Lefties on The Standard: UK election edition

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, December 13th, 2019 - 197 comments
Categories: activism, election 2017, Left, Politics, The Standard, uk politics - Tags: , , ,

In 2017, during the NZ election campaign, we ran a small handful of posts as dedicated discussion space for lefties. You can see the introduction and kaupapa here.

Today’s post is to create some solid left wing (and troll-free) space to talk about the UK election. It’s also fine to talk about anything that’s relevant to the left or progressives, grab whatever is of interest to you today and bring it to the conversation.

The rules are:

– To comment you have to be left wing.

– No personal attacks at all  (not even if they are hidden in comments with good political points)

– Be kind. If you can’t be kind at least don’t be mean.

– Bear in mind the part of the Policy about not using language or tone that excludes others.

The usual Policy rules around robust debate still apply to other posts. If you’re not sure if you fit the criteria for this post, there is always Open Mike.

Voting in the UK closes 11am Friday NZT and Exit Polls will be released at that time. Election results are expected around 3am Friday NZT.

The BBC has a page on how the results will be reported and explanations of how a government might be formed.

How does a party win?

By winning more seats in the House of Commons than all the other parties put together. If a party does that, it has what is known as a majority. There are 650 seats available, which means 326 seats are needed to win an overall majority.

However, an effective majority could be smaller as Sinn Fein, which won seven seats in Northern Ireland in 2017, traditionally refuses to swear allegiance to the Queen and, as a consequence, is not entitled to vote.

So in 2017, 650 minus Sinn Fein’s seven would be 643 voting MPs, and 322 would have been enough to command a majority. But obviously that figure changes depending on how many non-voting MPs there are.

BBC Breaking twitter

BBC Politic twitter

Alt media Novara Media‘s livestream on youtube

BBC live coverage options

Al Jazeera twitter

Let me know if you are following media with particularly good analysis or takes and I’ll add to the list.

197 comments on “Lefties on The Standard: UK election edition ”

  1. millsy 1

    Still predicting a relatively comfortable Tory win, even though the polls have tightened.

  2. mickysavage 2

    Anarchist Alan Moore has decided to vote Labour …

    https://twitter.com/neilhimself/status/1205046646997946368

    And former UK Conservative PM John Major has publicly urged people not to vote for Johnson while Tommy Robinson has come out in support of him.

    https://twitter.com/AlixWiltonRegan/status/1205114632903499776

  3. bernard 3

    TBH i don’t understand UK politics.

    my logical brain say Labour should be able to get a coalition gov like here but in those very illogical, populist, one liner days who knows.

    • Sacha 3.1

      You only get to form a coalition under FPP if you get the most votes. Unlikely.

      • weka 3.1.1

        don't you still need the agreement of other parties? Otherwise you will lose votes on legislation.

      • Ed1 3.1.2

        That would be the most electorate seats. A party that wins seats by small margins may get more seats than a party that wins fewer seats but with large margins. That has happened in New Zealand before MMP.

  4. Pierre 4

    The Grauniad have a live-blog running. I'm going out with comrades, and might stay out to watch the exit poll announcement.

    The main thing is that, if Labour wins, we'll have to fight to get the manifesto implemented and hold up the labour movement as the party 'moves into the state'. If Labour loses, we'll have to fight to defend the movement from unrestrained attacks by the oligarchs and the large corporations. I'm in one of the Labour heartlands and there's definitely a mood of defiance, people talking about politics in the street, queues outside polling stations…

    Avanti Popolo!

    • Pierre 4.1

      Also, here's one for the Corbyn victory party playlist. Any other suggestions?

    • weka 4.2

      are people talking about electoral reform much? It's extraordinary watching this from NZ and remembering how problematic FPP is.

      • Pierre 4.2.1

        The arguments over electoral reform were fought (and lost) back in 2011, and it reoccurs from time to time, but in terms of big constitutional changes, electoral reform definitely got overtaken by Brexit and Scottish independence. It might come up again given the parliamentary numbers we're facing now…

        Some people believe Labour could have fought this on an unambiguously pro-Brexit platform, and totally swept the rug out from under the Tories. Instead the line was more nuanced, and I guess voters didn't get that.

        Good night you lovely people, keep the red flag flying.

    • mickysavage 4.3

      Thanks Pierre

      Trust you are well.

      • Pierre 4.3.1

        Thanks Micky,

        Not too happy about the way my country seems to be going but otherwise I'm doing well. Hope things are going better down in Auckland 🙁

  5. millsy 5

    Exit polls results are out at 11am our time. We will know then if it is tears or cheers. If everything is as expected, Corbyn will probably announce his resignation after lunch.

  6. Sanctuary 6

    If Corbyn wins a narrow majority, then sooner rather than later the Labour right will walk out & join the Lib-Dems to form a government with the Tories rather than implement their own manifesto.

