Nothing to do with Ed though

Oh, we genuinely want to be honest, I assure you, but we keep putting it off.

Fyodor Dostoevsky – The Raw Youth (1875)

Concerning issues found at GB power grid by inquiry into cover-up claims

Independent investigators have found significant and concerning “cultural issues” at Great Britain’s grid operator after control room staff accused senior executives of covering up the extent of blackout risks in the UK during the June heatwave.

An external legal firm tasked with investigating a series of whistleblower allegations against the National Energy System Operator (Neso) raised concerns over how high levels stress among control room engineers was handled by the company.

The three-month investigation began after whistleblowers accused Neso of a cover-up over the growing risk of blackouts. They claimed the grid was becoming increasingly unmanageable, and that control room decisions were subject to “interference” by the company’s corporate affairs team to protect the reputation of the government-owned operator.

All tank and no think

Healey is urged by Labour's favourite think-tank to hit motorists at the pumps

Labour's favourite think-tank has sparked outrage by calling on the Chancellor to make it even more expensive for motorists to fill up their cars.

Despite widespread pleas for John Healey to help families struggling with sky-high pump prices in next week's Budget, the Left-wing Resolution Foundation says Fuel Duty should be increased instead.

It says continuing the long-standing freeze 'should not be a priority' for the Government, claiming it mainly benefits the wealthy and the levy should be hiked every few months.


Our mission

Dedicated to lifting living standards

The Resolution Foundation is an independent think-tank dedicated to lifting living standards in the UK. We focus particularly on households with low and middle incomes; those on low pay or in precarious work; and those vulnerable to financial shocks. We also investigate fairness between the generations in our Intergenerational Centre.

Burnham launches another campaign

Andy Burnham launches campaign against 'headphone dodgers' on public transport

Burnham said in a statement: “We’ve all been on the train when someone starts blasting music or videos from their phone. It gets on your nerves and can quickly spoil the journey.

“So, we’re launching a nationwide campaign reminding passengers to use headphones on trains. On top of that, we’re giving local leaders new powers to tackle loud music, vaping and littering on buses."


Littering on buses as well? 

Our friendly bus driver tells us that free bus travel for under 16s during August was accompanied by a huge increase in littering on buses, all of which involved extra work for cleaning staff at the depot. But this is politics where unintended consequences are waved away.

As we know, Burnham has a thing about buses. Almost as if he has been told that this is how all plebs will travel eventually.

Australian Tommyrot

Peter Smith has a useful Quadrant piece on the political arguments used to justify Australian immigration policies on economic grounds.

Immigration in, Tommyrot out

Don’t want to get into the weeds of immigration flows either actual or promised by Labor, the Coalition and One Nation. As to immigration promises, they have been made to be broken by both sides of politics, as we know. To think that this will change is a triumph of hope over experience, to quote the erudite Samuel Johnson. But that too is by the way.


The whole piece isn't long but is well worth reading.


For perspective, take the year 2006-07 under Howard and Costello. The budget was in surplus by $21 billion, the population was just 21 million, not today’s 28 million. So why in the world does getting back into a sound budget position depend upon growing our population? It doesn’t. It’s a con job orchestrated by an inept and bankrupt political class.

Australia is rich in resources. Budget surpluses would come back, notwithstanding bloated welfare bills, if onerous red, green and black tape regulations were stripped away, if baseload energy replaced the disastrous flirtation with weather-dependent energy, and if a semblance of fiscal restraint returned to government. Migration is unnecessary for any of that.

How incredibly lucky we are

2019

The NHS 'Winter Crisis' Dominates Headlines Every Year – So, Why Don't We Shout About Improvements?

We often forget how incredibly lucky we are to have a free health service in the UK, which is envied by the rest of the world. We should be doing more to focus on the positive rather than the negatives.

2026

NHS faces 'more challenging' winter than normal, minister warns

Yvette Cooper made the warning as she announced a £140m boost for urgent care in England, saying that the health service has been preparing since July to deal with the impact of seasonal illnesses.

"Winter will be more challenging for our NHS this year, after such a heavy summer," she said.

State broadcaster acts as state broadcaster - nobody treated for shock

BBC accused of breaching impartiality guidelines over civil service secondments in newsroom

The BBC has been accused of breaching impartiality guidelines after it was revealed civil servants were tasked with writing articles and fact-checking controversial issues for the newsroom.

Fast-stream graduates and Civil Service managers were placed inside the corporation, where they worked on "high-impact, sensitive topics" including Channel crossings by small boats and the Covid pandemic.

Their output appeared on the BBC website under bylines identifying them as part of "BBC News" and "BBC Verify", with no indication of their government employment.

Builders not invited

 
The world is filled, not with good and bad people, but with the builders and the destroyers, and the battle between them is eternal.

Hugh Walpole - The Bright Pavilions (1940)

Burnham pushes for closer EU ties and questions Russian interference

Andy Burnham has reignited the argument over Brexit, insisting the UK’s relationship with Europe must be revisited while adding it is "inconceivable" that Russia did not attempt to interfere in the 2016 referendum campaign.


Europe moves to further destroy itself! EU eyes COP31 climate deal to accelerate CO2 cuts, document shows – Seeks to turn ‘countries’ existing climate pledges into real-world actions’

BRUSSELS, Oct 12 (Reuters) – The European Union will use next month’s COP31 climate summit to push for agreement on a “package” of efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas ​emissions heating the planet, an internal EU document seen by Reuters showed.