtube]delmFLQsaE8[/youtube]

[mbc1955]

If the immigrants really are coming over here and taking all our jobs, can the one pencilled in for leader of UKIP get his bloody skates on, please?

[rebeccariots2]

Paul Mason @paulmasonnews · 4h 4 hours ago
So farewell then #Gobby
Now instead of shouting "Will You Resign?"
At ministers
You can ask women to breastfeed unobtrusively

[Spacedone]

If there is a single person among the British population who thinks this juxtaposition makes any sense at all, then I am more worried about that than I am about Farage.

Apparently not just complaining about immigrants blocking the M4 but also complaining his Chauffeur is not provided by the state.

the Ukip leader complained that his chauffeur expenses had to be met by his party and not by the taxpayer

and

the fact is we don’t get help. Do I need, a, security? Yes. And do I need to be driven around from place to place? I think I probably do,” he said.

UK has officially entered Twilight Zone.

If we have then Nigel Farage will be livid and demand a referendum on leaving it immediately.

[RogerOThornhill]

New grammar school has been approved apparently.

https://twitter.com/Samfr/status/541713220390903808

It's an 'annex' to an existing school - not quite sure how you can have an annex 9 miles away...it's a new school.

Sam Freedman ‏@Samfr 38m38 minutes ago
@BrianHays2 it's the principle that matters. Once satellite grammars are allowed we'll get them all over the place.

He also reckons a judicial challenge could be on the cards - this could be very embarrassing if the DfE gives it the go ahead and then lose in court.

What was I saying about a Tory MP complaining about a LA school opening an annex? Now you know why...

[giselle97]

Farage will never be an MP because he won't be able to earn enough at it IMHO. I think he's running shit scared at what Clegg UKIP Birther has started.

And I wish the freaky bastard wasn't getting all of this publicity. That is going to be all I have to say about the steaming pile ....

[HindleA]

RIP Stella Young

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-0 ... st/5950640" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TechnicalEphemera]

If the immigrants really are coming over here and taking all our jobs, can the one pencilled in for leader of UKIP get his bloody skates on, please?

That is genius, you should copyright it.

[mbc1955]

If the immigrants really are coming over here and taking all our jobs, can the one pencilled in for leader of UKIP get his bloody skates on, please?

That is genius, you should copyright it.

I have my moments. Maybe someone could tweet it? (I don't do Twitter).

[refitman]

If the immigrants really are coming over here and taking all our jobs, can the one pencilled in for leader of UKIP get his bloody skates on, please?

That is genius, you should copyright it.

I have my moments. Maybe someone could tweet it? (I don't do Twitter).

[ErnstRemarx]

In case anyone wants a list of the Premier Foods brands (I do as I'm going to do a foodbank shop soon ... and I will be making sure I don't touch any of their products).

Our Brands
Ambrosia
Batchelors
Bisto
Loyd Grossman
Mr. Kipling
OXO
Sharwood's

Phew. I don't buy any of those.

I can pretty much guarantee that if you're an adherenet of places like Aldi and Lidl, they're not brnads they'd entertain.

THat's not to say that either of the above aren't money grubbing bastards who'd deal with the devil - I just have no evidence as yet.

[ErnstRemarx]

"Don't be cowards. Vote UKIP! Who knows whether Nigel Farage is real or not. He's better than any Tory and certainly better than that Jew, Ed Milliband. Get a few Respect Party members in either House to keep UKIP from being tempted by Washington and Brussels."

From the linked .tv article expouding Ashcroft's polls, and from below the line, a UKIPer finally blurts out what I've suspected for a long time.

Wonder if the MSM will pick up on this?

Nah, who am I fucking kidding, they're happy to promote "weird" as the short hand for "Jewish" / "foreign" forever. Read The Maul this weekend (stuck in a local library doing a surgery - no one showed) and apparently the BBC is full of marxist agitators and long haired lefties! It's like a late 60's time loop over there. I hate those bastards with a passion.

[ErnstRemarx]

http://www.economistsview.typepad.com/e ... 7s+View%29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yeah, Wren-Lewis is an excellent writer and as usual nails it in a paragraph. How on earth did we allow the neoliberal nutters to simultaneously bugger our living standards whilst ensuring that we'd vote for even more? That's the best card trick in history.

[LadyCentauria]

http://www.economistsview.typepad.com/e ... 7s+View%29

Yeah, Wren-Lewis is an excellent writer and as usual nails it in a paragraph. How on earth did we allow the neoliberal nutters to simultaneously bugger our living standards whilst ensuring that we'd vote for even more? That's the best card trick in history.

Excellent piece! Worth clicking through to his blog for the (very slightly) longer version, too:
http://mainlymacro.blogspot.co.uk/2014/ ... state.html
There's some thought-provoking stuff in the comments on that, too; especially this bit from Blissex, which took my mind off on a slight tangent:

You can read "small state" conservatives arguing that support of the poor and disabled (but curiously, not the support of older and retired "rich ladies in mansions") should be left to voluntary community contributions collected by charities; but they somehow never argue that sending troops to Iraq should be funded by public voluntary collections too. Which was a tradition in the (even relatively recent) past, where regiments and ships were sometimes funded by private individual donations.

(My bold)

See, that is exactly how and why Baronetcies were being created in the 1600s when Gideon's seventeen-times ancestor was given bought his. I don't know whether he "paid for the upkeep of thirty soldiers for three years amounting to £1095" or, as with the later Scottish Baronets paid "2000 marks or to support six settlers for two years" (in Nova Scotia), or something in between. But there you go. James-the-first-and-sixth took up the Earl of Salisbury's little money-making Honours wheeze which, according to the latter, "... will do the Gentry very little Harm," while doing the Exchequer a lot of good. (thanks, Wikipedia and Debrett's)

And now we have an heir to one of those purchased Honours (note, not a peerage) doing the Exchequer a lot of harm, doing a few of the Gentry very much good (at least, temporarily) and causing most people deep pain and damage. His ancestors might have been 'within the Pale', in the old sense; but, to me, his actions – and those of his Government – put him well beyond the pale, in today's sense.