    They'll say it is about "stability" and keeping Corbyn and his "far-left" agenda from power, but really it will be just be another demonstration of how unreformed, and unreformable, Britain's decrepit institutions and decadent elites now are.

    • weka 6.1

      do Labour neolibs want Brexit then? Do their voters?

      • Sanctuary 6.1.1

        They'll take Brexit over Corbyn, everytime.

        BTW I see AOC is saying vote Labour!

        • weka 6.1.1.1

          Go AOC.

          Neolib Labour voters would take Brexit over Corbyn? In that case Labour wouldn't win this time.

          • Stuart Munro. 6.1.1.1.1

            On the AOC front, she's just floated an interesting comparison on parental leave you might like (sorry can't link from this horrid phone).

    • Bill 6.2

      'cough' You think the 50 odd SNP members of Parliament would just sit back and go with a Lib/Dem "tail wagging the dog" arrangement?

  7. weka 7

    this is good news. Not sure why the Brits allow reporting on exit polls before voting has closed though.

    https://twitter.com/ljayes/status/1205205524352045056

    • Bill 7.1

      The BBC (through its political editor Laura Kuenssberg ) broadcast information on live TV about the postal votes that it said it had received "from sources". Yes. It's against the law. And yes. The BBC denied any wrongdoing.

      The Guardian (and others) then amplified the message in their reporting of her breaking the law. (Here's the link to the Guardian article)

      What do you call a preemptive coup? Because the wide and deep campaign that's been waged against Corbyn across media and by security state types (30 odd smears originating from within the intelligence community) suggests that we might be seeing the results of a successful one today.

      Or then again, maybe the billionaires and state security types get to go fuck themselves today 🙂

      • Anne 7.1.1

        You know what it's called. Mass hysteria. These so-called elites remind me of a pack of baying wolves egging each other on to the point where they don't know why they are baying.

        How many of them actually sit down and listen to what Corbyn is saying? None of them – obviously. He's very intelligent, well educated and well read. Is that why they're scared of him? They think he will show them up and they might lose their control and power?

        Corbyn reminds me a bit of an updated English version of Norman Kirk and I haven't forgotten the lengths the establishment went to – both in NZ and from offshore – in order to try to dislocate and discredit him.

        • Bill 7.1.1.1

          Yup. It's precisely about them losing their influence. This election is about a possible paradigm shift. And those seeking to maintain the status quo will do anything within their power to prevent progress.

          Unlike the last US election where nothing was going to change, this one is a watershed moment. Same for the next US election if Sanders is one of the Presidential contenders.

          And obviously, if this one breaks as hoped, it provides a massive boost for any Sanders Presidential bid.

      • Cinny 7.1.2

        What interests me most about the UK election is how much the media have manipulated the public. And how much bearing that will have on the result.

        After reading your comment Bill, I'm like dang, they just don't stop. Cheers for the insight.

    • ScottGN 7.2

      I wouldn’t trust any of this last minute stuff or the ‘tightening’ polls or any of it.

  8. pat 8


    Steven Swinford✔@Steven_Swinford

    Replying to @Steven_Swinford

    There is a World tonight in which we get an extraordinary political realignment – London turning red, swathes of the Red Wall turning blue – but still end up with a hung Parliament

    Everything has changed, nothing has changed

    10

    9:40 AM – Dec 13, 2019

    Twitter Ads info and privacy

    • Sanctuary 8.1

      The red wall is a nonsense term dreamed up recently by the Tory press – a lot of Labour seats in the noorth have been marginal for a long time, part of a slow erosion caused by poverty induced political nihilism.

      • pat 8.1.1

        the tweet is a nonsense…theres no way of knowing how the vote is split in any electorate until counting begins although the exit polls may give a lead…its speculation, mischief making or an attempt to encourage last minute vote

  9. mosa 9

    This from Tony Benn U.K Labour stalwart

    "If you look at our manifesto [of 1945], it was very clear. It said the interwar [economic] slumps were not acts of god or a result of strange forces. It was the direct result of too much economic power in the hands of too few men who behaved like a totalitarian oligarchy in the heart of our democratic state. They had and they felt no responsibility to the nation"

    https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2019/12/12/video-labour-legend-tony-benn-that-captures-the-spirit-we-all-need-to-have-right-now

    • greywarshark 9.1

      A few points of light from the just showing up in the dark molasses of neolib. Thanks Tony Benn and John Major amongst others no doubt.

  10. Bill 10

    I guess the left leaning crew at Novaramedia might be offering worthwhile running commentary for anyone interested.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3RQWEziIKw

    • greywarshark 10.1

      Watching Novaramedia. Lovely young Labour supporter says on hearing another electorate go to Conservates 17,000 Labour 16,000 e&oe says she is 'incandescentally angry' and the lies, corruption will go on and 135,000 homeless children will be needy this Christmas and others looking for sustenance in rubbish bins, or similar.

