Mailwatch(ed) Forum

What aren’t compulsory contributory pensions from the age of 16 not on the political agenda? ‘We’ve all paid in’ is a fatuous myth as pensions are paid out of current spending. But can’t see any why we shouldn’t in order to gain compound interest over 50 years. A very tiny amount of the population voluntarily starts a pension fund early in life.
And there’s far too many private pension firms duplicating admin costs in order to invest in the same safe bets. The Netherlands has just three giant firms that everyone contributes to.

I think (what I still call) the Office of Fair Trading would say 3 firms were far too few, but there does seem to be a lot of duplication.

Whereas a Thatcherite would say we need lots, for competition, and then most of them slowly get brought out by hedge funds, or go out of business and you lose a load of money

Ban monopolies for show, invest in cartels for the pro.

The biggest mistake I ever made was taking out a pension. I might just get back what I paid in.

As far as politics and the climate go, I really have been trying to embrace Monbiot’s insistence on the importance of hope - however battered and seemingly futile - over someone like Paul Kingsnorth’s misanthropic doomerism, but boy howdy it can be difficult at times.

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ories-laws

On Thursday five Just Stop Oil activists were sentenced to record prison terms for peaceful protest in the UK. Four of them received four years and one received five years for “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance”: they had been involved in planning to close the M25. These are sentences of the kind you might expect in Russia or Egypt. Before they were handed down, the UN’s special rapporteur Michel Forst pointed out that the terms of the prosecution, in one defendant’s case merely for appearing on a Zoom call, were “shockingly disproportionate”.

I know it's only the cartoon, but the Guardian's take on the Grenfell Report is "Martin Rowson on Labour repeating the mistakes that led to Grenfell". The cartoon itself has as its central character not David Cameron or Eric Pickles or Tony Blair (who has done himself little credit with his response) but Rachel Reeves. She's waving about a packet of seeds with "austerity magic beans" on it. But certainly the Blair era negligence wasn't down to austerity. Nor was the Cameron-Pickles stuff. Kensington and Chelsea were giving away tax cuts just before Grenfelll went up.

As for austerity, we've had some cuts to somw not obviously urgent infrastructure, Rwanda and other gimmicks scrapped that wasn't happening, lots of pay disputes settled, and some tax rises. And the prospect of far more people claiming pension credit and the main pension rising by more than the WFA in cash terms. And the prospect of better planning, a (slightly) better EU deal, and people actually processing asylum claims to reduce hotel costs. Think "Grenfell Reeves" is rather overdoing it.

But I'll be happier when the fiscal rule gets shifted.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/com ... ll-cartoon

Starmer’s speech without context was a mistake though the broadest shoulders seems to have escaped much analysis.

The Guardian is not our friend, and hasn't been for years.

A bunch of columnists prattling on about Waitrose Vs M&S tofu bake, and the best Montessori

Meanwhile A&E patients are waiting 12 hours for a doctor, and state schools are falling down around their staff and students.

Neither is Martin Rowson our friend. His cartoons can be superb, but he’s been aiming at the wrong targets in the past few years.

I don't really get political cartoons at the best of times. But this? You might as well go full on Brant. Rachel Reeves on a tightrope holding dumb bells with "economic growth" and "Grenfell" on it.

mattomac wrote: ↑Fri Sep 06, 2024 9:12 pm Starmer’s speech without context was a mistake though the broadest shoulders seems to have escaped much analysis.

Yeah, that was an important quote (one hopes). I reckon Reeves will have to give a one off sweetener to pensioners if she does indeed follow through on abolishing the universal winter fuel allowance. So that'll throw the budget a bit. I hope she doesn't get it by not uprating benefits as much as she should.

The Guardian all those years ago stitched up Reeves with the headline "tougher than the Tories" (it wasn't). Here's their latest:

Furore over Labour cronies ‘no worse than Tories’ in government, allies say

The article is better but not particularly kind. One of the (implied) cronies is Jonathan Powell, who'll be leading talks on the Chagos Islands. Any experience he has of chairing political talks at all?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... allies-say

On the other hand

Another person with knowledge of the thinking around Labour’s recruitment of business people added: “I think they’re less interested in Labour heritage and more in people who can make a proper contribution and bring knowledge networks and experience that you don’t necessarily get in SW1.” They pointed to James Timpson, the new prisons minister, and a businessman who employed ex-prisoners, and Patrick Vallance, the new science minister

Whether the appointments are party people or not we're safe from ridiculous dead beats like David Frost.

The Guardian ran an article by Adrian Chiles with the headline 'We've lost 20,000 pubs since I started drinking in them. That sends a chill down my spine.'

The headline has now been amended to.

We’ve lost 20,000 pubs in the last 40 years. That sends a chill down my spine
Adrian Chiles

I can only assume the original headline attracted comments along the lines of 'stop drinking in pubs then Adrian'

His article's are so dire. There's awful lot of shite commentators out there but luckily I avoid them, but whenever I scroll the Guardian's front page and I see one of the titles to his work I just want to scratch my eyes out.

Is it me or has pub grub deteriorated in the past few years? This could be down to cost cutting or is it the ending of free movement? Despite endless TV chef shows, Brits still can't cook for shit.

Starbucking plays a part (Ember Inns and other chains all serve basically the same stuff). Whoever thought up chips in a tin mug needs to be given a swift unpleasantry in the car park too.

There are still some great independent gastropubs out there - near us we have the Merchants in Lancaster city centre, which is Michelin starred. Good places in Kirby Lonsdale, Slyne, and Kendal too.

Met a couple in a pub from Lancaster in Nottingham last week and we both agreed that on our rare visits to this city the pubs and other outlets seemed to become more impressive. Especially compared to deterioration in our respective home towns. I was there for a gig and so much more pleasant, easier and cheaper than traipsing to the NEC or Wembley. I'll be seeing Nottingham again soon as they're doing something right.

Pit and Pendulum is awesome. Not been to Rock City since just before Covid, but there's a reason why people come from all over to visit.