Dizzy Deep’s rough guide to factions in contemporary UK politics

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A rough guide to factions in UK politics. Comments are welcome.

This is my own work looking at the influences behind various UK politicians. You are welcome to disagree with any point. It should be recognised and accepted that some politicians will not have any philosophical or ideological basis at all – many people simply unquestionably accept the politics and world-view of their parents. Some of them may also be mad or simply whores to power or financial gain.

Socialists are a diverse bunch often fighting injustice e.g. anti-racism, and campaign for human rights, universal healthcare, democracy, equality, workers’ rights, etc. There are more radical Socialists outside of parliamentary politics fragmented according to adherence to the different historical origins and aspects of Socialist Ideology. The Labour party catchphrase “For the many, not the few” catches the Socialist ethos perfectly. [17/1/22 This article is now dated and was written while Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the UK Labour Party. “For the many, not the few” was a slogan of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party and the title of the 2017 Labour Party manifesto. This ethos has been abandoned by the current UK Labour Party under leader Keir Starmer which should be regarded as a return to Blairism i.e. Tories pretending to be Socialists and no mainstream political representation of Socialism in UK.]

Parliamentary Socialists are not that concerned with historical Socialist ideology. They will recognise and object to the vast inequalities in wealth and control of the media but that’s about it.

Neo-Liberals are Capitalists who believe that “the market will provide”. These are the ones who are keen on deregulation so that businesses are unhindered by “red tape” – actually laws and regulations that protect standards and ordinary people – and the privatisation of everything. Brexit is all to do with deregulation so Brexiteers are mostly Neo-Liberals.

Neo-Conservatives are Neo-Liberals with the added aspect that they are Zionists – supporters of the state of Israel. Theresa May and many of the Conservative party are Neo-Cons.

Rabid Zionists are extreme supporters of the state of Israel. These are the ones that make accusations of anti-Semitism within the Labour party. The Al Jazzera series ‘the Lobby’ shows that Israel is directing accusations of anti-Semitism and the Israeli embassy may deserve its own entry in this guide.

Appeasers to Zionism. Since Zionists are attempting to apply a veto on UK politicians there are those that appease them to gain advantage. Strangely, these are often found to be trombonists.

The DUP (Democratic Unionist Party). Theresa May’s minority government is supported by the DUP. In any abusive relationship, the party that needs the relationship least is in the position of power.

Simples

6/3/19 Apologies that I neglected the nationalists. I did intend to but was on a roll.

The Scottish Nationalist Party and Plaid Cymru (the party of Wales) are both opposed to Brexit since they recognise the damage that it will cause their communities. Assembly and Scottish Parliament in joint no-deal Brexit warning.

Sinn Fein campaigns for a united Ireland. They have 7 MPs which refuse to participate in the UK assembly at Westminster. Sinn Fein regard Brexit as an opportunity to achieve an united Ireland.

17/3/19 Revealed: How dark money split the Tories’ ruling elite by Adam Ramsay

17/1/22 This article is dated. Theresa May was replaced by haphazard alcoholic Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and UK Prime Minister.

Continue ReadingDizzy Deep’s rough guide to factions in contemporary UK politics

Brexit: It’s not only Chlorinated Chicken – they want you to eat shit

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Brexit is all about deregulation so that vast swathes of laws and regulations can be torn up and burned. It’s for the rich and powerful to become more rich and powerful at the expense of everyone else. Dirty money and psyops stole the Brexit referendum. Economists are almost unanimously agreed that it is and will be disasterous for the UK economy for many decades. Forgive me, I thought that governments were about – or at least should be about –  ensuring stability and continuity. I can see it being disasterous for the UK Conservative party for generations.

EU Food Regulations are high quality. US Food Regulations by contrast are abysmally poor. In negotiating trade deals with the US, the US are promoting/insisting on their standards.

US food standards allow a quantity of faeces in food for human consumption.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/food-standards-brexit-uk-us-trade-deal-maggots-rat-hair-worms-insects-mould-products-a8575721.html

Insect-filled chocolates, rat hair-infested noodles, and orange juice containing maggots are just some of the “horrors” UK consumers could be forced to accept if post-Brexit Britain signs a wide-ranging trade deal with the USA.

