Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Retired Professor of Political Economy
(Lancaster University, UK - retired 2021)
(also #ProfDJ across the Lune Valley)
Contributor: North West Bylines #NoBridge

DJ repertoire(s): Jazz nights; Soul/funk nights; Disco classics night; 70's night
Academic interests: Critical Political Economy; Art History; Music business
Reading: Art History; Science Fiction; 'Literary' fiction; classics
Past Lives: Music industry (studio/retail); Bookseller (family business); political pressure group

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chrismayla6_at_zirk.us@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2024-11-02 10:51:58

An LP a day - for no other reason than I love my records - No.61
Allen Toussaint. Life, Love & Faith
Toussaint was a great southern should producer but also appeared on number of great solo LPs of which this one, is particularly good; lost of good down-home funk for the soul aficionado
Standout tracks:
Soul Sister - great funk groove, currently appearing in an Uber Eats ad (oddly);
Gone too far: more Southern funkiness;
On your way down - a bit more spacy but a lovely groove
#music #soul
https://cdn.masto.host/zirkus/media_attachments/files/113/412/976/555/841/505/original/a7d5d6b2e3e9318c.jpg

2024-10-24 05:28:49

Around the world 1115 Public Banks (owned by the state) have assets of over $91 trillion... whether they act in the interests of the public is at least partly shaped by whether there is any form of democratic accountability.
However, it is very much a mixed ecology with a range of missions and foci.... this helpful two page briefing lays out the shape of the sector for those who are less familiar with these institutions.
#economics #PublicBanks #democracy
https://publicbanking.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2024/09/PBP_EB_2024_02.pdf

2024-10-24 05:24:37

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Yes, my nephew does exactly the same....

2024-10-14 16:54:15

The story of railway investment goes a bit like this:
The Govt. provides a subsidy to keep services going;
which both sustains train operators profits (still paying dividends) & allows them to lease rolling stock;
who's owner Porterbrook also remains profitable & pays, this year £80mn of dividend mostly to non-UK investors;
So there we have it, (y)our high fares are helping keep everyone happy... oh, except you that is, stuck in a filthy late train....
#railways
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/14/porterbrook-rolling-stock-firm-dividend-uk-rail-nationalisation-calls

2024-10-14 16:40:20

Another year, another award of the (so-called) Nobel Prize for Economics to an all male team: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson & James Robinson.
Don't get me wring these guys are no idiots (Why Nations Fail is a great book) & their work is important... but it beggars belief that once again the prize-awarding team have failed to find a single woman economist who might deserve recognition.... or share the prize.
Clearly economics still has a gender problem!
#economics #gender #feminism

2024-10-12 11:26:11

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Actually, the remark was prompted by a range of religious groups seeking to arguing they should've their VAT reduced... not just the Christians

2024-10-11 11:06:25

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yes, your conclusion reflects what my friends who are teachers also suspect!

2024-10-11 10:06:42

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yes, the 'stickiness' of people confronted with a range of governance changes is a really interesting area, exactly as you put it: what would it take for you to emigrate?
And for me that should also be applied to those we see immigrating to the West; what has it taken for them to be pushed to leave their home land?

2024-10-11 10:04:57

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yes, not limited to Sweden, I fear

2024-10-10 08:41:35

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as someone else has pointed out, after ten years they may have begun a family which might act as a non-financial 'anchor'

2024-10-09 08:33:45

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Ha ha, yes fair comment....

2024-10-09 08:33:17

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Given that a key cause of the asset price inflation that is at the centre of the UK housing crisis, perhaps unsurprisingly I am going to disagree; as I have said before it is the treatment of housing as an asset class that has contributed to this mess.... and on quality; given the appalling quality of new houses in the UK, even with the current building regulations, there would be no political support for further deregulation. Things may be different elsewhere...

2024-10-09 08:29:43

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hey, no problem.... it *is* in the eye of the beholder....