      Very impressive, but she noted that for 40 years Labour supporters have kept going trying to get a better way in the UK and stresses it is a long battle and they just have to keep on at it. Very sad. I wish her and her compatriots well.

  11. mickysavage 11

    Rage against the machine is supporting a former Tory Minister. Amazing …

    https://twitter.com/DavidGauke/status/1205176724843106304

  12. pat 12

    oh dear

    d here are the full exit poll results.

    Conservatives: 368

    Labour: 191

    SNP: 55

    Liberal Democrats: 13

    Plaid Cymru: 3

    Greens: 1

    Brexit party: 0

    Others: 22

  13. weka 13

    Novara Media woman is talking about the problems of having to rely on the Daily Mail to get across the leftwing case or the stories that matter like the NHS crisis.

    Also saying that the exit polls report seats not total vote.

    • greywarshark 13.1

      FPP change needed. It sets rock hard, can't be softened and worked with, and now destructive I think. MMP gives a clearer picture and shows where the fabric of civil society is wearing thin with a chance to do something to better that and make change. It is a mistake to say as some do, that First Past the Post is straightforward and MMP is too hard to understand. I suggest that FPP is only simple looking down on voter's day, there is all sorts of chicanery going on behind the scenes with FPP that are not at all simple.

  14. UncookedSelachimorpha 14

    Looks really bad!

    I hope Labour sticks to a strongly progressive agenda, and doesn't return to its neoliberal / Blairite ways. Might take a few election cycles before people give a progressive party a go – best to keep working towards that, than simply returning to Tory-Lite.

    Weird that public support for individual Labour policies is strong – but they can't get enough people to vote for the party. I suppose the party is the target of the media smear campaign, while the individual policies are not.

  15. Adrian Thornton 16

    I am not really sure why anyone who has been following UK politics is at all surprised at a poor result from Labour, Corbyn has been absolutely and well and truly fucked over by all MSM, and most damagingly by so called 'liberal media' who, as I harp on about here all the time, have shown that they are more closely aligned ideologically to the Tories and Boris than they are to a progressive Left project…at this point in this very real battle for the future of our planet, and a more fair and equal society for all citizens, they are our No,1 enemy.

    • Alan 16.1

      um, are you sure about that, do you not think it may have something to do with his policies?

      • Siobhan 16.1.1

        Funnily the media has very little to say/criticise about Labours policies..its all about Corbyn being racist and anti semitic.

        The thing we forget is most people don't particularly follow politics in any detail, they simply hear and read the headlines..and that has been a tsunami of anti semitism and racism accusations..and thats just from the 'liberal' media..let alone the hardcore vitriol from the likes of the Daily Mail.

        But who knows..maybe the British public like the sound of Johnsons policies..in which case I wish them well. ..at least I certainly hope they don’t intend getting sick or poor anytime soon..

      • Adrian Thornton 16.1.2

        That is my exact point…if the media had relentlessly attacked Labour on it's policies rather than it's obsessive ad hominem attacks on Corbyn, or spinning that bullshit anti semitism troup, then we might have seen if Labour's policies had any public buy in, but now we will never know because that didn't happen.

      • UncookedSelachimorpha 16.1.3

        There are stats available on UK Labour policies – they are generally very popular.

        e.g. http://statsforlefties.blogspot.com/

        Baseless but loud and incessant ad hominem attacks is the real problem Labour has.

  16. Sanctuary 17

    If the exit polls are correct, then this is a really ominous result for Jacinda and her administration of merry and complacent elite politics managerialists.

    It looks like the centre has collapsed in the UK, USA etc and that has largely been to the benefit of the far right.

    NZ Labour continuing to cling to neoliberal centre will eventually lead to it's destruction.

    • weka 17.1

      all the more reason for lefties to actively support the Greens, who are trying to move us out of the neoliberal centre.

      However, I don't think NZ is yet analogous to the UK or the US in terms of break down of society and how that impacts on voting. We can't be complacent and next year will most likely be close (with the added complication of the US election at the same time), but it will be more straight forward than either the US or the UK elections.

      • Phil 17.1.1

        However, I don't think NZ is yet analogous to the UK or the US in terms of break down of society and how that impacts on voting.

        I think this is spot on from a *policy* perspective, but i'm sure all the parties will draw some very important lessons from the nature of the campaign… as they should have done from the US, Canada, etc.

      • Sanctuary 17.1.2

        The Greens are not a party that command mass support.

        • RedLogix 17.1.2.1

          So why insist that Labour would do better to move even further left than Corbyn has already taken them?

          How well has that worked out, and why do you want to double down on a strategy that has been a total failure?

