Bolitics The New Condem Government

[markavfc40]

Just watching Sunday Politics and f*ck me Grant Shapps has been made to look a right fool. Fair play to Andrew Neill he just owned that slime ball.

[Kingfisher]

So, today it looks like the government have shafted the public yet again with the unwanted privatisation of the Royal Mail. Because it seems, not only was it unwanted, but to add insult to injury, we've been right royally **** over on the price too. Bravo.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Kingfisher

[mjmooney]

 

Nick Clegg has attacked the "unpleasant, careless elitism" of Boris Johnson and his remarks about IQ, and accused him of talking about people as if they were dogs.

 

The deputy prime minister laid into Johnson after the Conservative London mayor mocked the 16% "of our species" with an IQ below 85 and called for more to be done to help the 2% of the population who have an IQ above 130.

Johnson made the remarks during a speech in honour of Margaret Thatcher, declaring that inequality was essential to foster "the spirit of envy" and hailing greed as a "valuable spur to economic activity".

 

In a furious response, Clegg said Johnson's viewpoint was "completely anathema" to him, as it suggested society should give up on some people who were never going to do well. This is a "dispiriting message to people trying to get on in life", he said.

 

"I don't agree with Boris Johnson on this. Much as he is a funny and engaging guy, I have to say these comments reveal a fairly unpleasant, careless elitism that somehow suggests we should give up on a whole swath of fellow citizens," Clegg told LBC 97.3 radio.

 

"To talk about us as if we are a sort of breed of dogs, a species I think he calls it … the danger is if you start taking such a deterministic view of people because they have got a number attached to them, in this case an IQ number, they are not going to rise to the top of the cornflake packet, that is complete anathema to everything I've always stood for in politics."

 

Clegg said he believed children developed at different paces and should have access to a culture of opportunity, aspiration and hard work.

 

"Our job is surely in politics not simply to say we are going to hive off one group of people and put them in one category and kind of basically say they are parked, there's not much we can do … These things are precisely not about treating society like a great big cake saying we're not going to do much about that slice but we are going to concentrate on that slice."

 

David Lammy, the Tottenham MP who is thinking about running as Labour's London mayoral candidate in 2016, described the remarks as an insult to people in the capital on low wages.

 

"I don't think that's just careless. I think it's an insult," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One. "It's an insult to cleaners in London, to people who are home carers in London, people who are minimum wage, giving them the suggestion that they are sort of bottom of the cornflake packet. That's not the sort of society that I thought we wanted to live in, particularly when the mayor has supported the London living wage, which is about saying that we all ought to be in this together.

 

"There is nothing wrong with aspiration, with enterprise and indeed with competition, but not when it's at the expense of other people and that's what we saw from the banking crisis.

"It's extraordinary for a mayor, who should be for all of London, to think it's all right to glorify greed – a greed that has brought a banking collapse and caused misery and hardship to many Londoners, particularly to young people who can't get on the housing ladder."

 

Johnson's most provocative comments came when he talked about the relevance of IQ to equality.

 

The mayor said: "Whatever you may think of the value of IQ tests it is surely relevant to a conversation about equality that as many as 16% of our species have an IQ below 85 while about 2% …"

 

Johnson departed from the text of his speech to ask whether anyone in his City audience had a low IQ: "Over 16% anyone? Put up your hands."

 

He then resumed his speech to talk about the 2% who have an IQ above 130, telling the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank: "The harder you shake the pack the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top."

Johnson also aligned himself with what were seen as the excesses of 1980s Thatcherism as he said: "I stress – I don't believe that economic equality is possible; indeed some measure of inequality is essential for the spirit of envy and keeping up with the Joneses that is, like greed, a valuable spur to economic activity."

 

He made clear, however, that Thatcherism needed to be updated for the 21st century.

 

"I hope there is no return to the spirit of loadsamoney heartlessness – figuratively riffling banknotes under the noses of the homeless – and I hope that this time the Gordon Gekkos of London are conspicuous not just for their greed – valid motivator though greed may be for economic progress – as for what they give and do for the rest of the population, many of whom have experienced real falls in their incomes over the last five years."

 

Johnson is assessing when to return to Westminster to ensure he is in a strong place to challenge for the Conservative leadership when the prime minister stands down. His speech appeared to be an attempt to reach out to the Tory right by calling for new grammar schools and warning the accession of Romania to the EU means London can do nothing to stop the "entire population of Transylvania" from pitching their tents in Marble Arch.

Guardian

Edited November 28, 2013 by mjmooney

[choffer]

All I take from that is that labour and libdem are unnecessarily fixated on cornflakes and cake and that Boris continues to be the person I always thought he was.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

The sooner Boris is put out to pasture the better. I'd take an eternity of Cameron over one term of Boris.

[drat01]

Boris had always been a nasty bit if work. Some think him to be funny but at least more people now see him to be the obnoxious clearing in the woods that he really is

[coda]

Looks like Boris won't be bothering with the Compassionate Conservatism facade.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

TBH there are a whole raft of young Tories that are very much in his, and the Tea Party's, ultra-capitalist, social Darwinist image.

Edited November 28, 2013 by CarewsEyebrowDesigner

[drat01]

Anyone seen the amount the the gvmt have apparently shafted the people over in their haste to sell off the post office? Some are saying 3 bill ? Really?

[chrisp65]

I heard that Boris speach with his reference to the essential spirit of envy. It has done nothing to change my opinion of the ignorant turd.

[Kingfisher]

The government paid Goldman Sachs for advice on the RM fire sale. Genius. That's like paying Ian Watkins to babysit your child. But this was not incompetence, they knew what they were doing. They've sold off another of our companies on the cheap. The healthy profits it was turning over will now go into the pockets of private individuals, not hospitals and schools. Of course there will also be the job cuts to follow, as the company 'streamlines'. The government of the city, not the people.

