the Health and Social Care Committee, I heard the evidence of harm week in, week out, and I came to the view that I was wrong. I was not afraid to say that. In fact, many colleagues said to me, “Don’t tell people that you’ve changed your mind. Just put a cross in a different box. It will be very bad for your political career if you change your mind.” It is astonishing that we have come to that—that parliamentarians are not honest and are not prepared to change their mind when they have looked at the evidence. We focus on the idea that this is all about a WTO Brexit and trade, but from chairing the Health and Social Care Committee it became obvious to me that there is clear evidence of harm to social care, science and research from unpicking a close relationship that has brought enormous benefits for more than four decades. I looked at the harm that Brexit would cause to science and research. There is no version of Brexit that will benefit science and research, improve the situation for our health and social care workforce, or do anything positive for NHS funding.
Thursday, 15 August 2019
Revised gender arithmetic
The decision by Sarah Wollaston to join the Liberal Democrats came as no surprise to those who have followed her career since being elected for Totnes, one of two MPs having been selected as candidates following an open primary. The only surprise is that she lingered so long in the half-way house of The Independent Group. It seems that she was taking her time to make sure that she was accepted by her local Liberal Democrat party and possibly to explain her position to those close to her who had supported her as a Conservative. In April, before she even left an increasingly reactionary Conservative party, she made clear to the House that she moved from soft Leave to Remain as a result of chairing:
the Health and Social Care Committee, I heard the evidence of harm week in, week out, and I came to the view that I was wrong. I was not afraid to say that. In fact, many colleagues said to me, “Don’t tell people that you’ve changed your mind. Just put a cross in a different box. It will be very bad for your political career if you change your mind.” It is astonishing that we have come to that—that parliamentarians are not honest and are not prepared to change their mind when they have looked at the evidence. We focus on the idea that this is all about a WTO Brexit and trade, but from chairing the Health and Social Care Committee it became obvious to me that there is clear evidence of harm to social care, science and research from unpicking a close relationship that has brought enormous benefits for more than four decades. I looked at the harm that Brexit would cause to science and research. There is no version of Brexit that will benefit science and research, improve the situation for our health and social care workforce, or do anything positive for NHS funding.
Anyway, I make it that the Liberal Democrats now have fourteen MPs plus Stephen Lloyd who for complicated reasons currently sits as an Independent. Of those, six are women, a percentage of 40%.
the Health and Social Care Committee, I heard the evidence of harm week in, week out, and I came to the view that I was wrong. I was not afraid to say that. In fact, many colleagues said to me, “Don’t tell people that you’ve changed your mind. Just put a cross in a different box. It will be very bad for your political career if you change your mind.” It is astonishing that we have come to that—that parliamentarians are not honest and are not prepared to change their mind when they have looked at the evidence. We focus on the idea that this is all about a WTO Brexit and trade, but from chairing the Health and Social Care Committee it became obvious to me that there is clear evidence of harm to social care, science and research from unpicking a close relationship that has brought enormous benefits for more than four decades. I looked at the harm that Brexit would cause to science and research. There is no version of Brexit that will benefit science and research, improve the situation for our health and social care workforce, or do anything positive for NHS funding.
Stillbirths
"A mother who lost her baby while giving birth has described the moment she found out he had died.
"Arthur Wyn Jones died at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen in March 2017 as his mother Kara Jones, a diabetic, gave birth.
"She said she had been pleading for an early delivery because she knew something was wrong, but was told it was 'normal'.
"'I didn't meet Arthur. I never met him, I never held him,' Ms Jones, from Ceredigion, said.
"A report by Hywel Dda health board said 'numerous missed opportunities to acknowledge the complexity of the pregnancy' were likely to have contributed to his death."
Glangwili was not an isolated case. In 2012, Kirsty Williams drew attention to the fact that the stillbirth rate had not improved in the 20 years to that date, in spite of the advances in foetal medicine.There had in fact been an upward spike in Wales. There is more in a Western Mail report.
"Arthur Wyn Jones died at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen in March 2017 as his mother Kara Jones, a diabetic, gave birth.
