+A bit of a wrangle in Parliament today about whether Johnson and Co. should get away with cutting the UK’s current 0.7% of GDP overseas aid budget. That figure is enshrined in law (by a Labour government) and honours a UN commitment. Tories argue that we are borrowing a lot of money during the pandemic, so can’t afford to give away more than 0.5% They say we are in something of a crisis, as if nobody else is, least of all the countries at the bottom of the heap. In other words, it’s just Tories being Tories, the usual callous bastards. The Tory move is a slight deviation from my ‘Never’ rules (see a previous blog) for today’s politicians which is to say, never admit you’ll always put your own first. But in this case it is precisely what is happening and can be used as a signal, (for amplification by the Murdoch press) that that’s exactly what’s happening. The Sun has of course run with this message, namely that the undeserving (black) poor can just wait their turn. This deep analysis forgets that Covid doesn’t make such distinctions. It has to be said that the 0.7% overseas aid target, as a figure is no more based on rationality than anything else—it was a figure plucked out of thin air by the UN and was always inadequate. A bit like current international thinking on tackling climate change.
+As I write I don’t yet know whether Craig Murray, the former UK ambassador and prolific and contentious blogger (not least on Scottish affairs) has been sent to prison for ‘contempt of court.’ This affair arose out of his reporting the court proceedings over Alex Salmond’s sexual misconduct trial, in which he was found innocent of all charges. Murray may have his biases (don’t we all) but his conviction was clearly politically motivated. I used to think that politics in Scotland was a bit more sophisticated and engaged than what we have down here. But no. When you have an established party able to crush all before it, you get the same old politics wherever you live.
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It has been praised by some of the world’s deepest thinkers:
'His vision, ideas and passion shine through on every page' - Ed Balls 'Compelling, challenging, inspiring and very timely' - Piers Morgan 'Immensely powerful and persuasive...I found it exhilarating throughout' - Joanna Lumley Seven Ways to Change the World is Gordon Brown’s latest 512-page doorstopper. I am sure that it contains some good ideas, and I bet it misses many more: even 512 pages isn’t enough for this mammoth task. I’ll admit I haven’t read it, it’s not published until the 10th June, but has led to a two page spread in today’s Guardian. Heaven knows what the Man Who Would Still Like To Be PM now says about climate change, but given that he was PM when the UK’s Climate Change Act 2008 was enacted, he can claim some credit for activity on that front. But he will mainly be remembered for his role in the financial crash. He particularly wants to be remembered for his role after the crash, convening the G20 and leading co-ordinated responses to it. Less inspiring was his activity before it, which beyond arguably helped it develop in the first place. Here’s what he had to say in the Guardian : “In 2009, this fiscal orthodoxy, this idea that debts and deficits were unacceptable, prevented people from taking the action that was necessary. We didn’t have public support for it, and of course austerity was the consequence.” ‘This’ fiscal orthodoxy? Not my fiscal orthodoxy, nor our fiscal orthodoxy, nor indeed my ‘light touch regulation’ of the City nor my knighthood for Fred ‘The Shred’ Goodwin, who enjoyed a nice and deeply symbolic treat at Chequers as the financial crisis was unfolding: “SHAMED banker Fred "The Shred" Goodwin was entertained by Gordon Brown shortly before the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland. He enjoyed hospitality at Chequers, the Prime Minister's country retreat, last year. Goodwin's wife Joyce joined him on the visit to the luxury Buckinghamshire mansion. Within months, the banker was forced to quit as RBS chief executive after they had to be rescued by a £20billion Government bailout.” (Daily Record 17/72009) I may have to wait for Gordon’s book to be remaindered before I discover what remedies he is now proposing, no doubt all the while learning from his own mistakes. I suspect like most people I haven’t really understood cryptocurrencies or Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The former seems to be something quite useful for criminals and users of the dark web. That in itself is enough to dissuade me from seeking to buy ‘Bitcoin,’ and I have to add that the wild fluctuations in its value is another disincentive. As regards NFTs they seem to exist in a world of their own, with as the name suggests no fungible value. I’m not sure what they’re worth, and not just in a monetary sense. NFTs don’t seem to confer any rights, and the concept of owning one appears so shallow as to be meaningless. As somebody on the radio said, it’s like buying the receipt. I heard that the demand for NFTs has slumped by 90%. That still leaves 10% who think they’re the bees’ knees. But it has to be said, a £10 note in itself isn’t worth tuppence, it’s only a form of IOU which in the normal run of things is never expected to be redeemed. What would you get if you went to the Bank of England and demanded £10 for your £10 note? The only value invested in any currency is our collective trust in it. Perhaps we’ll have to see whether those who put their trust in Bitcoin were idiots, visionaries or simply Ponzi schemers.
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