UK Election June 8th

[Mugwump]

I thought that was a poor article, which did not do what its title purported to do : explain and defend his policies.

This is a pity, as most of policies are stupid and damaging, but not all. For example, building a million new homes is quite feasible, when the government's cost of borrowing is still relatively low and the borrowing could be comfortably funded by reasonable rents or purchase prices. A special bond issue to do this is quite conceivable.

The non-renewal of Britain's vastly-expensive nuclear deterrent is probably reasonable at this point, as it's not clear quite who we would be deterring with it.

I admit that this seems a pretty poor return from the twenty useful policies that a creative Socialist think tank should come up with, but it's a start.

Where Corbynism fails so badly is in its inability to rethink Leftist politics for a globalised, digital age. It falls back continually on the idea that the nation state is a kind of autarkic body which can pursue goals without being buffeted by forces beyond its border. To fail to do this type of thinking is not just lazy, it's irresponsible.

So what might a genuinely creative socialist programme look like ? Well I think it should start out with a proper study into who owns Britain, and where capital is invested in British society. If it is true that much of the country's premium asset base is owned by foreign oligarchs and companies, or individuals with a staggering net worth, then it is worth targeting those via a focused land tax. I also think that money invested in existing residential property should be targeted. Wealth that is invested in businesses and genuine value-creation should be encouraged and subject to a lower tax rate.

I would also be in favour of a people's bank, with vanilla savings, mortgage and superannuation products at ultra-low cost. The existing banks are rapacious and oligopolistic, extracting far more value than they should because of their exploitation of ignorant consumers.

The aged pension in the UK is unfunded, and it is clearly unsustainable as people live longer and draw down benefits that they did not fund during their working lives. Those who wish to draw it below the age of 70 should be asked to contribute time to social work, such as care for the elderly, education support or environmental improvement.

Labour also needs to level with the people and explain that the public services they want are being paid for by deficit funding, which has built up an appalling legacy of debt for future generations. If they want better services, these will have to be paid for by an increase in the basic rate of tax, which is currently 22%. Continuing to rely on the "rich" (which Labour risibly defined this week as an income of £70k per annum ) is shrinking the tax base to the point where it is irresponsibly vulnerable.

All of the above might be good socialist policies which could work and improve the quality of life for ordinary people. Alas, Corbynism is plodding and senile and riven by class war thinking, so it either has not thought of them or will not pursue them. He won't win, but if he did, he would bankrupt the country and put it in the hands of the IMF very swiftly.

[David]

Mugwump, is there something you're not telling us?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/27/mugwump-boris-johnson-jeremy-corbyn-mutton-headed-old

[Mugwump]

[stui magpie]

[swoop42]

After Trump it's hard to take these polls to seriously.

[Culprit]

[stui magpie]

[Culprit]

Agree with that. His policies are shitting on all those who blindly voted for him out of protest though. I love Trump. My son was going to move to the US and live with his GF. Instead she arrived last Tuesday and wants to stay here. Mind you I did say to him that if he moved to the US I would most likely see him more than I do now.

[stui magpie]

^

More bloody political refugees.

[Mugwump]

Elections have a way of exposing things that government does not. As each week has gone by, May has looked more and more like someone who is not up to the job. She answers every question with one of three sound bites like a malfunctioning robot crossed with a praying mantis, and it is annoying the hell out of the whole British population.

Corbyn is not up to it either, but we already knew that, and at least he communicates like a human being. And he has of course promised more free stuff to everybody except the top 5% of the population, so the polls have narrowed.

May is still long odds-on to get across the line, but she will be so damaged that it would not surprise me to see a leadership challenge within 12 months. On exposed form, this would be a deserved outcome. Not Prime Minister material, as it turns out.

[stui magpie]

We need a better class of politicians, worldwide.

May v Corbyn
Trump v Clinton
Gillard v Abbott
Krudd v Turnbull
Mugabe v ...............?

[Mugwump]

^ true, but in democracies it's a job where people from everywhere knock spots off you every day, and I doubt many leaders of any calibre can really succeed in such a culture. Still, there are good ones in the mix : Obama, Cameron and Merkel, regardless of whether one likes their policies or not, were up to the job. As Enoch Powell said, all political careers end in failure, but (as he didn't say) some manage to achieve things along the way and look assured while doing it.

The worry is that populations in most democratic nations are now so infantilised and ignorant that they are getting politicians who play to that.

[Tannin]

Oh dear. One impressive-sounding one who sadly achieved a lot less than expected in the end, and two massive farnarkleups in those three. Merkel's fanatic determination to flood Europe with foreign migrants has been truly disastrous, not just in its direct effects, but also because it was far and away the primary cause of the contempt many people feel for politicians today, and the success of the various Trump/Farage/Le Pen types. Massive own goal, and too stupid to learn from her mistake.

And Cameron? Have you given up posting and taken up comedy instead? FMD, Cameron will go down in UK history as unquestionably the worst Prime Minister since Nevil Chamberlin. The whole shambolic Brexit debacle was a direct result of Cameron's stupidity, lack of courage, and lack of energy. Cameron makes Rudd look good.

[Tannin]

[Mugwump]