"She said she had been pleading for an early delivery because she knew something was wrong, but was told it was 'normal'.
"'I didn't meet Arthur. I never met him, I never held him,' Ms Jones, from Ceredigion, said.
"A report by Hywel Dda health board said 'numerous missed opportunities to acknowledge the complexity of the pregnancy' were likely to have contributed to his death."
Glangwili was not an isolated case. In 2012, Kirsty Williams drew attention to the fact that the stillbirth rate had not improved in the 20 years to that date, in spite of the advances in foetal medicine.There had in fact been an upward spike in Wales. There is more in a Western Mail report.
Wednesday, 14 August 2019
Chuka shows more of his LD nature
He has been a long-standing supporter of electoral reform, it seems. There is a video of a relevant interview by the Lib Dem who hopes to take over Kate Hoey's Vauxhall seat.
Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Of coalitions and alliances
There is much speculation about a Remain Alliance to defeat the Johnson administration and thwart Brexit. Here in Wales, actual talks are taking place between Greens, Lib Dems and the Nationalists. The issue is not as clear-cut as journalists make out, and there will be much soul-searching on the part of all parties.
Alliances and coalitions are not anathema to Liberal Democrats in spite of a recent bad experience in Westminster. (To restate simply my view on that: we were right to establish a stable government in 2010 in order to restore international faith in the UK economy; we were wrong to stay in the coalition after 2011 when the price was the Welfare Bill and increased austerity generally. Even so, we achieved much that the Conservatives are now claiming credit for.) Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Party before us long espoused a proportional voting system, the norm on the continent of Europe. PR militates against single-party majority rule* but experience on the mainland and our neighbouring island is that coalition governments work well. Lib Dems also have experience in the UK, being for a time junior partners in government both in Scotland and Wales, in a Westminster pact with Labour (again to stabilise the economy) in 1978 and even today in councils up and down the country.
So it is no surprise that Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice welcomes moves towards a Remain Alliance. We should be clear, though, that this is an alliance solely for the purpose of preventing Brexit, rather like the wartime cabinets of Lloyd George and Churchill having the single aim of preventing military defeat. Differences on other issues remain. We should also understand it if the Greens are reluctant, since in England they would have to stand aside in favour of Liberal Democrats in more seats than vice versa** if the aim of unseating Brexit supporters is to be achieved. So the grand vision of a prosperous, outward-looking UK could founder on the detailed negotiations as to who should give way in particular seats. We can at least demonstrate to the Greens a strong Green presence in the Liberal Democrat party, rather more influential than the hard-line red-green socialists in the Labour Party and something that the Conservatives cannot offer. One trusts that the Greens for their part have finally put behind them their previous opposition to the concept of the European Union.
There is less certainty about the position of Plaid Cymru. Plaid have a stronger negotiating position than the Greens, though their abstention from the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election was not as decisive as their propaganda (something at which the party is very good) made out. The results of the last three elections in that constituency show that their candidate's vote was less than the winning majority. Moreover, many federalist Liberal Democrats would find it impossible to vote for a separatist candidate.
One accepts that Adam Price, the new leader of Plaid, is a strong Remain supporter and that his party campaigned for Remain in 2016. However, there seems to have been no change in the official policy since the 2017 general election when they accepted the result of the referendum in Wales as binding and campaigned merely "to get the best possible Brexit deal for Welsh industry and agriculture". Currently spokespeople speak about fighting a "no deal" Brexit. In practice, that does mean no Brexit at all, since there is only one deal on the table - the EU27 refusing to contemplate a renegotiation of the May-Barnier withdrawal agreement - and it will not pass the Commons while the DUP has a casting vote. However, that arithmetic could change after a general election. Plaid's next party conference begins on 4th October. Will they pass a more robust policy on Europe? Will they have time to do so before a general election? Whatever, I expect some interesting discussions at local level as well as between Jane Dodds and Adam Price before all candidates are finally put in place.
This Wednesday's meeting of the Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats should be quite lively.
* The corollary that first-past-the-post always produces strong and stable government is demonstrably untrue, though.