2024-10-09 07:40:24

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yes I share those concerns, but interesting the MK gallery seems to come up with a good solution when they had the Genteleschi on loan (I seem to recall)

2024-09-30 09:01:48

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Good luck & happy reunion Pam; when my half sister & I reconnected after having almost no contact for 55 years (other than one meeting when I was 17 & she was 25, and a letter the our dad dies), we initiated a wonderfully close relationship which ended up with her moving to within 15 mins of where I live & a massively supportive & loving relationship that has become one of the defining joys f my life.... so hope it works out something like that for you too.

2024-09-28 08:46:01

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Yes, I think that is the general position... they will continue to be profitable for some time until, suddenly, they're not.... the Q. is how long can the profitable but run (and that of course is in the hands of Govt.s attitudes to the green transition)

2024-09-28 08:33:08

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good call... I liked it but still prefer Dare.... but I also recall buying the Being Boiled EP when it came out & thinking... wow, this is the future

2024-09-28 08:00:42

You'll be unsurprised to know that the majority (three quarters) of North Sea oil & gas firms are making, and plan to make, no investments in clean energy.
Anyone who thinks fossil fuels firms can be at the centre of the green transition has been taken in by their greenwashing rhetoric.... but as always, the key is to follow the money!
#climate #greentransition #NorthSea
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/27/north-sea-oil-and-gas-firms-in-uk-failing-to-invest-in-renewable-energy

2024-09-27 07:38:49

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Don';t disagree, but I thought reforming the second chamber would be easier & then could be exemplary.....

2024-09-25 12:09:06

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Well a key pivot will be the Autumn Budget - when push comes to shove & following the money will be clear(er)

2024-09-25 12:08:00

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Ha ha thanks.... hyperthermia (therms arriving faster?)

2024-09-22 10:55:24

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No, it really looks like dark days for democracy in France.... but the French have a slightly different response to the British (at least historically) to pressures like these.... it may well not play out how Macron hopes

2024-09-22 10:54:02

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especially if the first stage is to get the Lot to support them against the far right...

2024-09-14 16:48:38

The hypocrisy of Water UK (representing Water firms) is staggering; they say:
'We cannot delay upgrading & expanding vital infrastructure any longer. Ofwat needs to reconsider its approach & approve these plans [including massive prices rises] in full so we can get on with it'
And why has the upgrading been delayed? dividend payments & financial engineering to extract money from the sector.
We've already paid for this work; the investors took the money!
#Water
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/14/billpayers-in-england-and-wales-tricked-into-stealth-bailout-of-water-companies

2024-09-14 16:28:45

This week I've been mainly reading, no. 179.
Sinead Gleeson's Hagstone (2024) starts as a story of artistic creation, becomes a tale of betrayal & then gets quite gothic horror like in the final third. Its engaging & other than a slightly inconsistent switching of narration from the key/central character and a slightly oddly played (unclearly conceived?) mystical aspect,
it is an engaging read that will make you want to visit the Northernmost isles of the UK.
#gothic #books
@npub1ny7…uv57

2024-09-06 11:48:35

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'Men must find ways of managing their feelings that doesn’t involve violence'!!! absolutely on the button!

2024-09-05 10:50:49

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indeed I do....

2024-09-05 08:00:06

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Really interesting (and even more radical) constitutional change - where would you see local Councils fitting into that model? - asking in a supportive, not critical way

2024-09-05 07:14:30

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In the proposal I suggest using the Bishop's model as a precedent for increasing the sectoral representation of the professions...
I don' propose an elected chamber as I want(ed) a form of representation that was different from the lower house to better balance representation across both houses.
The patronage issue is covered by the lottery

2024-09-05 06:02:46

As Ministers introduce plans to remove heredity peers from the Lords... the Q. is will this be the first step of meaningful reform of the second chamber, or be seen as sufficient.
Here's my proposals for reform...
Choose members by lottery;
Limit terms of office to two years;
balance citizens with experts;
increase the voice of the young;
Focus scrutiny on key bills.
#politics
https://northwestbylines.co.uk/politics/all-change-for-the-house-of-lords/