        • weka 17.1.2.2

          "The Greens are not a party that command mass support"

          That's right. NZ doesn't want to move left at the moment. What puzzles me is why so many lefties don't work with the Greens to change that.

          • Ad 17.1.2.2.1

            We're in government together. It's as unified as you can get.

            • weka 17.1.2.2.1.1

              We're govt together with a somewhat regressive NZF, so I think there is room for improvement. But I wasn't speaking of cetnre lefties like yourself Ad, who are relatively ok with the status quo. I was referring to the trad lefties who complain that NZ won't adopt more socialist policies, but they won't actively support the party in parliament with the most socialist policies. Even if the Greens aren't a good cultural fit, a stronger Green Party will pull Labour left and the trad lefties can go home again.

              • Ad

                The hard left saddos you describe are dying off and only appear here on TS for the occasional ideological burp.

                And occasionally at protests like Ihumatao and in socialist youth gatherings numbering no more than two hands.

                They're gone.

                As for the Greens, if they can't get a better result than last time after pretty much delivering everything they said they would, then they should just accept 5% as their fate.

                • weka

                  Sounds more like wishful thinking on your part Ad.

                  • Ad

                    Your entire post is wishful thinking in the face of political annihilation.

                    Tomorrow is where that stops for UKLabour.

                • Stuart Munro.

                  Until the neoliberal engine stops impoverishing and dehousing people, you'll find people radicalising as fast as your policies kill them off. Maybe faster.

            • Sacha 17.1.2.2.1.2

              We're in government together. It's as unified as you can get.

              Confidence and supply is not the closest. Winston vetoed that.

          • KJT 17.1.2.2.2

            Funny how, when questioned on policies. New Zealanders are well to the left of the Greens.

            Another reason to have voting on policies, rather than which of our rotating dictatorship, we have to put up with for the next three years.

            The sad fact is, as we have seen in the UK, the campaign against a truly left Government will be dishonest, unrelenting and, using advertising propaganda research, successful!

    • Peter 17.2

      What? "Elite politics managerialists?" That's going to see rid of Ardern?

      What about the serious issues which affect people here, which affect the way they see things? Which makes them vote for someone or not?

      You know like some kerfuffle about a Czech immigrant, the heinous crimes of Kris Faafoi and Clare Curran and whether there's a motorway Invercargill to North Cape and rapid rail in Auckland?

      In New Zealand it ain't a great intellectual debate amongst the masses about political systems and nuances.

      • Sanctuary 17.2.1

        Holding hands are talking about inclusiveness and stardust and hope and young people and preaching steady as she goes will fail in the face of relentless right wing social media fake news backed up by a dysfunctional MSM.

        The left needs to get real about the threat, and great real about the sort of structural changes required to make sure we have a chance.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 17.3

      " NZ Labour continuing to cling to neoliberal centre will eventually lead to it's destruction. "

      Destruction as a party that achieves anything worthwhile – but at the same time it could actually help them hold on to power (because they will not be so vigorously opposed by the rich and powerful), while they continue to implement policies that send the country down the neoliberal gurgler.

  17. Siobhan 18

    They'll be popping open the champagne at the Guardian.

  18. Ad 19

    A bit sad.

    Too early for postmorterms.

  19. ScottGN 20

    The exit poll seems to be suggesting that the SNP is going to take 12 of the 13 Tory seats in Scotland? Which means that Labour has been totally smashed in England if Boris is to get his predicted majority.

    • greywarshark 20.1

      Looking at bar graphs etc all coloured, it brings out the toddler in me. This Telegraph live election counter is nice, at its early stage with few electorates it shows Labour way ahead. Catch it now while the design looks so positive, I understand it will change soon, follow the red blood line.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSs-bbuo96w

      I hope this is not too much for the site to handle weka.
      I would take it off if it was.

      • greywarshark 20.1.1

        In the above link info from further link, listed under UK Parties is UKIP but I don't see SNP, which as Scotland is in the UK should be there surely?

        • greywarshark 20.1.1.1

          Probably wasn't looking closely, too excited – not!

          • greywarshark 20.1.1.1.1

            4pm NZ / 4.16 pm

            Conservatives Seats 92 117

            Labour 77 91

            SNP 15

            Sinn Fein 4

            Voter Count Greens only 2+%

            41 Con

            36 Labour

            9 Lib Dem

  20. Sanctuary 21

    "…Which means that Labour has been totally smashed in England…"

    In the 1998 Movie Mississippi Burning I recall this conversation between Anderson (Gene Hackman) and Ward (Willem Dafoe)

    Anderson : Where does it come from? All this hatred?