** The big exception is Bristol West, where the MP's majority over the Green candidate in 2017 was around 4,400. However, that Labour MP is the strongly pro-EU Thangam Debbonaire.
Alliances and coalitions are not anathema to Liberal Democrats in spite of a recent bad experience in Westminster. (To restate simply my view on that: we were right to establish a stable government in 2010 in order to restore international faith in the UK economy; we were wrong to stay in the coalition after 2011 when the price was the Welfare Bill and increased austerity generally. Even so, we achieved much that the Conservatives are now claiming credit for.) Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Party before us long espoused a proportional voting system, the norm on the continent of Europe. PR militates against single-party majority rule* but experience on the mainland and our neighbouring island is that coalition governments work well. Lib Dems also have experience in the UK, being for a time junior partners in government both in Scotland and Wales, in a Westminster pact with Labour (again to stabilise the economy) in 1978 and even today in councils up and down the country.
So it is no surprise that Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice welcomes moves towards a Remain Alliance. We should be clear, though, that this is an alliance solely for the purpose of preventing Brexit, rather like the wartime cabinets of Lloyd George and Churchill having the single aim of preventing military defeat. Differences on other issues remain. We should also understand it if the Greens are reluctant, since in England they would have to stand aside in favour of Liberal Democrats in more seats than vice versa** if the aim of unseating Brexit supporters is to be achieved. So the grand vision of a prosperous, outward-looking UK could founder on the detailed negotiations as to who should give way in particular seats. We can at least demonstrate to the Greens a strong Green presence in the Liberal Democrat party, rather more influential than the hard-line red-green socialists in the Labour Party and something that the Conservatives cannot offer. One trusts that the Greens for their part have finally put behind them their previous opposition to the concept of the European Union.
There is less certainty about the position of Plaid Cymru. Plaid have a stronger negotiating position than the Greens, though their abstention from the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election was not as decisive as their propaganda (something at which the party is very good) made out. The results of the last three elections in that constituency show that their candidate's vote was less than the winning majority. Moreover, many federalist Liberal Democrats would find it impossible to vote for a separatist candidate.
One accepts that Adam Price, the new leader of Plaid, is a strong Remain supporter and that his party campaigned for Remain in 2016. However, there seems to have been no change in the official policy since the 2017 general election when they accepted the result of the referendum in Wales as binding and campaigned merely "to get the best possible Brexit deal for Welsh industry and agriculture". Currently spokespeople speak about fighting a "no deal" Brexit. In practice, that does mean no Brexit at all, since there is only one deal on the table - the EU27 refusing to contemplate a renegotiation of the May-Barnier withdrawal agreement - and it will not pass the Commons while the DUP has a casting vote. However, that arithmetic could change after a general election. Plaid's next party conference begins on 4th October. Will they pass a more robust policy on Europe? Will they have time to do so before a general election? Whatever, I expect some interesting discussions at local level as well as between Jane Dodds and Adam Price before all candidates are finally put in place.
This Wednesday's meeting of the Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats should be quite lively.
* The corollary that first-past-the-post always produces strong and stable government is demonstrably untrue, though.
** The big exception is Bristol West, where the MP's majority over the Green candidate in 2017 was around 4,400. However, that Labour MP is the strongly pro-EU Thangam Debbonaire.
Monday, 12 August 2019
Geldof's Geld
The International Consortium of International Journalists reported last month that Bob Geldof, the man credited with drawing attention to famines in East Africa, intends to screw African nations out of much-needed tax revenues. According to ICIJ's Will Fitzgibbon:
Bob Geldof’s firm wanted to buy a chicken farm in Uganda, one of the poorest countries on earth. But first, an errand.
After soaring to fame in the 1980s for organizing Live Aid and other anti-famine efforts, the former Boomtown Rats rocker had shifted to the high-powered world of international finance. He founded a U.K.-based private equity firm that aimed to generate a 20% return by buying stakes in African businesses, according to a memorandum from an investor.
The fund’s investments would all be on the African continent. Yet its London-based legal advisers asked that one of its headquarters be set up more than 2,000 miles away on Mauritius, according to a new trove of leaked documents.