2024-09-05 05:47:38

Many issues pattern the rising need/requests for special educational needs' support... but one, of course is the lack of funds & staff capacity to support these children.
This has led to a large increase in school suspensions where teachers have been unable to help these students & they become so disruptive to class(es) that they are suspended.
But is the ability of private schools to capture that funding & recruit those staff what lies behind the funding/capacity crisis
#education
https://cdn.masto.host/zirkus/media_attachments/files/113/083/352/482/783/509/original/5b95151536d8faa1.png

2024-09-05 05:28:40

When Rachel Reeves (or for that matter any politician) says they are making difficult or hard choices & then raises taxes on, or reduces benefits for the poor & vulnerable (or rescues services available to them).... this belies their statement.
Like any bully, the 'difficult' choice is not to target the weak & ill-resourced who fear or are unable to fight back.
The difficult or hard choice would be target those whose wealth & influence shields them... that *would* be 'brave'!
#politics

2024-08-31 08:40:42

The move to allow UK staff to request a compressed week - five days work squeezed into four days, with no reduction in hours - completely misunderstands the notion of the four day week;
the idea is that by working more effectively, the same amount of work can be completed in less hours (more efficient, more productive) & pilots have shown this to me more than just theorising.
The compressed week is a typical toxic management response to the idea of 'flexibility'....
#workers #economics

2024-08-28 05:36:25

This & similar cartoons often pop up on social media.... but that doesn't make them any less telling about our political leaders current & continuing attitudes to climate change.
So here it is again; our shirt-term thinking will be the end of us
#climate #environment #politics
https://cdn.masto.host/zirkus/media_attachments/files/113/038/017/324/971/385/original/657b61b7622f88dd.jpeg

2024-08-27 05:59:31

Q. what is causing the epidemic of anxiety in our young?
Obviously the pandemic & lockdown(s) have played a role as has the increasing pressure on school kids over exams... we might also factor in the pressures of social media.
However, I think its also fair to say that we have become better at recognising mental health as an issue. Part of this epidemic may be a surfacing of a problem that for years went unrecognised or unacknowledged!
#mentalhealth #children
https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/aug/27/jaw-dropping-number-of-children-in-england-with-anxiety-shocks-even-professionals

2024-08-26 06:26:38

The paradox of (and for) foreign nurses:
Come here, work in the NHS & pay your taxes, but for 5 years you are excluded from the benefits system.
We want you, but we don't want to actually support you... given our continuing dependence on migrant nurses, as the RCN points out, this is not going to help fill the yawning gap in the centre of the NHS' failing workforce planning.
Its also brutally exploitative; another change Labour could make, but won't!
#health #NHS
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/26/nhs-nurses-from-overseas-pushed-into-poverty-by-uk-welfare-rules

2024-08-24 09:16:34

Each time a patients' group demands the NHS *does* roll-out some new drug that has some (often only marginal) impact on the longevity of their members' health, in the face of NICE suggesting the drug is not cost-effective...
I yell Global Big Pharma is one of the most profitable sectors in the world (using public sector research to bolster its commercialisation of treatments).... your are attacking the wrong people!
(That these groups often receive drug firm sponsorship is hardly incidental!)

2024-08-22 16:55:32

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Yes, that would be poetic as well!

2024-08-22 16:48:16

While Keir Starmer has been talking about a reset with the EU, clearly that does not include a proposal from the EU to return to pre-Brexit level of youth mobility across the continent for British youngsters.
A spokesman for Labour said today, when asked if Starmer *was* considering it:
'We are not considering an EU-wide youth mobility scheme & there will be no return to freedom of movement'!
If you voted Labour hoping this would be sorted this many be your 2010 LibDem moment!
#politics

2024-08-22 16:44:31

So Labour, no doubt suggesting this is all about local decisions, has said it will support Councils bringing in 20mph speed limits & low traffic neighbourhoods, should they choose.
Any funding will be subject to the Autumn budget, so it'll be interesting to see whether this is one of the measures that steers round Reeves' 'rock' of fiscal probity, or whether the support offered is merely 'political'.
Expect a lot of yelping about a 'war on motorists' too, of course!
#traffic #politics
h/t FT

