True blues

This week Theresa May met with her cabinet for the first time to discuss their post-brexit visions. They've obviously had very busy schedules for the past 18 months. An intense hour and forty five minutes left each of the 25 ministers ~4 minutes each to outline their priorities in fine detail.   

Some MPs want to take back control of workers rights. Workers don't want health and safety, rest breaks and holiday pay said some. They need the right to work overtime. Like they already have. 

The cabinet agreed to demand a bespoke deal from the EU. Michel Barnier previously stated that the UK can't have an `a la carte' transition. 'We don't speak French!' blustered Boris Johnson (possibly) in the meeting.

Damian Green was dramatically sacked from his post. Apparently it's OK that he had 1000's of 'extreme' images on his work computer, but he really shouldn't have lied with misleading statements about the whole state of affairs. Green once said that 'jobs of the future may not have stable hours, holiday pay, sick pay or pensions' and that was 'exciting'. It is unknown if this is still his current view on employment. 

Misleading others is perhaps what this government will be best remembered for.

They'll also be remembered for their important announcement this week - the 'iconic' blue passport will return after we leave the EU. The colour could have been changed at anytime without Brexit though — Croatia has a fine blue passport...  

The Tories want to 'take back control' of our working rights

This week, only 18 months after the referendum and nine months after triggering Article 50, Theresa May met with senior ministers to discuss their post-Brexit visions. High on the list of things to 'take back control' of includes working people's rights — some Conservative MPs want to scrap the 'EU working time directive', which was set up to protect the health and safety of working people.  

  

The EU directive gives workers the right to at least 20 days of paid holiday a year, rest breaks and, importantly, the right to work no more than 48 hours a week. As stated on the government's own website, UK workers can easily opt out of the 48 hour working week so long as they don't work in certain industries or roles (such as delivery drivers and airline staff, for obvious safety reasons). Essentially, employees are already able to work overtime, should they choose to, but employers are not able to demand their employees work overtime. 

The Sun took a rather interestingly positive spin on scrapping the EU working time directive excitedly claiming this would be an 'an overtime bonanza'. In their own words — the 'shackles come off...families can earn more by working longer hours'. There were never any shackles though, as workers have always been able to opt out of the 48 hour week (excluding those mentioned above for safety reasons). Either the editors of the Sun are unable to comprehend the relatively straight forward opt-out clause, or they've been out wining and dining with Theresa May again. Or Michael Gove.

At this point, it is worth remembering that Theresa May allegedly hid nine reports showing that immigration has had little effect on wages or employment levels in the UK. At the same time, with uncertainty over Brexit, many EU workers are choosing not to come to the UK, and there are already several industries reporting a shortage of workers. By transferring worker's rights to their employers, the government are enabling employers to pressure workers into longer hours to cover for the shortfall in staff. This would not benefit their workers in any new way, and additionally seven million people would also loose their right to paid holidays, according to the TUC.

Theresa May pledged to protect the rights of workers, but now she is in a weak position with little authority over her government. Our rights must not be discarded under the illusion of an 'overtime bonanza'. It's time the public were given a sensible debate and a meaningful say in the future of the UK. Based on facts, and not on false promises and hidden agendas.

Polisticks summary: There's no place like home

There's no place like home

Once upon a time, at this time of year, little Theresa May used to listen to the Christmas story of a young family with nowhere to stay while sitting by a warm fire in a dry and secure home. These were sadly distressing times for Theresa May, and she's now doing her very best to make sure as many children as possible have completely different memories of Christmas. 

'We've delivered on housing', exclaimed Theresa May passionately during PMQs this week. To specify, that includes the delivery of over 120,000 children in the UK into homelessness or in temporary housing  (including ~118 families from Grenfell Tower who are still in emergency accommodation); fewer new homes than any political party in one hundred years; the fewest actually 'affordable' homes built for over two decades; and lower levels of home ownership. 

Theresa May also announced an ambitious ten-winter response to homelessness. Her plan aims to bring the number of rough sleepers back down to 2010 levels by 2022, and completely eliminated by 2027. Unfortunately, she was unable to pledge that the number of rough sleepers would go down by this time next year, but then inflation has risen to 3.1% (and Philip Hammond has meanwhile been busy freezing wages and benefits), so perhaps few other people would be able to make that pledge that either. 