    Anderson : You know, when I was a little boy, there was an old negro farmer that lived down the road from us, name of Monroe. And he was… well, I guess he was just a little luckier than my daddy was. He bought himself a mule. That was a big deal around that town. My daddy hated that mule, 'cause his friends were always kidding him that they saw Monroe out plowing with his new mule, and Monroe was going to rent another field now he had a mule. One morning, that mule showed up dead. They poisoned the water. After that, there wasn't any mention about that mule around my daddy. It just never came up. One time, we were driving down that road, and we passed Monroe's place and we saw it was empty. He just packed up and left, I guess, he must of went up north or something. I looked over at my daddy's face. I knew he done it. He saw that I knew. He was ashamed. I guess he *was* ashamed. He looked at me and said, "If you ain't better than a nigger, son, who are you better than?"

    Ward : You think that's an excuse?

    Anderson : No it's not an excuse. It's just a story about my daddy.

    Ward : Where's that leave you?

    Anderson : My old man was just so full of hate that he didn't know that bein' poor was what was killin' him.

    The English in the forgotten North are so full of resentment and hate and dispair that they don't know that being poor is what is killing them.

    • greywarshark 21.1

      Sanctuary – You used the term ‘political nihilism’ earlier – read yesterday 'sullen resentment' – all that is as a result of the neolibs and irresponsible free market fleas sucking all that is good out of society if they can make a profit from it.

      This leads to destabilisation of civil society and its breakdown, maybe temporary, but the GFC type patch is a band-aid covering a dirty wound and that will produce heat and fever eventually.
      .
      The situation could be improved but politicians have high levels of tolerance for their drugs of choice, mental or manufactured, and if they can avoid touching or treading actual soil, they can float freely in their reinforced bubbles seemingly for ever.

      • Sanctuary 21.1.1

        It is made worse though by the new phenomena of targeted social media ads that are designed to inflame division and prejudice to the electoral advantage of the right.

        • Peter 21.1.1.1

          … and that is coming to a country near and dear to our hearts too …

          • Sanctuary 21.1.1.2.1

            They ran Key's 2017 campaign and failed. One bright sport for Labour is Jacinda is an absolute ace card on social media.

            • pat 21.1.1.2.1.1

              didnt know that…but did know they worked on Morrisons in Oz….they are learning on the job

              • Sanctuary

                I hope Labour has employed their own Cambridge Analytica types to prime populist anger against the right.

                Fuck the ethics of that, we need to win.

        • SPC 21.1.1.3

          It's just the political arm, enabled by Big Data, of the old FBI tactic of infiltrating left wing groups and fomenting division (divide and conquer) within.

          • Anne 21.1.1.3.1

            …infiltrating left wing groups and fomenting division (divide and conquer) within.

            Yes. It happened in Australia and NZ in the 1970s. The only difference is they were more up-front about it in Australia – the sacking of the prime minister and his government in 1975 on spurious grounds. In NZ they adopted a more stealthy approach but the end result was the same – the destruction of the Kirk/ Rowling government. Example:

            It was no coincidence that the dancing Cossacks advertisement during the 1975 NZ election was created by an American outfit, Hanna Barbera. A taste of what was to come but we didn't know it then.

        • SHG 21.1.1.4

          It is made worse though by the new phenomena of targeted social media ads that are designed to inflame division and prejudice to the electoral advantage of the right

          It’s not ads. Social media networks themselves are designed to inflame division and prejudice to the electoral advantage of the right.

          Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube… all of them. Designed to inflame division and prejudice to the electoral advantage of the right. While they are ascendant the progressive inclusive left is pushing shit uphill.

    • Rosemary McDonald 21.2

      FWIW Sanctuary, I got talking to a couple of near retiree travellers from The Netherlands the other day and of course politics came up.

      Mr Holland was 'left' by his own description (including the "' '") and despaired of any truly Left government being elected in either Europe or the UK.

      Why?

      Purely because younger voters have never known what it is like to have a truly Left government. Ever. In their lifetime.

      How we turn this massive freighter around I have no idea.

  21. SPC 22

    It seems the Tories are wining seats in the north of England, where traditional Labour voters who support Brexit are either not voting, or going for the Brexit Party.

    Labour will do better in the pro Remain south, former PM John Major supports tactical voting against his old party.

    The fate of the Labour Party will now be determined by the make up of those who remain in their caucus. Corbyn will resign (the remnant of the Wilson (our Kirk) era), the struggle will be whether someone on the left supported by Momentum or a return to the LD cyborg leadership.

    • SPC 22.1

      Given the nature of the result, Labour losing ground in the English north – it is clear the major change from 2017 is Brexit is more of a factor in getting the party vote out. Yet it is the Blairite faction in the Labour caucus that is pro Remain, not Corbyn.

      It seems this deeply untrustworthy bunch of bastards are going to use working class opposition in the north to their pro Remain position to try and win back control of the party.

