dizzy: I try to avoid such long videos but found this fascinating and am likely to return to it many times. You will certainly be far better informed after watching this video. It is matter-of-fact reasoned argument from an intelligent, informed man. I warn you that it discusses a very depressing topic – climate change and the absolute absence of any action to address it – so maybe not for those who would prefer blissful ignorance.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/long-economic-crisis-britains-not-talking-about
Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Kinnock (left) and Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrive for a visit to Tata Steel in Port Talbot, on the next leg of his summer tour meeting local communities outside Westminster, ahead of Parliament’s return next week,ANDY BURNHAM’S visit to Wales coincided with today’s announcement of current youth unemployment. In Wales 17 per cent of young people available for employment are without work. Figures are worse in London and north-east England. Overall they are higher by 30,000 than the same figures this time last year.
Earlier in the week the Prime Minister announced he was convening the National Economic Council this October, bringing together the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss economic development. This council, re-established shortly after Burnham took over as prime minister, was originally set up by Gordon Brown in 2008 in the face of global financial crisis.
We are not yet in such a crisis. But omens are not good. Values in the London stock exchange are up over a third on where they were a decade ago — for a period when there has been virtually no growth in Britain’s economy. And this is not mentioning Elon Musk, the AI speculators, arms spending and Trump’s wars.
However, for the young people in Wales, and all other places, what really matters will not be what happens next year but during their working lives: the next 40 years. Here three reports published over the last month by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) are of particular importance.
The first, by William Ellis and Carsten Young, is on “Why We Need a Better Fiscal Framework.” They calculate that, on current projections, interest payments on government debt, will increase from the current 7.6 per cent of tax income to anything between 21 and 47 per cent over the next 40 years — the money going to the very wealthy who hold the bonds and crushing anything that remains of the welfare state.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/long-economic-crisis-britains-not-talking-about
Andy Burnham has dropped his support for capping political donations, causing anger among activists and Labour MPs who have long campaigned for change to the way parties are funded.
The prime minister has decided not to back amendments to the elections bill, which would cap the amount a person or an organisation can give in a single donation, according to government sources.
The decision comes after a lobbying campaign from Labour’s trade union backers, who said amendments to the bill, which returns to parliament for its remaining stages next week, could undermine their ability to donate to the party. It is also a retreat from the support Burnham gave to the idea just a few weeks ago, when he emailed a campaigner for electoral reform to say he would support a donations cap of £500,000.
Stella Creasy, one of the Labour backbenchers who has tabled an amendment calling for a donations cap, said: “Millionaires are increasingly treating British politics as their plaything – splashing the cash to get the outcome they want and the next election as their cup final.
“The public won’t forgive us if we miss this chance to clean up Westminster because we are squabbling with each other.”
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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/26/burnham-political-donations-influence-elections-bill