Keen to educate our children, the government has provided an excellent history lesson by reconstructing environments of victorian-level poverty, as demonstrated with the return of rickets (and other diseases associated with malnutrition). In their defence, the government had to make some tough decisions — although Theresa May's government spends 44% less to Children's services than 7yrs ago (~£1bn in total), bankers said they really really needed that £5bn tax cut.

Theresa May lost some of her powers on Wednesday after a super-combo move from 309 MPs blasted away her chances of dodging a 'meaningful' vote in parliament on the final Brexit deal. Oddly, 305 MPs voted to not have a vote on one of the most important events in modern political history...

Polisticks summary: Cold hearts and hot air

Cold hearts and hot air

Earlier this week, Theresa May's entire Social Mobility team resigned after their release of a damning report outlining a failure of Theresa May to address one of her core pledges. 

Perhaps slightly at odds with their dramatic resignation in the name of a 'fairer society', the committee are generally strong proponents of public sector privatisation. 

David Davis (Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union) made a bold threat to resign if Damian Green (First Secretary of State) is forced to go. David Davis needs a way out, and quickly. It's quite possible that, in a mild state of panic, he forgot that he could have resigned over the devastating impact that Brexit will have on much of society. It's also possible he didn't read that report.

Philip Hammond doesn't like boats. Or trains, cars or any regular plane. He likes RAF jets and helicopters. Apparently he owes the Ministry of Defence a six-figure bill and now faces a ban until he pays up. A spokesperson for Philip Hammond said they'd pay the bill, but they haven't specified from which tree the money will come from.

Productivity per hour fell by 0.1% between March and June this year, and Philip Hammond singled out the disabled for stagnating UK productivity. Philip Hammond must have accidentally overlooked his underfunding of public services, the pay freeze in the public sector, his underfunding of education, research, development, and transport, the rising number of working families in poverty, as well as the rise in zero-hours contracts. He also overlooked the 1000s of hours wasted by MPs viewing 'extreme' images. And David Davis. 

Richard Branson used to be a care-free hot-air balloon enthusiast, with the world at his feet. Sadly, it would seem that his situation has changed...

Theresa May's entire social mobility team resigned - why?

Last weekend, Theresa May's entire social mobility team resigned. Alan Milburn (Chair of the Social Mobility Commission) claimed to have 'little hope' of the government making the sufficient progress necessary for a fairer future. 'The worst position in politics is to set out a proposition that you’re going to heal social divisions and then do nothing about it', said Milburn in the Guardian. His colleagues: Baroness Gillian Shephard; Paul Gregg (Professor of Economic and Social Policy, University of Bath); and David Johnson also resigned after the publication of their damning annual report ('State of the Nation 2017: Social Mobility in Great Britain') last week. 

The Social Mobility Commission is an advisory non-departmental public body that was established under the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition in 2010. Their core duty is to assess progress in improving social mobility in the UK, and to promote social mobility in England — one of Theresa May's core pledges when she entered Downing Street in July 2016. The new report from the social mobility team describes a clear failure to meet her promise, with Alan Milburn also quoted saying  'I've reached the conclusion that under current Government there is little, if any, hope of progress being made towards the fairer Britain the Prime Minister talks about.' The annual report describes a government lacking 'strategy to tackle the social, economic and geographical divide that the country faces'. Finally, the report further implies the focus on Brexit has left little energy left 'to match words with deeds' in regard to social mobility and a 'zero chance' of improving social divide. 

The UK currently has greater regional disparities than any other EU country and the committee advised the government to put social mobility at the centre of the
ir industrial strategy, with a specific focus on rebalancing economic and work opportunities, as well as the national transport budget. To tackle 'divided Britain', the authors recommend a more redistributive approach to education, employment and housing.

Clearly the report is an unfavourable assessment of Theresa May's management. However, many of the criticisms had been highlighted in previous reports, including the 'low-pay trap', the 60 (of 65) social mobility 'coldspots' that voted for Brexit, and even the exact words ' tinkering with change will not do the trick'. 