      Which is sad, because after Brexit the working class of the UK is going to need a champion more than ever. And the Blairites have never been that.

  22. BUGGER!!!

    Can I be melodramatic and suggest this is the end of the world?

    Why? Because Boris and the Conservatives will do f-all about Climate Change until it bites them on the bum. And by then, it'll be too late.

    • weka 23.1

      Be melodramatic and get it out of your system.

      Neoliberals on both sides of the spectrum won't do what is needed re CC. Maybe there's some hope that if the British economy slumps then GHGs will drop, but the social cost is going to be grim. The other hope might be that this is the final impetus for grass roots political movements to organise and work together.

  23. SHG 24

    This election was all over two weeks ago. The Tories were obviously going to win.

  24. mikesh 25

    From the early results it looks as though the Brexit party, without winning any seats, have been eating into the Labour vote. It may well be that the election was all about 'brexit' and that Labour's stance on that issue was too vacillating.

  25. Cinny 26

    I just found out that those in the commonwealth can also vote, did we miss an opportunity?

    https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/register-vote-and-update-your-details#commonwealth

  26. observer 27

    Drawing conclusions for NZ is frankly pointless (MMP changes everything).

    There is now a vast gulf between Scotland and England, between London and northern England, etc. That's reinforced and exaggerated by FPP.

    Poli-geeks like us might view everything in terms of left and right but actually "We've had enough" is a major driver of voter behaviour. Traditionally, "we've had enough" is about a long-lasting government. This time, it's Brexit.

    There will never be another Brexit election in the UK (there might not even be a UK). So simple lessons "for next time" don't apply.

    • pat 27.1

      a lot to agree with there

    • Phil 27.2

      Traditionally, "we've had enough" is about a long-lasting government. This time, it's Brexit.

      We've had enough, so we're going to vote for… the party that has been in power the whole time this shit show has been going on. (???)

      I feel like your diagnosis is lacking somewhat.

      • observer 27.2.1

        Because the reframing by Johnson/Cummings & co was successful. Mendacious, but effective.

        He ran against "the party that has been in power". As in … Parliament. Obstructive Tories. May's ministers who had to be chucked out. Judges. Shadowy "elites".

        The slogan "get Brexit done" absolved Johnson himself (who had previously voted against May's deal). Everyone else was blocking the People's Brexit, and only Bold Boris could deliver.

        (He won't, but that's a story for next year).

  27. Ad 28

    Corbyn offers resignation.

    • ScottGN 28.1

      He just said he won’t be leading Labour into the next election which will be 5 years away if the Tory majority comes through tonight.

      • Ad 28.1.1

        Whatevs.

        Worst result since 1935.

        He should hand his parliamentary salary back.

        • ScottGN 28.1.1.1

          I agree with you. I’m just saying he hadn’t actually resigned. Be interesting to see how quickly the party moves to replace him. UK Labour is in a real mess. Their Red Wall from Clywd to Yorkshire has been well and truly breached. Scotland is a wreck.

          • Ad 28.1.1.1.1

            Maybe they need fresh thinking like rebranding as "New Labour".

            Or something else that hasn't been done already.

            • Pierre 28.1.1.1.1.1

              A return to right-wing social democracy and a reversal of the leftward trend in the party would not be a good outcome. Nobody wants reheated 90s neoliberalism, and this defeat should not be allowed to damage the movement.

              • Ad

                A defeat this size really has damaged the movement.

                Imagining otherwise is kinda like those Roadrunner cartoons where Wylie Coyote runs off the bend of a cliff but he blinks and takes a few moments before gravity takes over and he goes "waawahhoey" all the way to the ground and lands, unspectacularly, in a small cloud of dust.

              • Andre

                Where does that leave those Brits that prefer a tiny bit of progress or even just stopping the regression to glorious defeat and a reactionary right-wing empowered to do whatever they want?

  28. ScottGN 29

    Lib Dems leader Swinson has just lost to SNP in Dunbartonshire East.

  29. ScottGN 30

    Lib Dems night is just as bad as Labours

  30. mauÄŤ 31

    Wonderful result for George Galloway in West Brom almost getting 500 votes!

    https://twitter.com/simonphippss/status/1205327040217567233

  31. lprent 32

    Watching the election results roll in here in the UK what is clear to me is that the election system here is broken.

    Turnout is looks like it is down – probably about 66%. Or just a tad above the last Blair election at 58%. People are voting against the political system with their feet.

    Tories aren't getting people to vote for them. It looks like a 4% swing towards them at best. To get that they got a lot of tactical votes – the Brexit and UKIP party died. They got English support and some places in Wales. They have little support in Scotland, and their allies in Northern Ireland had a bad defeat.

    The Scottish indoendence issue isn't going away. It is going to get worse. "Illegal" referendum for Scottish independence seems likely.