In the US, producers adhere to a “Defects Levels Handbook,” which sets out the maximum number of foreign bodies like maggots, insect fragments and mould that can be in food products before they are put on the market.  

For example, US producers are allowed to include up to 30 insect fragments in a 100g jar of peanut butter; as well as 11 rodent hairs in a 25g container of paprika; or 3mg of mammalian excreta (typically rat or mouse excrement) per each pound of ginger.

Continue ReadingBrexit: It’s not only Chlorinated Chicken – they want you to eat shit

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Spectacularly unsuccessful disgraced Neo-Con International Trade Secretary Liam Fox promised 40 trade deals would be ready for ‘one second after midnight’ on Brexit day.

https://leftfootforward.org/2019/02/liam-foxs-desperate-dash-for-trade-deals-is-in-absolute-tatters/

In March 2018 he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:

“We will have arrangements that we will be able to roll over from the European Union’s agreements, we hope to have around 40 of those. We hope we will have all of those in place by the time we go.

“There are about 70 countries and 40 agreements. We hope all of those ones will be ready because they are extensions of what we have at the moment. Of course we require the agreement of the countries involved. We have spoken to all 70 countries involved. They have all given agreement that they’d like to see that in place.”

He went onto say that he wanted the UK to take advantage of ‘being able to negotiate beyond the European Union’s borders’.

“We’ve got 14 working groups in place with 21 countries at the present time I’d hope to make as much progress as possible because we need to have a confident and optimistic agenda for Britain’s future,” he said. He told the BBC trade talks had begun with Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

Of course it was total hogwash. While Fox was busy racking up air miles and getting nowhere fast in negotiating these phantom trade deals, others were warning that the 40 countries would not just be rolled over – and why should they?

The UK was leaving the EU – and they would squeeze the UK for everything they could get. These countries would also want to see what sort of deal the UK struck with the EU.

Dr. Fox was given regular reminders by industry and unions that it took the EU over seven years to negotiate the EU-Canada deal (CETA). But he carried on ‘grandstanding’, to quote Labour’s shadow trade secretary Barry Gardiner.

That was until last week, when he was forced to admit it was not going as well as expected. Fox had to admit that the government was significantly behind in securing the 40 free trade deals with only a handful agreed so far.

It appears only six of the 40 deals are likely to be in place by Brexit day: 30 deals that need to be ready are now considered ‘off-track’.

The progress in replicating the EU free trade deals so far amounts to just £16bn of the possible £117bn the 40 agreements cover.

MPs mustn’t allow Fox free range to negotiate an ‘America first’ trade deal

[In] just over five weeks time, Fox can head to Washington to face the most experienced negotiating team in the world, determined to force Britain to accept chlorine-washed chickens and allow big business to get its hands on the NHS. This is not scare-mongering. We know precisely what US multinationals want because they told us last month: standard-slashing policies that includes allowing meat filled with antibiotics and steroids onto our shelves, as well as vegetables covered in chemical residues and milk with more pus in it. And less labelling on that food. It includes more expensive medicines, costing the NHS billions of pounds, and new data rules allowing Big Tech to use and abuse your data at will. It includes more GMOs, and worse chemical standards, and a corporate court which can be used by US multinational to challenge government decisions. By and large, the US administration agrees with this wish list.

The threat to the NHS is mostly that posed by the corporate court system. And it is not made up. Stewart Hosie pointed out how it might affect government decisions yesterday in parliament:

“In Scotland, when cleaning was contracted to the private sector, hospital-acquired infection rates went up. We then took a decision to bring back NHS cleaners, and hospital-acquired infection rates came down. Had that contract been won under the terms of one of these agreements, we could have been sued and challenged.”