In 2012, for example, the comittee published a similarly damning report on David Cameron's government. The 2012 report also describes hollow words from David Cameron as 'profoundly disappointing', and in 2013 in the Independent (and rather similar in tone to his very recent comments on Theresa May), Alan Milburn was quoted saying 'what isn’t acceptable is that they...say they are committed to the target and then not put their money where their mouth is. They should either put their hand in their pocket or stop pretending.' Baroness Gillian Shephard also said in the 2013 article 'the Government must be judged by its actions, not words. Our job is to judge the actions'. 

In the latest report, Social Mobility Team highlighted concerns over the impact of Brexit on social mobility, and it might be expected that an experienced and dedicated committee (who have the ability to hold the government to account on any social mobility failures) is needed now more than ever to 'judge the actions' of the government. Previous reports also noted failures 'to match words with deeds' in regard to social mobility, but the committee did not resign then. Could there be more to the mass resignation than first meets the eye? 

With the current political climate in the UK, the following external influences should also be considered:

1. Theresa May's approval rating has never been so low. Theresa May is under substantial pressure at the moment, and it is possible that a leadership contest could occur sooner rather than later.  Resigning now over failing social mobility (and with an inevitable reshuffle in the near future) would leave the authors (and possibly others) with a more caring reputation than many of their colleagues, therefore more likely to be reinstated, or considered for other roles. 

2. A shrewd operator might already have held conversations with potential candidates or their backers. Earlier in November, 40 (of the 48 necessary) MPs signalled they would be willing to sign a letter of 'no confidence' on Theresa May. Now would be a perfect time for backroom negotiations, rounding up support for potential leadership bids and to form mutually beneficial strategies.  

3. Of course, it is possible that the all/some of the committee are actually disillusioned with their remit, and are genuinely trying to highlight the the widening issues concerning social mobility. The issues highlighted by the report — housing, transport, education & employment opportunities — were essentially ignored by Philip Hammond's November budget (but they were also ignored in previous budgets too). 

So, who are the committee, and could there have been any external influences on their resignations?

Alan Milburn, a former health secretary, took up his role as Chair of the commission in July 2012. A member of the 'New Labour' crew and supporter of Tony Blair, Alan Milburn was the first to initiate  privatisation in the NHS with Private Finance Initiative deals on hospitals in 1997. Milburn also introduced NHS foundation trusts — a 'halfway house between the public and private sectors'. In 2013, he joined a global health privatisation company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, with the responsibilities of 'driving change in the health sector', and assisting a growing presence in the health market. Milburn is also linked to Bridgepoint Capital (a company involved in financing private health care companies providing services to the NHS), is a member of the Healthcare Advisory Panel at Lloyds Pharmacy, and he's also Chair of  AbbVie,  a biopharmaceutical company  designed to 'alleviate strain on the NHS'. 

Baroness Gillian Shephard (ex Deputy Chair) is a  Conservative politician and previously served as Secretary of State for Education in John Major’s government. Virginia Bottomley (Baroness Nettlestone) also served in John Major's cabinet and was interviewed by Gillian Shephard for her book 'The Real Iron Lady'. Perhaps somewhat tenuous (but worthy of mentioning), it is possible the two shared an alliance in the male-dominated cabinet. Virginia Bottomley has well-known ties to privatised healthcare and is a direct cousin of current Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt (see below). 

In 2009, Professor Gregg completed a review of 'Personalised Support and Conditionality in the Welfare System' for the Department for Work and Pensions, which supported a 'Single Working Age Benefit', and he helped in the design of Employment Support Allowance (ESA). His seminar in 2012 'A positive agenda for disability & employment' (www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLtAu25ot0M) clarifies his views on the disabled where he criticised the past Labour government for not 'helping' the disabled into work. 'Half of the battle is preventing people from leaving work in the first place...if we're really going to be serious about holding people in work with lifetime disabilities' he explains, 'intermediaries are needed to bring employers together with a match...it's not going to happen automatically for obvious reasons.' Who would these 'intermediaries' be though? Is he proposing another outsourced initiative?  

David Johnson was previously Director of 'Future', a charity that sponsors academies. Lord John Nash is cofounder of the charity. He and his wife have donated £300,000 to the Conservatives (including a donation to Michael  Gove to support his leadership bid).