2024-08-22 16:38:10

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And so the UK now has one of the highest incarceration rates in W.Europe.
Of course a reformed system (as the experience of other countries shows) is more expensive per-prisoner, but because fewer are locked up & recidivism rates are lower, actually are cheaper systems to run.
Although there will always be criminals who need to be locked up, too often we use prison as retribution & do not seek to deal with the problems the crimes reveal....
In the end for many prison just doesn't work!
2/2

2024-08-22 16:35:48

As Peter Foster (FT) points out:
'There needs to be a different debate on prisons, but in truth the familiar “lock ‘em up’ and throw away the key” narrative of recent weeks is one that is more palatable to the public & a class of contemporary politicians that no longer dares to make difficult arguments to the public'!
Other countries have managed to reform their prison systems, emphasising re-socialisation & rehabilitation...
1/2
#prison #crime

2024-08-22 08:33:00

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Yes, the infrastructure is in place.... the services structure, much less so

2024-08-22 08:32:04

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Absolutely... our political class just doesn't get it (or to be more accurate, are paid/supported by special interests not to get it)....
'We must be honest about our current situation, and where we are heading. Difficult truths need to be told. This includes highlighting the vast inequalities of wealth, carbon emissions, and vulnerability to climate change'!

2024-08-22 08:09:57

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agreed - without public transport's massive expansion & transformation into a (proper) public service, other aspects of the green transition will be much more difficult to contemplate, let alone deliver!

2024-08-22 08:05:19

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not so easy for us out in the rural locales, but you broad point is absolutely right

2024-08-22 08:04:33

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Rather than either or, perhaps a graduated transition between the two... but broadly I agree, I'd rather see all of that done.

2024-08-22 07:47:36

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and of course Park & Ride infrastructure is already (partly) in place

2024-08-22 05:40:57

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I agree, its an issue at the margins & it looks like a good thing to do... but I was struck by the post on LinkedIn arguing (from an ontological position) that it merely facilitated car use & thus was the wrong thing to do.... which I thought to be a classic 'perfect as enemy of the good' argument

2024-08-22 05:20:46

Q. are solar panels on car parks a good idea?
If we think anything that makes car use seem more acceptable in an era of climate crisis is a problem then possibly not....
If we think any expansion of renewable energy production is a good thing, then these may be spaces where solar panels can be constructed/deployed with little or any opposition....
It seems like a classic case where the perfect should not be the enemy of the good.....
#climate #solar #energy
h/t
Cameron Tonkinwise/linkedIn
https://cdn.masto.host/zirkus/media_attachments/files/113/003/986/665/571/480/original/2a0825731dfff5c7.jpeg

2024-08-20 21:17:51

So .... rents are at a record high in the private sector, there is a shortage of social housing, so to get more funding into the not-for-profit sector Rachel Reeves is proposing a inflation+ ratchet for ten years on social rents.
The very people whose plight is emblematic of the housing crisis are now going to see their real income further reduced(!!!) after housing costs?
The people paying for new affordable housing should not be its users; that's the point of social housing!
#housing
h/t FT

2024-08-20 08:00:50

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ha ha, as you imply, its all about entitlement

2024-08-19 21:26:47

Oooops, Labour's early test on the green transition hasn't gone well... the Govt. (in the persons of Angela Rayner & Louise Haigh) have approved a major expansion of activity at London City Airport...
And as we know many of these journeys (being internal flights) could easily have been by (less polluting) train.
So rather than helping rail capture more UK business trips (for a greener journey), Labour has facilitated the expansion of an anti-green alternative.
#climate #flights #polotics

2024-08-19 05:44:26

On Sunday Kamala Harris announces a range of economic policies intended to deal with profiteering;
economists respond by belittling the ideas & suggesting she doesn't understand how markets work.
My guess, is what they are concerned about is she understands all too well how they work, but unlike the economists doesn't think they are self-correcting & rather need to be properly regulated to stop price gouging.
But stepping on the toes of economists is never popular with economists!
#USPol

2024-08-18 12:32:59

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OK, I think we are clearly disagreeing - in the UK ( and widely across Europe) Murdoch is seen as right wing & potentially further right.... Of course, in Europe the Democrats would not be regarded as Left, rather possibly centrist....
Are you aware of the ida of the Overton Window?
We seem to be looking out of very different windows (which is, of course, not uncommon)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window#:~:text=The%20Overton%20window%20is%20an,public%20to%20expand%20the%20window.