The tiny Indian Ocean island has become a destination for the rich and powerful to avoid taxes with discretion and a financial powerhouse in its own right.
One of the discussion points in the firm’s decision: “tax reasons,” according to the email sent from London lawyers to Mauritius.
Geldof’s investment firm won Mauritius government approval to take advantage of obscure international agreements that allow companies to pay rock-bottom tax rates on the island tax haven and less to the desperately poor African nations where the companies do business.
“One little wad of cash can be the difference between a poor country building big infrastructure or not,” a Ugandan tax official told ICIJ.
A spokesman for Geldof’s firm, 8 Miles LLP, said its investors include international development finance institutions that “request that we consolidate their funds in a safe African financial jurisdiction for onward investment into the various target African countries. Because of its reputation, Mauritius is used by many private equity investors for this purpose.”
The spokesman said the firm’s African investments follow high standards “to create jobs, improve communities…and by generating increasing tax revenues which support the governments where we operate.” The spokesman said, “Only when we sell a company will the sale proceeds be paid back into the fund in Mauritius.”
Geldof declined to comment.
There is a lot more about the financial attractions of the island nation, a Commonwealth member, including a copy of some supporting evidence, here.
One worries that the new Minister of State at the Department for International Development, Dr Andrew Murrison, will continue his predecessor's policy of diverting development aid money into "business development" which is unlikely to help people on the ground.
Bob Geldof’s firm wanted to buy a chicken farm in Uganda, one of the poorest countries on earth. But first, an errand.
After soaring to fame in the 1980s for organizing Live Aid and other anti-famine efforts, the former Boomtown Rats rocker had shifted to the high-powered world of international finance. He founded a U.K.-based private equity firm that aimed to generate a 20% return by buying stakes in African businesses, according to a memorandum from an investor.
The fund’s investments would all be on the African continent. Yet its London-based legal advisers asked that one of its headquarters be set up more than 2,000 miles away on Mauritius, according to a new trove of leaked documents.
The tiny Indian Ocean island has become a destination for the rich and powerful to avoid taxes with discretion and a financial powerhouse in its own right.
One of the discussion points in the firm’s decision: “tax reasons,” according to the email sent from London lawyers to Mauritius.
Geldof’s investment firm won Mauritius government approval to take advantage of obscure international agreements that allow companies to pay rock-bottom tax rates on the island tax haven and less to the desperately poor African nations where the companies do business.
“One little wad of cash can be the difference between a poor country building big infrastructure or not,” a Ugandan tax official told ICIJ.
A spokesman for Geldof’s firm, 8 Miles LLP, said its investors include international development finance institutions that “request that we consolidate their funds in a safe African financial jurisdiction for onward investment into the various target African countries. Because of its reputation, Mauritius is used by many private equity investors for this purpose.”
The spokesman said the firm’s African investments follow high standards “to create jobs, improve communities…and by generating increasing tax revenues which support the governments where we operate.” The spokesman said, “Only when we sell a company will the sale proceeds be paid back into the fund in Mauritius.”
Geldof declined to comment.
There is a lot more about the financial attractions of the island nation, a Commonwealth member, including a copy of some supporting evidence, here.
One worries that the new Minister of State at the Department for International Development, Dr Andrew Murrison, will continue his predecessor's policy of diverting development aid money into "business development" which is unlikely to help people on the ground.
Sunday, 11 August 2019
Nicholas of Cusa 555
There is a wikipedia entry for the surprisingly prescient theologian who died on this day in 1464. Given what he deduced through intellect alone, one wonders what he might achieve given today's technology.
Saturday, 10 August 2019
Friday, 9 August 2019
One-stop-shop for energy worries
Did you know that, thanks to the EU, there is a single point of contact from where you can get all the information you need about your energy rights, current legislation and how to deal effectively with any gas or electricity supplier dispute? This (energy-uk.org.uk) appears to be it, though it has not been much publicised.
There is more help and advice for UK citizens and family while we remain in the EU, laid out at https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/index_en.htm.
There is more help and advice for UK citizens and family while we remain in the EU, laid out at https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/index_en.htm.
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