He’s quite right, which is why many campaign groups launched a campaign against these awful courts, known as ISDS, this week. Such a system is already part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Fox wants the UK to sign after Brexit. The deal has been widely criticised by trade unions and campaign groups across the world for entrenching deregulation and liberalisation. Signing this deal would also move us away from the EU “precautionary” system of trying to prevent harmful products coming onto to the market, to one which says, “let’s not worry until something really bad happens”.

Most of this won’t concern Fox, who seems to know “the price of everything and the value of nothing”. His belief is that the free market will work its magic to provide us with cheaper goods, and that will be beneficial for consumers. No matter that consumers are largely also producers – and that some cheap clothes made in appalling conditions doesn’t make up for losing your job. Fox is full throated in his support of ISDS, and yesterday said that the EU-Canada deal CETA was a great basis for future UK deals. CETA also includes ISDS.

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Checking in

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Just checking in and addressing a few diverse issues.

I should really do the long promised Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) expo particularly since UK govt is to review the HHSRS scheme in the private rental sector https://www.localgov.co.uk/Whitehall-to-review-health-and-safety-standards-in-rental-sector/46276. I’m very relieved to be moving out of my slum private rented flat very soon.

Briefly,

Council Housing is maintained strictly to HHSRS standards. [21/1/19 Council housing should be maintained strictly to the HHSRS standard i.e. it is the minimal legal standard so councils should meet that standard. The reality is that – no doubt due to austerity – it’s often extremely difficult for council tenants to secure maintenance or repairs to that standard.]  It’s utilitarian but adequate.

Problems with HHSRS in the privare sector are that

Environmental Health Officers (EHO) who enforce HHSRS in the private sector have absolute discretion over the application of HHSRS leading to the very real possibility of corruption. I got the impresson that EHOs were biased and very concerned to excuse landlords from their responsibilities e.g. building regulations. The senior EHO who was attending my slum flat to protect my landlord’s interests was very friendly with him as if they were members of the same club.

The HHSRS scheme is only concerned with appearance and it is perfectly acceptable to EHOs that problems are simply hidden. At my slum flat ceilings and walls damp from the sieve-like roof are hidden behind false walls and ceilings.

[25/11/18 Combi boiler has failed this weekend so no heating or hot water. This was the reason for my first report to EH in Nov/Dec 2 years ago. Attending EHO exercised absolute discretion by deciding that it was acceptable since it worked when she attended. There is some support for that decision since HHSRS is at the time of inspection except that she was biased and quite clearly protecting the slum landlord’s interests.

Combi boiler was installed by an unqualified cowboy* approx 10 years ago. Combi boiler has been unreliable since a ‘service’ a fornight ago. Landlord rushes around to satisfy legalities when expecting a HHSRS inspection i.e. those legalities are otherwise not satisfied. I have had to have HHSRS inspections to force landlord to do necessary repairs e.g. ceiling repair.

*cowboy is a UK slang term for workmen with little training or experience who will take your money for extremely poor service and workmanship.

Combi now briefly working.]

[28/11/18 I got the message that some people oppose my intended move. I’ll do wtf I like. I  can’t see my current flat existing in five years or so – it is seriously falling away from the rest of the street. The neighbouring property filled a 2″-wide gap recently and I often see new cracks at mine. Need to name my new flat.]

I was successful at a benefit’s appeal on 20 September after it taking about 16 months. The tribunal recommended that I was not reassessed for 24 months from that date. I was reassessed on Thursday, 22 November. I had the same assessor as last time so I had overturned her recommendation at appeal 2 months previously. It appears that the policy is to require appeals because so many claimants simply can’t manage that. I’m expecting it all again.

Lots of Brexit nonsense at the moment. While I am personally opposed to Brexit as a democratic Socialist I feel bound by the vote despite the all sorts of illegality in the Brexit campaign. The Brexit deal choice with one option reminds me of Blair and Campbell.

There are parallels between Brexit and the oppressively intelligent Donald Trump. He was elected and now he’s owned by the Israeli-Saudi Arabian axis. His Achilles’ Heel is fairly obvious – he was in a certain Israeli paedophile’s book of contacts, his daughter’s hinted at it, the way he treats women …

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