2024-08-18 09:17:14

Hmmm....
Nigel Farage
Elon Musk
Mark Zuckerberg
Vladimir Putin
'Tommy Robinson'
Boris Johnson
Andrew Tate
Donald Trump...
yet, somehow people of colour are the 'problem'?
#racism #FarRight #politics

2024-08-18 08:15:47

I don't often agree with Isabel Hardman (Spectator/Observer) but she sums up the 'problem' of getting the long-term sick back to work well:
'A government cannot talk about the need for people to keep their side of the social contract by going to work if they can, when it is breaking its own side of that agreement by failing to offer them appropriate and timely treatment'!
Solving the (Tory engineered) NHS crisis will be expensive but is necessary for a better economic future!
#nhs #workers

2024-08-18 07:35:33

If you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll likely remember Rock Against Racism with some fondness & appreciate its work against the racist thugs of the 70s/80s.... now (responding to the weeks of far right attacks), RAR has been rebooted as Love Music Hate Racism... I hope it is as successful RAR in galvanising anti-fascism... and organising some great gigs
#FarageRiots #FarRight #LoveMusicHateRacism
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/18/rock-against-racism-is-reborn-as-gigs-planned-in-riot-towns-across-britain

2024-08-17 08:55:15

I'm not the first to point this out & I will not be the last:
in the next 20 years or so the great baby boomer wealth transfer will accelerate - this will consolidate the wealth of a large(ish) middle class cohort, while others see their wealth dissipated by care costs.
However, overall it is likely to be an engine both of increased inequality & the consolidation of (some) families' economic privilege.
We have a mechanism to reduce this effect: the tax system. But will we use it?
#politics

2024-08-17 08:44:28

Friederike Otto, co-founder of World Weather Attribution on the problem of 'heat inequality' - the climate crisis (as we know) is fatal... but the effects/fatalities are unevenly distributed!
'We just don’t know how many people are being killed by extreme heat in poor countries. But due to their much higher exposure, there’s no reason to think it’d be a smaller proportion than in rich countries, where we know of the thousands dying'!
#climate #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/16/heat-inequality-causing-thousands-of-unreported-deaths-in-poor-countries

2024-08-17 07:35:35

For many of us (good morning @npub1ld5…63uk ) the challenge is often not to add 'just one more' book to out to read (pending) pile...
Well, Tom Gauld has the answer...
#books #reading
@npub1ny7…uv57
https://cdn.masto.host/zirkus/media_attachments/files/112/976/200/302/163/738/original/4430be36e8fe6a67.png

2024-08-15 20:50:59

On its 50th birthday we might ask how successful has the Health & Safety at Work Act been?
well in 1969 there were 323,000 workplace deaths & injuries.... top from 168,000 ten years earlier.
In 1974, the there were 2.9 fatal injuries per 100,000 workers; by 2023-24, it was down to 0.42 per 1000 representing 138 work-related deaths.
Now that looks like success.... not Health & Safety gone mad, but workers & their families saved from tragedies!
#workers #politics
https://theconversation.com/the-uks-health-and-safety-at-work-act-is-50-heres-how-its-changed-our-lives-235794

2024-08-15 20:37:12

Naz Shah MP is right, the effective monoculture in the UK media is a major problem & as she implies its wider than just needing to build platforms for Muslims or minority ethnic communities.
I also think she is right to suggest that a more obvious multiplicity of voices in the media will help build greater integration & empathy between communities; one thing we can do to reduce the power of the 'influencers' behind the far right attacks.
#farageriots #media #politics
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/british-muslim-mp-naz-shah-far-right-minority/

