UK rich, now even richer despite double-dip recession

Recessions are for the little people.

Austerity promises fail as UK hits double dip recession

Despite all of the big talk about how austerity creates an economic miracle, as usual, miracle talk was nothing more than a lie by snake oil salesmen. The Tories, much like the US Republicans, are happy playing economic games with everyone else and the results are clear. Austerity during these conditions doesn't work, it only makes the recession more severe. If only the Democrats weren't so afraid of making this point early and often. Running a country is not the same as running a household, but this is somehow news for the GOP. During times like this, stimulus spending is a must to keep the economy going until the private sector can rebound. The Guardian:

"We consistently warned that their austerity plan was self-defeating and that cutting spending and raising taxes too far and too fast would badly backfire. David Cameron and George Osborne arrogantly and complacently dismissed people who warned of the risk of a double-dip recession and the country is now paying a very heavy price. Their economic credibility is now in tatters." Responding to news that a big fall in construction output and a smaller decline in manufacturing production had caused the economy to shrink for the fourth quarter in the last six, the prime minister told MPs: "These are very, very disappointing figures. I don't seek to excuse them, I don't seek to try and explain them away."

British Conservatives fight to block elected upper house

Ahh, Conservatives being Conservatives. There's nothing quite like the sound of knuckles dragging on the floor in the morning. It's almost too hard to imagine the idea of politicians threatening to resign to block reform in a crusty and outdated chamber. Then again, there is still a royal family that sponges pays little taxes and sponges money from the people so it's not a complete surprise.

What's amazing is that one of the Tories is fighting to make sure Margaret Thatcher still has a lifetime seat in the House of Lords. Even if I liked Thatcher and respected her, I find it unthinkable that she should retain a seat in her condition. How ridiculous is it to fight for the rights of someone in her condition to hold a position in government? More on the controversy at The Guardian.

UK to approve fracking, earthquakes and all

So besides the Big Energy industry, who is this really helping? Youngstown, Ohio had to purchase earthquake insurance following problems there related to fracking. Why should any city or individual have to fork out cash like this when the problem is completely caused by fracking? The political class never minds throwing costs at individuals, yet they can't stop whining about the costs of regulation.

Why is it OK for individuals to pay higher medical costs due to pollution or for earthquakes yet it's somehow a crime for business to pay for their own costs? This an indirect tax on everyone else but in the minds of the political class, this is not a problem. It's pretty clear whose side they're on and it's not on the side of voters. More on the fracking approval process in the UK at The Guardian.

Labour Lord suspended for putting price on Obama's head

Britain is, of course, a famously progressive country. We still have a Parliamentary system that allows members of the Aristocracy directly to influence legislation because a distant ancestor was prepared to do something for a King that his wife could not contemplate. The system has been "modernised" by allowing the political parties to nominate so-called "Life Peers". The nominees are given the title "Lord" or "Lady" but are not able to pass the title on to their children.That may all sound weird, but not half as weird as what is to come.

One of the Labour Party's working peers is Lord Nazir Ahmed. He has close connections with Pakistan and has recently been visiting. According to a report in the Express Tribune he has been upset by the US offering a bounty on Hafiz Saeed.

Saeed is Head of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). LeT is alleged to have been behind the Mumbai massacre, and to have links with both Al-Qaeda and the ISI (the troubled Pakistani intelligence service). Whether you think there is anything in those allegations likely depends on the sources you prefer.
Here's more from Lord Nazir:

Lord Nazir said that the bounty [the US] placed on Saeed was an insult to all Muslims and by doing so President Obama has challenged the dignity of the Muslim Ummah.

"If the US can announce a reward of $10 million for the captor of Hafiz Saeed, I can announce a bounty of 10 million pounds on President Obama and his predecessor George Bush,” Lord Nazir said, adding that he would arrange the bounty at any cost even if he was left with the option of selling all his personal assets, including his house."

The Labour Party, perhaps understandably, has proven less than delighted at the thought that one of its most prominent members is putting a price on US Presidential heads. The BBC is now reporting that Lord Nazir has been suspended.

Lord Nazir denies offering the bounty. He says he merely wants to see George W. Bush and his own former party leader, Tony Blair, on trial for war crimes:

Asked about the reported comments, he said: ... "I did not offer a bounty. I said that there have been war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan and those people who have got strong allegations against them - George W Bush and Tony Blair have been involved in illegal wars and should be brought to justice."

Perhaps.

British government approved rendition to Gaddafi

Those would be the Tony "Middle East Peace Envoy" Blair years. BBC News:

The UK government approved the 2004 rendition of a terror suspect to the Gaddafi regime, the BBC can reveal.

A letter from an MI6 officer refers to Abdel Hakim Belhaj's rendition to Libya. It congratulates the Libyans on the "safe arrival" of the "air cargo".

Mr Belhaj says he was tortured in jail. Successive UK governments have denied complicity in rendition or torture.

Murdoch's Sky News admits hacking emails for stories - how is this different than Wikileaks and Assange?

It's different because Assange and Wikileaks have a heck of a stronger moral high ground to stand on than Murdoch media.  More on that in a moment.