Notably, there are already rumours that Jeremy Hunt might be considering a leadership bid. Like some of the ex-members of the social mobility commission, he is extremely enthusiastic about NHS privatisation. In 2005, Jeremy Hunt co-authored a policy report 'Direct democracy: An agenda for a new model party' that called for the NHS to be replaced by an insurance system and, in-effect, denationalising the provision of health care. Coauthors included Douglas Carswell, Michael Gove, Daniel Hannan, Greg Clark, David Gauke, and Kwasi Kwarteng. The report further called for inclusion of the private sector (a policy also seemingly favoured by the newly resigned authors of the social mobility report). 

The conclusions from the 2017 social mobility report are, perhaps, unusually emotive. The words almost read like a conscious rebranding of a new and more caring conservative party. But growing inequality is something that most of society is already painfully aware of. The 'new approach' the committee recommends would quite possibly (given their enthusiasm for health care privatisation, education privatisation, and holding people in work with lifetime disabilities, for example) involve further privatisation and outsourcing of jobs, leaving many of the poorest even worse off. 

The passionate resignation of the social mobility committee seems in conflict with their external interests.  Furthermore, if the new Conservative leader is strongly supportive of privatised healthcare and DWP outsourcing, would the resigned authors benefit? What seems at first glance to be a heartfelt and meaningful gesture might in fact be the opposite...












Why Damian Green might be more handy than we thought...

In these times of political doom and gloom, there is at least some joy to be found with the ongoing saga of Damian Green and his 'extreme' porn. Tory MPs have been quick to defend Damian Green's right to view beastiality, necrophilia or material that would cause physical damage, which might come as little surprise given their views on animal sentience, their disregard of the 120,000 deaths linked to their policies, and their ongoing 'grave and systematic abuse' (according to the UN) on the disabled. With Damian Green though, we might see a few bonus resignations...

The story begins back in 2008, when Damian Green was Shadow Minister for Immigration. Green was arrested by the police under suspicion of 'conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office' after a series of politically 'embarrassing' leaks about the then Labour government. Christopher Galley, a junior Home Office civil servant, later claimed responsibility for leaking the documents and Green promptly sacked him. However, during the the police raid, thousands of pornographic images were apparently discovered on Damian Green's work computer. There were concerns at the time of the 'extreme' nature of these files but, as they were classified as legal (although weeks later, a change in law would redefine them as illegal), Damian Green was able to continue in his role and subsequently became Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and he currently holds the post of First Secretary of State.

Earlier this year, a Tory 'sleaze list' was leaked and Damian Green apparently featured on this list as 'Ashley Madison, handsy at parties'. A Tory activist then claimed Green had made inappropriate advances on her, and former police officers also came forward with allegations of the thousands of pornographic images that had been found on his computer. Damian Green strenuously denied the claims. Unfortunately for Green, he is now under investigation, although (fortunately for Green) we might not see the final report according to Theresa May. 

Despite Green being under investigation, Theresa May clearly doesn't want to sack her right-hand man, as she chose him to cover for her last week during PMQs (while she was busy promoting war in the Middle East). At this point we should also not forget that Theresa May has so far done little to discipline those on the Tory sleaze list, or her complicity with child abuse (specifically the 114 files linking MPs and peers to child abuse that she intentionally ignored/lost/hid/buried). 

  

David Davis gallantly came to Green's defence this week and threatened to resign if Damian Green is forced out. David Davis was tasked with one of the most important jobs in recent times — negotiating the future of the UK after the Brexit referendum and he has had ample opportunity in his career to make a more noble political stand. Having made noticeably little progress over the past 16 months, and potentially in contempt of parliament, some might suspect the real reason for his threat to resign is not to defend Damian Green's right to watch extreme porn at work. Green will almost certainly be gone soon, and this way Davis gets to resign from his post for someone else's bad behaviour (and not his own incompetence). 

  

Nadine Dorries has also stepped up her defence of Green. She says that her interns log into her computer using her login details, therefore directly admitting to allowing interns access to confidential documents. This casual breach of security is a sackable offence in many occupations, and one would expect also for MPs. 

Damian Green must resign for misconduct and the public deserve to see the findings of his investigation. However, with the departure of Green, David Davis and Nadine Dorries (and any other MPs who defend the right to view 'extreme' images at work) should also resign — he might actually be more handy than we thought...