2024-08-15 20:27:26

A reminder that building social housing is not actually impossible... this is not to say its easy, but well done to Blackpool for pulling this off.
Now, we can hope that Labour will help such projects be repeated.... its not all that needs to be done to resolve the housing crisis.
#housing #politics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1d74dy2dywo

2024-08-15 20:19:48

Hmmm... are we better prepared for Mpox inflections than we were prepared fro Covid at the start of 2020?
Little that we have heard in the Covid inquiry suggests we are, so we are left hoping that the media coverage of Mpox is not as similar to the news coming out of China as it at times seems.... can this time be different, lets hope so (or even better, its not the same, at all & peters out).
#mpox #pandemic #WHO
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/15/mpox-variant-clade-i-case-sweden

2024-08-15 20:09:31

Unsurprisingly Wamkele Mene, (SG African Continental Free Trade Area) thinks economic development in Africa would be greatly enhanced by a continental free trade area;
while the model seems to be the ECC (EU), without massive investment in infrastructure to enhance intra-continental transport it looks unlikely to work (as anyone who ever tried to travel East/West in Africa can attest).
The Q. is: can the investment required be engineered, and can it be climate friendly?
#development
h/t FT

2024-08-15 19:55:57

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Yers, this is a good counter to the Right rhetoric of two-tier justice but only section 5. really deals with the key issue for many - the JSO sentences vs. what is (so far at least) been meted out to the rioters....

2024-08-15 18:44:23

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Yes, which is broadly a good thing

2024-08-15 17:37:51

For those following the Trudi Warner case (for holding up a placard reminding a jury in a climate protest case they had the right to decide on the basis of the conscience, and then being held in contempt of court), good news:
The Govt. has halted the appeal against her case being dismissed....
good sense prevails at last!
#ruleoflaw #clinate #protest
https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/aug/15/government-drops-appeal-over-climate-activist-who-held-sign-outside-uk-court

2024-08-15 17:33:58

Educational inequality in one chart:
We can argue about why London get better results; wealth & tutoring? Investment? A reflection of other social issues?... and so on.
However, what we can clearly see while all areas are seeing a rise in the share of A and above results in A-levels this year, the absolute levels reflect wide regional variations.
I don't have an easy/simple explanation (other than regional economic inequality, but its more than that)....
#schools #education #inequality
https://cdn.masto.host/zirkus/media_attachments/files/112/967/220/942/677/253/original/57b345e0aad03faf.png

2024-08-15 17:21:01

Peter Foster (FT State of Britain newsletter) make an interesting point:
There's a likely disconnect between Labour's potentially command & control strategy to fix the problems they have inherited (across so many areas), and the mosaic of civil service, local Govt. & non-state actor that now patterns the UK's political environment.
Labour will need to be building coalitions of purpose & action (like most Govts) if its to get its policies working, otherwise frustration awaits!
#politics

2024-08-13 06:07:11

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h/t = hat tip - acknowledge the source from which I am drawing/interpreting
FT = Financial Times

2024-08-13 06:05:47

I've always thought the environmentalists have it wrong when they focus on 'saving the planet'... the planet doesn't need saving, its just in the process (via climate change) of riding itself of an irritating parasite.
The real green message might better be based of species self-interest - we're not saving the planet we need to (and will) be saving ourselves!
the super-rich with their plans for space travel realise, but the penny doesn't seem to have dropped more generally?
#greens #climate

2024-08-13 05:38:07

Irony klaxon:
What's shaping up to be the biggest impediment to the role out of Artificial Intelligence (and the linked replacement of human roles by learning machines)?
A shortage of skilled labour in the chip manufacturing sector... looks like you can 'easily' build chip fabrication capacity but finding the skilled workforce(s)to run it is proving more difficult (for now, putting a ceiling on chip supplies).
A temporary irony but an irony nonetheless!
#AI #technology #workers
h/t FT

2024-08-11 09:40:10

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Crikey, its a long time since I last heard this.... thanks; stone old classic

2024-08-05 11:47:57

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I don't disagree, but I was thinking (albeit I didn't do more that elliptically allude to this, that might be a sort of Olympics Village element to the 600 members living arrangements....