Edited November 29, 2013 by Kingfisher

[Davkaus]

The government paid Goldman Sachs for advice on the RM fire sale. Genius. That's like paying Ian Watkins to babysit your child. But this was not incompetence, they knew what they were doing. They've sold off another of our companies on the cheap. The healthy profits it was turning over will now go into the pockets of private individuals, not hospitals and schools. Of course there will also the the job cuts to follow, as the company 'streamlines'. The government of the city, not the people.

 

 

I'd be interested in seeing how many shares the Goldman Sachs consultants bought, not to mention the treacherous, self-serving politicians involved.

[snowychap]

I suppose we're all Marxists, now, eh?

Gov't to ask for energy price freeze.

 

Perhaps The Housemartins rubbed off on him more than we/he thought?

 

Also, The Grauniad reports Browne on the subject of fracking and its likely impact on price/bills:

 

 

However, Browne, who is the chairman of fracking company Cuadrilla, said: "I don't know what the contribution of shale gas will be to the energy mix of the UK. We need to drill probably 10-12 wells and test them and it needs to be done as quickly as possible."

"We are part of a well-connected European gas market and, unless it is a gigantic amount of gas, it is not going to have material impact on price," he said.

 

[Awol]

On Boris' comments:

 

Is greed an essential driver to increasing economic activity? Yes. If everyone was happy with their lot then who would start new companies and employ people, growing the economy, increasing the tax take and providing the cash to fund universal public services?  If it wasn't because they wanted "more", who would be prepared to risk their own assets as collateral for a loan from those god awful banks and spend their time building a company instead of playing with the kids, or watching the footy, or getting pissed? 

 

As to whether saying some people are not as bright as others.... is that really a contentious statement?

[villaajax]

Awol rushes to Boris' defence, what a surprise.

[Awol]

Awol rushes to Boris' defence, what a surprise.

Instead of a pointless and petty post on poster, please tell me where my comment was incorrect, if you believe it to be so.

[AshVilla]

If you were the head of a political party trying to secure power in the next election what would be your manifesto?

[chrisp65]

On Boris' comments:

 

Is greed an essential driver to increasing economic activity? Yes. If everyone was happy with their lot then who would start new companies and employ people, growing the economy, increasing the tax take and providing the cash to fund universal public services?  If it wasn't because they wanted "more", who would be prepared to risk their own assets as collateral for a loan from those god awful banks and spend their time building a company instead of playing with the kids, or watching the footy, or getting pissed? 

 

As to whether saying some people are not as bright as others.... is that really a contentious statement?

 

that's awful

Do you really believe greed is essential? Greed?

 

I have a desire to improve the lot of my family, of those around me and the whole planet. I want to improve the conditions for my kids and people I won't ever meet that won't be born until after I'm gone. I can improve the lot of my family by working hard, being innovative, helping the economy, helping the community, pushing good causes, donating time and money where good can be done. I'm no saint, I just believe in basic common good.

 

Enjoy the greed.

[MakemineVanilla]

On Boris' comments:

 

Is greed an essential driver to increasing economic activity? Yes. If everyone was happy with their lot then who would start new companies and employ people, growing the economy, increasing the tax take and providing the cash to fund universal public services?  If it wasn't because they wanted "more", who would be prepared to risk their own assets as collateral for a loan from those god awful banks and spend their time building a company instead of playing with the kids, or watching the footy, or getting pissed? 

 

As to whether saying some people are not as bright as others.... is that really a contentious statement?

 

Your post deserves to be addressed.

 

My own objections to it would not be about the sensible premise that the vast majority of people are motivated by greed.

 

Everyone certainly wants more stuff.

 

But the post repeats the old Tory trope that entrepreneurs are somehow more heroic than people who work in the public sector or are ordinary workers in someone else's enterprise.

 

This claim to the moral high-ground tends to form the basis for the extensive privileges of Capital over Labour and I feel it should always be questioned. 

[Awol]

 

On Boris' comments:

 

Is greed an essential driver to increasing economic activity? Yes. If everyone was happy with their lot then who would start new companies and employ people, growing the economy, increasing the tax take and providing the cash to fund universal public services?  If it wasn't because they wanted "more", who would be prepared to risk their own assets as collateral for a loan from those god awful banks and spend their time building a company instead of playing with the kids, or watching the footy, or getting pissed? 

 

As to whether saying some people are not as bright as others.... is that really a contentious statement?

 

that's awful

Do you really believe greed is essential? Greed?

 

I have a desire to improve the lot of my family, of those around me and the whole planet. I want to improve the conditions for my kids and people I won't ever meet that won't be born until after I'm gone. I can improve the lot of my family by working hard, being innovative, helping the economy, helping the community, pushing good causes, donating time and money where good can be done. I'm no saint, I just believe in basic common good.

 

Enjoy the greed.

 

Awful? I'm just agreeing with Boris' central premise that if people were not motivated to improve their lot then economically everything would stagnate.  I suppose it depends on one's definition of greed, but a capitalist system needs people who would answer the question "how much is enough?" with, "more".

 

Well done for taking the moral highground and listing your desires/accomplishments in the being a good bloke stakes, bizarrely you appear to exptrapolate my acknowledgement of Boris' comments to meaning I don't share those same desires to be "good". Why?

 

In real life my work revolves around trying to help really poor people out of situations so hopeless your average Brit couldn't even concieve of them and baring some ridiculous quirk of fate, I'll never be a rich man - and have no qualms about that whatsoever. Comments like "enjoy the greed" couldn't be further from the truth but as ever on this site, if you agree with a comment that is opposed by the nodding dog lefties then stand by to be portrayed as a pantomine villan.