Obviously we're well past the point where anyone can say the hacking was an isolated incident on just one part of the Murdoch media empire. The excuse being offered by cable news channel Sky News is that they stand by their crimes because they were in the best interest of the public.

"We stand by these actions as editorially justified and in the public interest," the head of Sky News, John Ryley, said in a statement.

Now that's contrition.

Maybe evidence acquired illegally in the UK will hold up in court, but that presents some serious problems in the US.  Not to mention the ethics, and overall creepiness, of it.

It's interesting that the Murdoch media network has been so hard on Julian Assange and Wikileaks yet surprise, surprise, they have a great excuse for themselves. After all, what's more important: someone lying about a death to get the insurance money (the Murdoch paper's excuse) or an administration's lies about the justification for war (Wikileak's excuse)?

Huh? What's that answer, Rupert? Speak a little louder so we can all appreciate the full difference.

CNN:

UK news channel Sky News said Thursday it had authorized its journalists to hack into the e-mail of individual members of the public on two occasions.

John Ryley, head of Sky News, said the instances involved suspected criminal activity.

"We stand by these actions as editorially justified and in the public interest," he said in a statement. "We do not take such decisions lightly or frequently."

Now that Sky has admitted to breaking the law, when will Scotland Yard arrest someone?

NOTE FROM JOHN: Now that we know that the culture of corruption permeated a number of Murdoch's media ventures, it's fair to ask whether Murdoch's other media ventures, including FOX News and the Wall Street Journal, bit from the same fruit of the poisonous tree.  And the nerve of Sky News to puff up its chest and suggest that illegal domestic spying by a newspaper is "editorially justified."  Really, is that how it works now?  We no longer go to the authorities in order to hack into someone's email, we simply ask our editor.

And why is this man John Ryley still the head of Sky News, and not sitting in jail somewhere? Do Fox News and the WSJ agree with Murdoch's man Ryley that it's okay to hack someone's email if it's "editorially justified" and in the public interest?  I'm sure some would argue that it's editorially justified and in the public interest - especially after all of this - to know what's in the email files of Murdoch and his senior staff at Fox and the WSJ, if only to know how far this conspiracy goes.  Does that make it right?

British school meal portions "made smaller to save money"

Ah yes, everyone is in this painful economic time together, including young school children. Clearly they need to pay for the sins of the bankers so they can know their place in society, right? But at least the rich are getting tax cuts. The Independent:

School meal portions are being shrunk, leaving children to go hungry, teachers and parents have warned. Smaller portion sizes caused by cost-cutting are reported in schools across the country and are of particular concern, given the increase in the number of impoverished pupils who rely on school lunches as their only hot meal of the day. Primary-age children, in particular, are going hungry after being given lunches that are too small, according to teachers.

The findings of a study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) were confirmed by individual teachers and parent groups who told The Independent it was a growing problem that had to be addressed. "Children are going hungry in schools and we all know what hunger does to your ability to learn," said Mary Bousted, the ATL's general-secretary. "It is no surprise that, in the current economic climate, there has been an increase in the uptake of free school meals ... For some children, it may be their only hot meal of the day."

Figures from the School Food Trust show that the number of children eligible for free school dinners increased by 43,000 to an estimated 1,055,000 in 2010-11. More than a third of education staff have reported an increase in the take-up of free meals since 2007.

And as one commenter in the original article mentioned, the House of Lords is actually complaining about their subsidized meals and the quality of the smoked salmon. How does such a useless and entitled body still exist?

On the other side of the spectrum, good for Jamie Oliver for diving in and trying to correct the school lunch problem. It's not a flashy subject, but it's an important one.

Tories introduce law that increases phone/web spying in UK

It was a bad idea when Labour introduced this and it's no better under the Conservatives. Besides being intrusive for the people of Great Britain, it's also painfully difficult to troll through that much data with much effectiveness. The Guardian:

Ministers are to introduce a new law allowing police and security services to extend their monitoring of the public's email and social media communications, the Home Office has confirmed.

It is expected that the new system will allow security officials to scrutinise who is talking to whom and exactly when the conversations are taking place, but not the content of messages.

Labour tried to introduce a similar system using a central database tracking all phone, text, email and internet use but that was ditched in 2009. It followed concerns raised by internet service providers and mobile phone operators over the project's feasibility, and anxieties over who would foot the bill.

Britain hit with "pasty-gate" class warfare

For those of you unfamiliar with a pasty, it's a popular food that is a meal folded into pastry. (Many people love them though I was unable to stomach more than a few bites on my one and only attempt.) They're widely available in the UK with one particular pasty chain that seems to be at every train station across the country.

To some degree, it's sort of a home grown McDonald's in that it's cheap and quick food for people on the run. Just as the 1% in America probably doesn't often do fast food like McDonald's the British 1% (including and especially the blue blood elite government leaders) probably don't do too many visits to pasty shops.

With that in mind, fast forward to the ongoing economic problems in the UK. The Conservative government recently announced tax cuts for the rich (to spur on growth despite there being no proof of such a theory) while raising taxes on take-away food items such as pasties. The pro-austerity government once again is fine with clobbering the middle class who works for a living while catering to the richest Brits, who have prospered during the recession. Fortunately these policies are being noticed by the public, who are now turning against the current government in favor of Labour.