2024-07-25 05:35:24

it now seems clear that GB Energy, to be set up in the next few months by the Labour Govt. will focus on expanding the provision of off-shore wind power generation, by working closely with the Crown Estates (already doing well from the sector) and seeking to de-risk investment in the sector.
Of course, off-shore wind in many ways is more expensive than its onshore version, but does side-step the planning friction(s) often encountered... but interconnection issues remain!
#energy #wind
h/t FT

2024-07-10 07:49:31

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Interesting point.... although for many in the UK, the notion that energy is too cheap would not accord with their everyday lived experience....

2024-07-10 06:00:21

For those of you who might be wondering how exactly we got to the water crisis we are currently experiencing, Nils Pratley (Guardian) offers a quick guide to how the dots joined up to deliver us dysfunctional privatised water & sewage utilities.
Many of us will remember these details all too well, but for my younger followers (good morning), it some useful context.
#water #privatisation #investment
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/10/cheap-sales-debt-and-foreign-takeovers-how-privatisation-changed-the-water-industry

2024-07-10 05:56:47

After Asda torpedoed their own 'experiment' with the four day working week (by distributing the same hours over four days instead of five), campaigners are now looking for more organisations to trial four day weeks in other sectors.
This time the pilots will look at flexible working as a way to reduce hours but maintain productivity, to aid workers' work-life balance.
As more evidence mounts that the four day week can work, we may see more non-pilot adoptions
#workers
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/10/four-day-week-campaign-to-launch-pilot-looking-at-flexible-working

2024-07-09 16:32:44

You'll be unsurprised to know that new CEO of Thames Water took a bonus of around 80% of pay for his first three months (taking it to £437k for his first quarter on the job, from January) been while the firm has been engulfed in a crisis... likewise the CFO, who's served as interim CEO last year got £1.33m (including £446k bonus) for his work over 12 months.
So if you live in the area & have wondered where that money from your bills is going if not on infrastructure....
#ThamesWater
h/t FT

2024-07-09 10:46:26

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Ah yes, before my wife's health deteriorated we used to spend a couple weeks every year in Florence - a lovely city....

2024-07-09 06:41:20

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Excellent point.... thanks (as always)

2024-07-09 06:34:53

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Yes, and also, because of this narrow field of opportunity, many young people gamble on succeeding - sacrificing schooling & other educative avenues to the pursuit of sporting excellence - leaving them without other opportunities when those dreams come to nothing.... the classic case being basketball in the USA....

2024-07-09 06:33:01

Workers at Amazon's warehouse in Coventry are currently voting on whether to be represented by GMB.
If this is carried it will be interesting to see how Amazon reacts... if it fails, then Amazon's campaign of (explicit & implicit) intimidation will have succeeded....
However, it is clear that Amazon's anti-union stance is being challenged ever more strongly, and will (surely) in the end fail to stop workers exercising their right to organise!
#workers #amazon
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jul/08/amazon-coventry-workers-union-ballot-gmb

2024-07-09 06:25:17

With 335 new MP arriving in the House of Commons, and a major expansion in the number of women... if now is not the time to 'modernise' the procedures & practices of the HoC when is?
Hopefully, new MPs will not be swiftly inculcated into the antediluvian habits of the HoC & we can see some real improvement in how the institution runs.... with (hopefully) knock-on effects on the practice of governance.
Here's hoping!
#politics

2024-07-09 05:44:46

We've been discussing proportional representation quite a lot recently... and of course, many of us are wondering, what the new Parliament might have looked like if a system of PR had been in place?
Luckily for us the Electoral Reform Society has put together a report that answers that very question!
No one will be surmised that Reform & the Greens would have gained most....
So, an alliance for electoral reform could be quite widely based!
#elections #voting
https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/how-the-2024-election-could-have-looked-with-proportional-representation/?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

