These are the fatality rates for Coronavirus, which suggest the difficulties start at 50 and get dangerous from aged 60 onwards: This table shows that the first economy of the world seems to have a surprisingly small occurrence and it may be that the average American’s preference not to travel abroad helps, but it could… Read more
Category:
Politics
Treasury rules – or does it?
This is from Ed Conway of Sky concerning the ‘Times’ extract that follows: The Treasury is debating a radical change in its accounting rules, reclassifying billions spent on education and health as “investment”. One upshot: Rishi Sunak could meet his fiscal rules without any tax rises or spending cuts.. So this suggests that Labour’s paroxysms… Read more
A risk of infection…
…which is mentally just as serious…… Read more
Some mistake surely?
The BBC claims, in a recent article, that the number of homeless is in fact nearer to 28,000 than the 4,677 government estimate. Anecdotally at least, I have little doubt that the BBC are right. But the government’s response is what bothers me. The BBC article says: The government said it was providing £500m this… Read more
Work of the insane
Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), speaking on Tuesday stated that fears over chlorinated chicken imports were entirely justified. This was after the Environment Minister, George Eustace (amazingly a former farmer himself as well as former UKIPer) failed to explicitly rule out chlorinated chicken imports over the weekend. She said: This isn’t… Read more
One way of getting homes for the homeless
This quote below is from a Twitterer I do not know but with whom I do wholeheartedly agree – it seems to be an extraordinary act of generosity. I’m not a fan of boxing but I do appear to have become a fan of Tyson Fury. Dr Abdul G S Kasim@AbdulGSKasim has said that instead… Read more
Constitutional defence
There is an interesting piece in the London Review of Books by Ferdinand Mount, Mrs Thatcher’s former policy advisor (and another Old Etonian), on Johnson’s government and, what has become a recurring theme on PP, his fascist tendencies. The article suggests: ‘Hobbes told us long ago, and everyone now understands, that there must be a… Read more
Passports please
These are the new blue passports (I have spared you the full view of the holder – our smirking home secretary). In full-on irony the new passport seems to sum up Brexit. It is in a new colour reminiscent of an older style, though, in fact, the EU has never prescribed passport colour. The new… Read more
Bloody immigrants…
Coming over here and taking our best jobs… That is effectively what Patel and Johnson’s plan seems to be because the low skilled – for which read low paid – will not be able to find work in the UK. So, ironically, the Brits will need to take the low skilled jobs whilst the more… Read more
What is this government’s purpose?
An interesting ‘Observer’ editorial laments the decline of Keynes’ post-war ‘consensus’ for the future of civilised society as it seemed to be at the time. Conservatives mobilised an argument that generous welfare spending did not just undermine capitalism, but had inflationary, destabilising consequences and hence was a threat to democratic governance. Our government is similarly… Read more