With a sagging economy and slow growth expected due to the unnecessary (and counter-productive) austerity, the Tories may be in for a rough ride. Their class warfare against the middle class is being exposed. NY Times:

The tax controversy, which the British press has called, inevitably, “Pasty-gate,” has come to symbolize the increasingly vitriolic debate in Britain over who should shoulder the burden of the government’s drive to cut debt and spending.

The tax has ignited a political firestorm, prompting even generally pro-government tabloid newspapers to attack it and leading the equally posh British prime minister, David Cameron, to claim — not all that convincingly — that he, truly, is an aficionado of the pasty (which rhymes with nasty).

The issue has also revived memories of the poll tax and other unpopular measures imposed by previous Conservative Party-led governments that left many Britons feeling that their leaders were out of touch.

How is it possible that Cambridge educated government leaders who carry the title of baronet could be viewed as elitist and out of touch? Go figure.

OECD: UK back in recession, will be slow to recover

Another story line that may not make it into the GOP discussions. They're always keen to talk about the savings of austerity, but fail to discuss the real world negative impact that consistently occurs. Now the British public has fewer services and they're hampered by a sagging economy because the government strangled any chance to stimulate the economy. Brilliant.

Only Italy will struggle over a longer period to return to growth, highlighting the difficult situation confronting the British government as it battles to boost confidence and get the economy back on track.

In recent weeks surveys have shown the business and consumer sentiment falling back after an initial boost earlier this year.

The Office for National Statistics added to the gloomy prognosis for the economy on Wednesday when it reported a bigger fall in output in the final three months of 2011 than first estimated. It said a previous 0.2% drop in output had underestimated the size of the fall, which further analysis found to be 0.3%.

UK economy fell more than previously reported last year

There's a cost to austerity that those on the right don't like talking about. It's not a magic cure all and it almost always means even more pain for the working public. The GOP in the US loves talking about the need to cut government spending but fail to discuss the severe impact it has on everyone. If money is no object and you're part of the 1% it may sound wonderful if you don't care about the 99% and the broader social implications.

So remind me again which side of the political spectrum is all about dividing rather than uniting? The Guardian:

Britain's economy was even weaker than expected at the end of last year, underlining the country's struggle to avoid another recession.

GDP fell 0.3% in the fourth quarter, more than the 0.2% drop previously estimated by the Office for National Statistics. The downgrade was mainly prompted by weakness in the country's dominant services sector.

Economists had not been expecting any change to the 0.2% fall, and the news that Britain's economy went into the new year in an even worse state will raise fears it could notch up a technical recession – defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.

UK Police accuse Murdoch paper of 'jeopardizing' murder enquiry

Via Huff Post

The News of the World "jeopardised" a police inquiry into a spate of murders in Ipswich, a former senior police officer has alleged.

David Harrison, who worked on the inquiry into the killing of five prostitutes in Ipswich while at for the Serious Organised Crime Agency, told the Leveson inquiry into press ethics that the tabloid had hired ex-special forces soldiers to carry out their own surveillance on a suspect, which could have "seriously hindered" the police inquiry.

"I believe that by its actions NotW jeopardised the murder inquiry," the retired officer said in a witness statement.

Rupert Murdoch is a bully who made a fortune manufacturing outrage with lies. Now that outrage is turned in his direction he claims not to have known the methods used by his minions.

Murdoch's paper hired Special Ops team to monitor UK police

How creepy is this? It's still amazing to think that Rupert Murdoch and his media empire in the US is not tarnished by this ongoing investigation. Does anyone really believe this is not a rogue media organization that will do anything to stir up a story and smear anyone who gets in their way? Using alleged former Special Ops teams to monitor the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) doesn't sound right any way you try to spin it. For a team that likes to view themselves as supporters of law and order, they sure don't struggle with staying within the boundaries of the law. The Telegraph:

Mr Harrison said that, on at least two occasions, a vehicle parked up on a roundabout on the outskirts of the town attempted to follow the Soca surveillance team. "We identified them because they were sat in the position that we would sit in if we were doing the same job," he said. "We were told that they were probably ex-Special Forces soldiers who would have a good knowledge of surveillance techniques."

Austerity hits UK unemployment, again

At what point will the Conservative government admit their strict austerity plan is failing? Unemployment is at a 13 year high and the cuts will only hurt the economy more as the year goes on.

The number of Britons claiming unemployment benefit rose more than forecast last month to the highest level since November 2009, official data showed. Meanwhile Britain's unemployment rate held at a 13-year high of 8.4 percent in the three months to January, and the youth unemployment rate rose to a record high, official data showed on Wednesday. The figures will increase the pressure on finance minister George Osborne to take measures to boost growth and jobs when he presents his 2012/13 budget next week, at a time when the economy is struggling to show sustainable recovery.

Remind me again why the GOP wants austerity for the US?  And why, as John notes, they're trying to break the budget deal to have even more cuts this year?