Ill informed criticism and an idiots guide to electoral process

I have just had an article published in the Morning Star, which has received a good deal of, and I would argue ill informed, criticism. It was heavily edited, which I would imagine was in order for it to fit into the paper. As always I am posting the original pre-edit version up here on the site, so that people can both see what the article looked like before it was edited, and also see…

Continue ReadingIll informed criticism and an idiots guide to electoral process

Fixing elections and conflicts of interests

In the lead up to the general election the ex-Head of MI6 made some fairly dire warnings of the threat of a Corbyn led government. And as someone that has done a fair bit of research on the intelligence services I thought it would be worth looking into it just in case there were any possible conflicts of interest. I did the research and just as I thought, a couple of whoppers appeared relatively quickly.…

Continue ReadingFixing elections and conflicts of interests

A socialist Labour party manifesto … how far we have come

So we are getting to the sharp end of 2019 general election campaign, which I would argue is the first time that we have had the actual possibility of voting in to power a socialist Labour party. And because of this I have taken the time to read the manifesto. I would have read the other two manifestos but I didn’t really see any point. Neither party, in their current guise can be trusted to…

Continue ReadingA socialist Labour party manifesto … how far we have come

Conservative Party caught overacting in lead up to pantomime season

So it turns out that the British Parliament has kicked Brexit further down the road, this time under the guise of a general election. And before anyone starts squealing about who is to blame for this, remember the Conservative Party has been in power since the Brexit vote. First Cameron, then May, and then de Pfeffel Johnson. And at no point during all this time has the Conservative Party been a minority party in Parliament.…

Continue ReadingConservative Party caught overacting in lead up to pantomime season

Prime Minister de Pfeffel Johnson and the contemptuous elite he represents

Now that we have had a little time to digest the Supreme Court’s decision on whether “Prime Minister” de Pfeffel Johnson acted illegally in his advice to the crown when asking for parliament to be suspended, and the mainstream media has been able to archive the story in the ‘lets protect the establishment by forgetting that they have been found guilty of criminal conspiracy’ filing cabinet, I thought it would be interesting to start unpicking…

Continue ReadingPrime Minister de Pfeffel Johnson and the contemptuous elite he represents

Climate crisis and the urgent need for a news media that isn’t beholden to carbon-profiteers

In the last post I was planning on going through all the major stories of 2019 on a month by month basis. However it became apparent quite quickly that to do that would take a while. And I do understand the irony implicit in that last statement, in light of the theme of the last post. Anyway, in order to avoid dragging this out for too long I thought that rather than unpicking each story…

Continue ReadingClimate crisis and the urgent need for a news media that isn’t beholden to carbon-profiteers

The mainstream media is guilty of chicken-licken news coverage

Due to a bereavement in my family it has been a while since I have written anything. And much as I have wanted to remain focussed on my family, the community and the world we live in has a terrible habit of promoting mass-panic, which inevitably reaches into every family, friendship and community. Which is why I am back writing. In my opinion, one of the key reasons for this overwhelming feeling of panic and…

Continue ReadingThe mainstream media is guilty of chicken-licken news coverage

The growing recognition of socialism and socialist thought as a jumping off point.

I noticed after rereading my last post that there were still things I felt were needed to be said. I’ve mentioned previously that one of the clear benefits of the growing recognition of socialism within the mainstream political discourse is that it forces peoples true intentions out into the open. For instance, there are those who like pretending to care about other people, but when faced with the possibility of a progressive taxation system in…

Continue ReadingThe growing recognition of socialism and socialist thought as a jumping off point.

The 1% will frame our oppression as pragmatic compromise, they always do

And so the new year begins. To me, in terms of the UK, it feels like Brexit is monopolising all discussion and debate. It feels like it is consuming all of our collective intellectual oxygen and political energy. And, it is without doubt, a potentially defining moment for the political systems and process in the UK, and across Europe. And of course, it will almost undoubtedly, feed into how the political systems and process across…

Continue ReadingThe 1% will frame our oppression as pragmatic compromise, they always do

A Dickensian Christmas

I am still struggling along with the very early morning shifts, filling those shelves with all the useful and much needed Christmas stuff people seem to spend their hard earned wages on at this time of year. But somewhat surprisingly, that has not be playing on my mind as much as it has in previous years. Every morning when I leave the house, I see a star in the night sky that is so bright…

Continue ReadingA Dickensian Christmas