    But even with the influx of English Brexit votes in the the towns the Conservatives barely gained any percentage support. Not an endorsement. More of a failure of a democratic system.

    I would expect that post Brexit, there are going to be calls to change the electoral systems.

    • pat 32.1

      "I would expect that post Brexit, there are going to be calls to change the electoral systems."

      Very likely though the callers wont be able to point to this result as reason…with votes still to be counted Tories have 3 million more than Labour

    • RedLogix 32.2

      That's lame. When voters are faced with a choice between two candidates they both dislike, it's not surprising turnout is low.

      Corbyn failed to inspire trust and confidence. It's true he was dealt terrible cards, faced with a choice of pissing off either Labour's Brexit or Remain supporters, he managed to lose both. Plus the endless underming from his own Party. Fundamentally he is a decent man caught in an indecent world. Personally I feel sad for him.

      But in very uncertain times people vote to minimise their short term risk, and Corbyn failed to project the certainty over Brexit that Johnson did in spades. As a result it was the left leaning voters who stayed home that delivered this disaster.

      • lprent 32.2.1

        I don't think that I even mentioned Labour.

        The problem for Labour is that they were ambiguous about the issues that were big regional issues. Brexit through upper England, Scotland (including indendence), Wales, and Northern Ireland.

        But their keynote issues sounded like they were for an economy that hasn't really existed since the 90s through much of the country. Some were pretty good. But were basically not what this election was about.

        The conservatives will have real problems when the Brexit keynote disappears because their other policies look just as tired.

        Both major parties have the same basic problem.

        • lprent 32.2.1.1

          The UK has a pretty massive debt.

          Neither of the major parties seem to have a way out of that. Leaving the EU isn't going to help that.

        • Sacha 32.2.1.2

          The tories will take this chance to blitzkrieg their economy just like the Rogergnomes did to ours in 1984-1988. Bye bye NHS and anything else of value not tied down. By the time the provinces realise what they have enabled it will be too late. So much for a feeling of 'certainty'.

          • lprent 32.2.1.2.1

            I don't think so. The very first thing that Johnson said was effectively that austerity was over.

            The reason is obvious. If you start to win previously Labour (some for a century) seats that were heavily impacted by austerity, and you want to win the next election (ie the 4th one in a row – over more than a decade), then you can't piss off those voters when you don't have a brexit issue to drive them.

            It isn't like voters in those 'leave' seats voted for the Tories. It was more that in most cases they voted for brexit and against an ambiguous Labour party.

            • Sacha 32.2.1.2.1.1

              I sure hope you are right and that they can resist the multinational corporates slavering over the spoils. Debt as a motivator, as you say.

            • Dennis Frank 32.2.1.2.1.2

              they voted for brexit and against an ambiguous Labour party

              Yeah. Labour's ambiguity may have seemed clever nuancing to an insider, and I suspect their leader endorsed it as suitable realpolitik, but voters wanted a more decisive option.

              I'm intrigued that Boris didn't campaign on the slogan Make Britain Great Again. But the swing to the Scottish nationalists proves that the GB pig ain't never gonna fly again…

    • weka 32.3

      so weird watching FPP. I mean, what is everything thinking if the left vote is split between so many parties under FFP?

      Overall Brexit vote might be down but it seems to have done some damage in key Labour seats.

    • Anne 32.4

      In a nutshell, what you are saying lprent is that the electoral system in Britain is a shambles.

      Watching it all unfold over the past couple of years from the other side of the world you do have to wonder whether the Brits have misplaced their once famous sanity. It seems to me they're blaming the wrong people for their woes. After all, it is not Corbyn and friends who are the guilty parties but rather the very people a majority of them have chosen to vote back into government. Strange logic.

    • halfcrown 32.5

      Well said

    • Ad 32.6

      That's as silly as Bil yesterday whining about the "missing millions" who weren't available to be polled.

      Looks like the "missing millions" turned up and voted Conservative.

      They voted against Corbyn, against Labour policies, and for hard Brexit by the (missing) millions.

      If all Labour does is call out that the system was rigged so change the system, they deserve to go the way of the Dodo.

      • Andre 32.6.1

        Dunno about missing millions turning up to vote.

        In 2017 the Cons got 13.6 million votes, 2019 it'll be around 13.9 million

        In 2017 Labour got 12.9 million votes, in 2019 it'll be around 10.3 million

        In 2017 the SNP got just under 1 million, in 2019 it'll be around 1.3 million

        In 2017 the Lib Dems got 2.4 million, in 2019 it'll be around 3.6 million.

        Looks more like around 1.5 million 2017 Labour voters went to SNP and LD, and another million didn't bother this time.

        https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2019/dec/12/uk-general-election-2019-full-results-live-labour-conservatives-tories

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_United_Kingdom_general_election

        • lprent 32.6.1.1

          That fits into what I was seeing on the UK TV over the last week and a half. Most people still voted. But there was a group that when interviewed simply said that they weren't voting.

