Too appalling for words

Polly Toynbee gave us "just 10 of the multitudinous reasons" why another five years of Tory government must be avoided, but the omission of a number of obvious ones reveals how "terrible" the prospect really is (Here are 10 good reasons to dread five more years of May, 06/06/17). No mention of a foreign policy based on making allies of any dictatorship, regardless of the cruelty of the regime, as long as British weapons are bought; nothing, either, about the inevitable increased inequality which will result from a refusal to tax the rich fairly, and to pass legislation to decrease tax avoidance.        

  The continued exploitation of those renting their homes from greedy landlords, permitted by a Tory government not even bothered whether such properties are actually fit for habitation, could have been included (Tories reject move to ensure rented homes fit for human habitation, 12/01/16). Then there`s the fearful likelihood of five more years of a government refusing to listen to the experts, which, in terms of health, education, policing, and just about everything else, is frankly appalling.

    Toynbee didn`t mention either, five more years of having to listen to Tory rhetoric, duplicitously claiming to be the government of the workers, one which cares about the "just about managing", and  which "doesn`t work for a privileged few" (What she said and what she meant, 13/07/16). Justifiably so; it`s too appalling for words!

Tory "magic money tree"

Simon Kelner`s excellent appraisal of the election even acknowledged that some of the recent "puerile discourse" is partly the responsibility of the media (Most soul-destroying election of my life, 02/06/17). He mentioned the Tories` latest soundbite "to discredit Labour spending plans", which is frequently mentioned in the media, the "magic money tree", but then failed to add any information about another "money tree", the one funding the Tories` election campaign.

Since the election`s announcement, £9.5m has been donated to the Tories, compared to Labour`s £3.4m, and rumour has it that much of this Tory money is from people linked with tax avoidance. Some of the donors have been fined by HMRC for using tax avoidance schemes, whilst others are under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, or have companies registered in tax havens. This is clearly another of the subjects which the media has "left hanging in the air".

I don`t care if my prime minister can`t remember every single figure in the manifesto, but I most certainly do object to a PM who talks about making Britain a "country that works for everyone", but relies on donations which should be funding our schools and NHS! 

BBC anti-Corbyn bias

Well said, Richard House! (Morning Star,31/05/17) He is right to castigate the right-wing press and the Tory propaganda machine for their "character assassination campaign" aimed at Jeremy Corbyn, and absolutely correct to include the anti-Corbyn "bias shown by the BBC". When the Labour leader forgot the figures relating to the cost of the child care policy, it was headline news on both Radio 4`s "World at One" and BBC1`s "News at 10" programmes. Labour`s Barry Gardiner stressed the unfairness of this on the radio programme, pointing out that Theresa May had made a complete mess of the costing for free breakfasts for all primary schoolchildren, but that never got near the headlines. He could have mentioned, also, all the other gaffes made by Tory bigwigs - Gove and immigration figures, Hammond and the cost of HS2, Fallon`s all too frequent "mis-speaks", Boris Johnson every time he opens his mouth etc

    What Corbyn should have said was that such questioning was pointless, unless the whole point of an election campaign is to test and see which potential prime minister has the better memory! Learning figures off by heart might get you a job at the BBC, it seems, but it is not something that most of us see as essential for a politician. What is needed is someone who cares for the majority, not just the privileged few, and who is prepared to act against unfairness and inequality. In this election, it`s a no-brainer

Corbyn`s the true patriot

At least Toby Helm was prepared to admit that the election is "becoming more difficult to call day by day", contrasting strongly with Andrew Rawnsley`s refusal to do any word-swallowing (This was a "safety first" campaign for May. But as her strategy falters, will the primetime TV showdowns this week become a huge risk? 28.05.17) Whilst stating that journalists responded to May with "open mockery" after the duplicitous social policy "U-turn by Mrs Strong and Stable", Rawnsley could not bring himself to acknowledge that such derision should have been started by political commentators like himself months ago (The Supreme Leader doesn`t seem quite so invincible now, 28.05.17).

   Rather than accepting at face value the prime minister`s words on the steps of Number 10 back in July, some analysis by the likes of Rawnsley  would have seen through such deceitful rhetoric: no evidence, either in the Autumn statement nor the Budget this year, to suggest that the "just about managing" were to get help; no proof that May was serious about tackling "burning injustices", or about making Britain a "country that works for everyone". Not "entrenching the advantages of the fortunate few" is actually about as far away from the policy of extending grammar schools as you can get.