2024-07-09 05:33:42

On the one hand this graphic (circulating on other social media) exemplifies the contributions made by migrants & descendants of migrants to English society....
On the other, if also emphasises the narrowness of the fields in which migrants & their descendants are able to excel...
For so many the investment of time & effort on excelling at sport comes to nothing with little to show for it at the end.
All avenues should be open to everyone!
#racism #migrants
https://cdn.masto.host/zirkus/media_attachments/files/112/754/879/646/987/628/original/27db20ff1e1b24fb.jpeg

2024-07-08 17:04:17

Voter suppression update:
Now looks like 400,000 people may have been turned away from voting due to ID issues....
If Labour will not rid us of this law, then an amendment expanding considerably the range of acceptable documents/items that are valid is required.
Its anti-democratic & was driven by false 'concerns' about electoral fraud of which there is a vanishingly small incidence in the UK.
#elections #voterID
#politics
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/08/voter-id-rule-may-have-stopped-400000-taking-part-in-uk-election-poll-suggests

2024-07-08 16:53:34

Labour has announced immediate reviews of the state of the NHS finances & the shape (and extent) of Tory public spending commitments before announcing fiscal or health policies.
This is very much a taking of breath before (no doubt) expecting to face down some demands for immediate & extensive public spending.
When these reports are in we will start to get an idea of what Rachel Reeves (really) intends on fiscal probity... & whether (again) fiscal rules will be revised...
#economics #politics

2024-07-08 05:59:37

Larry Elliott (Guardian) offers a cut-out & keep 'sliding doors' choice of two election in 2029 - one where Labor has produced a positive & improving economic situation.... and one where they haven't.
In his telling its finally balanced.... so in five years time we might look back & wonder if he was right, or some third (or fourth) scenario has actually played out.
#politics #election2029
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/07/uk-economy-two-possible-endings

2024-07-08 05:11:19

So, it seems Asda have ended their experiment with four day weeks.... as it has been rejected by staff.
But, given this move at the supermarket merely involved a reallocation of hours worked into 4 x 11hour shifts, its no wonder exhausted workers rejected the move.
The four day week was supposed to be (and is) about more efficient working in the four days, not merely longer shifts over the four days.
Asda's approach really was not what four day weeks are about at all!
#workers #economics

2024-07-07 10:12:44

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Its difficult because actually one might argue against so many contemporary well-paid career paths (financial services being another).... in the end, its a personal conscience thing, related to the real world outcomes of their work - if that counts less than their immediate earning ability you're not going to have an easy time of it... but you likely know this already

2024-07-07 09:40:07

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Really good point - just because the strategy clearly didn't work, doesn't mean it had no impact.... I can feel PhD students thinking about this as a topic already....

2024-07-07 09:27:35

Here's some data to inform the discussion of Corbyn's vs. Starmer's leadership in terms of votes gained...
In 2019, Labour's vote was more concentrated, this time wider spread, likely indicating tactical voters 'lending' their votes to Labour to get the Tories out & the split on the right.
However, this has been at the cost of lower majorities in 'safe' Labour seats.
How Starmer's Govt. performs will be crucial to how these trends play out in 2029.
#elections #voters #LabourParty
#politics
https://cdn.masto.host/zirkus/media_attachments/files/112/744/478/626/234/552/original/31d44ae17c1be30b.png

2024-07-07 09:17:28

If the future is batteries then its not arrived quite yet.
The fourth largest battery producer for electric vehicles has registered losses in the last ten quarters, in the face of lower than expected demand of its batteries (which go into VWs & Fords among others)
SK claims to be in 'crisis' & will likely be bailed out by the South Korean corporation from which they were spun out some time ago.
Overreach in the technology sector is nothing new; consolidation may be next?
#batteries
h/t FT

2024-07-07 09:07:13

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aha, another case of outsourcing....

2024-07-07 08:57:19

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Sadly, you are right... but I can but hope (even if its futile)

2024-07-07 08:46:14

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Indeed; some may have been a manifestation of tactical voting (not least among conservative environmentalists) but in the main it indicates that the Greens are gaining more traction than ever without the help the media hand out to Reform.... if the media now gives the Greens more space to speak, who knows how they might do in 2029?

2024-07-07 08:35:07

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But Grant Shapps did get to see a lot of different offices.... which was nice for him