Ed's Wind-Powered Moral Compass

'Profiting from crisis morally wrong', says Miliband as BP announces huge rise in earnings

The oil and gas producing giant BP has recorded a more than doubling of profits as it benefits from high prices from the Iran war...

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said, "Profiting from a crisis is morally and economically wrong."

But Ed isn't the only one with a windy moral compass.

Environmental groups have reacted angrily to the results

"The oil industry's capacity to profiteer from human misery is almost limitless," said Greenpeace climate campaigner Maja Darlington.

Oil companies, "destroy the climate, push up the cost of living, and rake in billions in profit while innocent civilians die", said Patrick Galey, the head of news investigations at NGO Global Witness.

The Political Armour of the State

A plausible view of UK politics over recent decades is that we aren’t supposed to take it too seriously. For example, only relatively small numbers of people take the major UK political parties seriously enough to join. Even 0.5% of voters would be a substantial party membership, so what are the parties for? 

Perhaps political parties project an unserious view of democratic politics because voters don’t take them seriously enough to become members. The symbiosis of political doom we might call it –

You don’t take us seriously so we don’t take you seriously.

Maybe it was inevitable that what we end up with is mostly political theatre, attracting actor politicians prepared to cater for that. Over time, voters tire of the performance but politicians know this is their destiny. It’s a gamble they have chosen and what voters voted for.

Ruling political parties expect to be booed off the stage eventually, but there are compensations. Politicians have the prestige of being an MP or Minister, plus salary, expenses, social contacts and further opportunities - compensations their talents would not usually have attracted beyond politics.

Inevitably the State tends to take advantage of unserious political parties. The complexity of government, the brief tenure of Ministers, the lack of experience all allow the State to ensure that its internal functionaries are not too heavily damaged by failure. Politicians end up damaged instead, they absorb the damage, shift the blame and move on if it won't be shifted. Political parties have become the political armour of the State. Voters let it happen.

A lack of realism

Scotland’s political parties accused of ‘lack of realism’ over manifesto plans

Scotland’s political parties have been accused of a “lack of realism” over how commitments made to voters ahead of next week’s election will be funded – with a new report claiming all the major parties do not appreciate “just how tough the fiscal challenges” will be for the next government.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that a slowdown in cash from the UK Government, combined with growing demands – and costs – for health and social care and devolved Scottish benefits, together with a “hangover from some bad budgeting habits” by the last Scottish government means whoever is in charge after May 7 will find their budget “under significant pressure”.

In a paper published 10 days before polling day, the IFS said that plans to either expand the welfare state, as proposed by both the Scottish Greens and the SNP, or alternatively to cut taxes – as put forward by both Reform UK and the Scottish Conservatives – would require “difficult decisions elsewhere in the Scottish budget”.


It is worth pointing out that a lack of realism is what most voters vote for. If political parties venture out onto the thin ice of realism, they are likely to find out what inadequate support feels like and ease themselves back to the safety of caveats and vague aspirations.

Those “difficult decisions elsewhere in the Scottish budget” are the thin ice. Most voters don't vote for difficult decisions. The Scottish Greens and the SNP wouldn't even exist if they did.

Blame Game

Starmer to chair ministerial meeting focused on economic impact of Iran war

Sir Keir Starmer will lead a meeting of the Iran crisis committee on Tuesday as he warned the impact of the Iran war could continue “for some time”.

The Prime Minister will convene the meeting with representatives from the Bank of England to discuss the war’s economic impact in the shadow of rising oil prices.

He told the Usdaw union’s conference in Lancashire that he had called the meeting “so you can be sure we will stand by working people in this crisis”.


It's theatre because theatre is what political parties do. Behind the theatre there will be a faint sense of relief that a new and moderately plausible script may have arrived in the nick of time.

Until May 7th perhaps, but for voters it's all a bit Scylla and Charybdis.

The Next Move?

Keir Starmer says nobody told him he is UK Prime Minister.

In a jaw-dropping revelation today, it emerges that Sir Keir Starmer claims he was never told about being UK Prime Minister.

“Established systems and procedures were not followed, I was never formally notified that I am the UK Prime Minister,” Sir Keir claimed. “It is an appalling lapse of procedure that this was not done.”

When questioned by further about this remarkable claim, Sir Keir added “The official appointment paperwork never crossed my desk and indeed I never signed a formal appointment contract. I now accept that I am Prime Minister, but those responsible must be investigated.”

Well you never know, could be his next move, there isn't much else left.

No good for commuting though

 

The line from Angela

Rayner says it's now or never to kick out Keir as former deputy plots her No10 putsch with allies

Angela Rayner has told Labour MPs the time to oust Keir Starmer from No 10 is ‘now or never’ as the Prime Minister faces a critical week in his fight for political survival.

With the former Deputy Prime Minister now the frontrunner to succeed the embattled Sir Keir if he is toppled, backbenchers claimed that Ms Rayner and her allies were spending the weekend canvassing support among her colleagues.

One MP said: ‘The line from Angela is that it needs to happen now otherwise this deadly stalemate will drag on forever. That it’s now or never.’

What a choice, surely the party has better options than this. Politics has never seemed closer to a substandard TV soap opera desperate to hang on to a dwindling audience.