  In the last few days before balloting, Tories will almost certainly attack Corbyn for being unpatriotic, so, hopefully, your paper will remind readers that "patriotism" actually means standing up for the rights of a country`s populace. Companies and individuals who avoid paying their fair share of taxes are the unpatriotic ones, and a government that refuses to make the wealthy contribute towards the essential needs of the people, preferring to allow inequality to flourish, and to target the most vulnerable with unnecessary austerity policies, is acting unpatriotically, and is not worthy of support. In fact, Corbyn`s Labour party, working for the majority and not the privileged few, is the true patriotic party in this election.

Can`t believe a word (1)

Corbyn is absolutely correct to say that the "war on terror is simply not working", and "strong against terrorism and its causes" makes sense as a useful slogan at a time when governments like May`s and Trump`s are all too keen to suck-up to the Saudis (Morning Star, 27/05/17). The need to be honest and frank about the issues which threaten our country`s security have to be addressed, so when May retaliates by saying Corbyn "isn`t up to the job", her opponents have to be united and strong in their opposition both to her duplicity, and to her damaging rhetoric.

      The right-wing press have recently been keen to stress how May`s "interventionist instincts" long pre-date this election, and remind us how she "vowed to take on vested interests in the private sector" back in March 2013. Indeed, they repeat that on entering Number 10 she again pledged to fight "burning injustices", not to be driven by "the interests of the privileged few", nor to "entrench the advantages of the fortunate few", but to help the "just about managing". The trouble is they ignore the evidence, as you would expect.

     Had May`s government ordered an enquiry into the horrific events at Orgreave during the miners` strike, had her party written a manifesto detailing increased taxes on the rich, had she personally not promised to designate 80% of our children as failures with her grammar school policy, and had her chancellor`s autumn statement and budget actually included financial support for struggling families, there might be reasons to believe her. 600,000 children from working families about to lose their free school lunches tell a rather different story.

     Nothing has been done by May`s government to reduce tax avoidance, and there are few causes for optimism, with her husband working for a company in the City whose portfolio includes £20bn of shares in Amazon and Starbucks.

The u-turn on the manifesto`s care proposals emphasises the point that May`s "Red Toryism" has to be accompanied by a pinch of salt, and with polls finally moving in the right direction, could it be the case that the penny is finally dropping?

Can`t believe a word (3))

Rather than accepting everything the prime minister says at face value, my cynicism urges caution (The return of the state, 19th May, 2017). Your Leader mentioned how May`s "interventionist instincts long pre-date" this election, and reminded us how she "vowed to take on vested interests in the private sector" back in March 2013. Indeed, on entering Number 10 she again pledged to fight "burning injustices", not to be driven by "the interests of the privileged few", nor to "entrench the advantages of the fortunate few", but to help the "just about managing". Had May`s government ordered an enquiry into the horrific events at Orgreave during the miners` strike, had her party written a manifesto detailing increased taxes on the rich, had she personally not promised to designate 80% of our children as failures with her grammar school policy, and had her chancellor`s autumn statement and budget actually included financial support for struggling families, there would be reasons to trust her. 600,000 children from working families about to lose their free school lunches tell a rather different story.

     Nothing has been done by May`s government to reduce tax avoidance, and there are few causes for optimism, with her husband working for a company in the City whose portfolio includes £20bn of shares in Amazon and Starbucks. As for doing more to "protect existing workers` rights" than any other Tory government, she clearly is thinking of taking us back to the `70s; like May, Disraeli in the 1870s saw the political potential of wooing the "angel in the marble", and passed the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act to allow workers to picket. Seeing their real wages decline, voters then rejected Disraeli`s "one-nation" Toryism; we can only hope history does sometimes repeat itself!

Can`t believe a word (2)

A far more pertinent question than the one asked in your editorial is "How can we believe a word Theresa May says?" (Will Brexit menace progressive Mayism? 21.05.17). The so-called "Christian democratic Mayism" has been around since she made her first speech as prime minister on the steps of Number 10, though why aspects of it hadn`t been evident in her six years at the Home Office is anyone`s guess. That July speech promised a fight against "burning injustice", but no attempt of any sort has been made by her government to reduce inequality. The "just about managing" received no hint of respite in the autumn statement or budget, and your headline news that the proposed ending of free primary school lunches will effect 600,000 "young children recently defined as coming from ordinary working families" makes a mockery of May`s words (May`s schools meal plan "to hit 900,000 poor children", 21.05.17).

      Someone who pledges not to "entrench the advantages of a privileged few" is not expected days later to announce support for an extension of selective grammar schools. May was talked out of forcing businesses to include workers` representatives on their boards, and the silence on tax avoidance has been deafening! 

The u-turn this week on the manifesto`s care proposals emphasises the point that May`s "Red Toryism" has to be accompanied by a pinch of salt. The Observer editorial staff have far more faith in the prime minister`s words than is justified by the evidence.