America and the UK both share a long history of respectable blue collar employment. Jobs which didn’t need particular qualifications but which offered respect, a pension, and enough income to own a house and a car and raise a family. If you kept your nose clean and did the right thing you could get on,… Read More The rise of US forced prison labour | NAFTA and the decline of blue collar America
Killings by Police Officers in Great Britain There have been 109 recorded killings by the Police in Great Britain since records began, which means mostly over the last 150 years. This doesn’t include events such as the death of Liddle Towers were police culpability was never established, and doesn’t include deaths by security services in… Read More Deaths by Police Officers US vs UK
Dominic Cummings isn’t going. The scandal, while huge, is not enough to push him out the door. Even his presence getting in the way of the Government tackling a pandemic he is staying. Those of use who think he should go won’t get our wish. Boris wants us all to move on, but Boris hasn’t… Read More Dominic Cummings | Why he hasn’t been sacked
A few months ago I wrote about the impossible task that Trump had set himself getting rid of Obamacare: Trump’s basic problem is that the US has been drifting closer and closer to a socialised healthcare system for decades as Federal and State spending on healthcare has over-taken insurers and private individuals. All Obama did… Read More Aneurin Biden | How the US gets it’s own NHS
A deep dive into the strange and frightening world of pop hits spun off from TV shows. There are only 20 tracks this week, because the others were too strange and awful. Maybe pour a stiff drink before going any further….
Parliament has debated the new immigration bill this week. Government announcements are heavy on Brexity slogans about taking back control and “Global Britain”, but the reality is that the Bill gives Ministers the power to exclude people from the UK labour market who don’t hold a high level qualification and aren’t a higher earner. Decisions… Read More Immigration bill | Ministers who have never worked and voters who don’t work any more
OK, so I admit that Sophistipop is a genre I have just invented. Clever, slightly pretentious pop tracks, often featuring misjudged saxophones, or jazzy guitars. Basses get slapped, and frankly so should some of the band members. The sublime and the ridiculous all mixed together Given the generic nature of some of the tracks I… Read More 80s Pop Quiz | Sophistipop
In yesterdays blog I suggested that the new centralised system to provide PPE to care homes was run by a company called Clipper. The actual system that the Department of Health and Social Care has set up is run by Ebay. Clipper are the logistics partner who are distributing the equipment to all non-acute health… Read More NHS PPEbay | An update
Over the last few weeks I have written about problems with NHS procurement. Since becoming Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock has centralised NHS procurement and cut Trust budgets to save money. This, plus a failure to adequately prepare for a pandemic, has caused shortfalls of PPE across the NHS. One of the bright… Read More PPE | NHS getting better: Government getting worse