          Also ran across some people who said exactly the same thing.

          I don't think that there was that much direct transfer from Labour to Conservatives. If there was, then there'd have been a whole lot more vote for the Tories.

          I think that there was a lot of transfer from Labour to other parties – especially in Scotland. I think that quite a few people simply didn't vote for Labour. Due to Labours ambiguities or due to the stinking weather.

          But due to a FPP environment that caused a electorally lethal drop in support to allow a second party like the Tories or SNP to capture a seat.

  32. UncookedSelachimorpha 33

    Looking at the underlying total vote share (with 614 of 650 results declared right now)

    Labour + Greens + SNP = 39.3% (could consider this the vote for fairly Progressive parties)

    Adding the Lib Dems gives 39.3 + 11.1 = 50.4%

    So the idea that Tory nastiness dominates the UK public attitude, isn't completely true – there is hope for underlying public sentiment, and no need to rush towards Blairite realpolitik in UK Labour I hope.

    And FPP is fairly shit I reckon!

  33. Jum 34

    When dirty politics, populist politics, the politics of greed win, nobody does. Whatever UK Labour becomes after shafting Corbyn, they should change their name. They're shapeshifters.

    I will judge the UK by what happens to their people’s assets, namely the health system. It’s run down, perfect to complete selling off, just like NZ’s health system has been allowed to decay; perfect for privatisation. Thanks to the interruption by Ardern and Peters, that’s taken a back seat – so far.

    A good lesson for Labour in NZ is shown in this UK election.

    In New Zealand, the conservative right have control of the media, the money, business, and the art of lying.

    Example: Seriously, would The Nation have featured vignettes of all MPs' back stories or the 5 minute rant by national mps if nats were still in govt. No Labour MP would have a shit show of any air time from that media.

    At this time there is the possibility that national will get back in because of Kiwi apathy, greed, yet another tsunami of political programmes fronted by nat stooges over the next six months lying about Labour, lying to New Zealanders, misrepresenting what Labour MPs say, setting up Labour MPs who still don't understand just how vicious the nats and their driven backers really are and the underlying hatred of women leaders.

    If I was Ardern, I'd take the opportunity to push through my vision for all New Zealanders, before it's taken away. She may have faith in New Zealanders to have the back of fellow Kiwis when it involves greed; I don't. That includes ensuring the future sovereignty of our water supply against corporate takeover – here or by foreigners.

    Egalitarianism is dead in UK. NZ will also probably rest in un-peace if nats get back in here.

    • Ad 34.1

      What horseshit.

      Pop down to your local supermarket for more wall to wall Ardern covers.

      Ardern could stand on the peak of White Island declaiming "All shall love me and despair", and the media would think, nod sagely, and go "Yup that's about right."

      In fact here’s Ardern this evening with fresh footage straight out of White Island:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OVYatF4sFM

      • Jum 34.1.1

        Ad – you are talking horseshit. When you attack me so forcefully I know that I am correct and you are hyperventilating. Get a paper bag.

  34. ScottGN 35

    Perhaps the biggest worry now for the UK is whether or not the Hard Brexiteers in the Conservative Party are emboldened enough by this result to start flexing their muscle?

    • Andre 35.1

      It's now awfully hard to argue that they don't have a strong mandate to do exactly that.

    • Ad 35.2

      Boris has the clear majority now to get out fast. He's promised 31 January and he can now put through any legislation he wants.

      The only slight unreality will be whether he can agree new trade deal with the EU inside of a year. That's the bit that now sounds ambitious.

      Boris has cleared the Parliamentary impediments away – which was his stated goal for the snap election in the first place.

      • Jum 35.2.1

        Ad 35.2 13 December 2019 at 6:59 pm 'Boris has the clear majority now to get out fast. He's promised 31 January and he can now put through any legislation he wants.'

        Yep, any legislation he wants – sell, sell, sell. And now he'll be after NZ to sell, sell, sell.

        Ad – your credibility is shot. Use the paper bag – now.

  35. observer 36

    Here's the story of post-industrial Northern England in one constituency:

    Bolsover

    See the percentages change over time. Dennis Skinner has been there forever, in an impregnable Labour fortress, and now he's gone – like the mines, the jobs, and the hope.

    No point trying to sugar-coat this result, Labour heartlands that loathed Thatcher even when she won landslides, have gone to the Tories now. You can't replace those with a handful of university towns.

    UK Labour have a lot of soul-searching to do.

    • DS 36.1

      Yep. Labour's lost its heartlands.

      But here's the funny thing – it gained well-off places like Putney, and increased its majority in Canterbury, a place that hated voted Tory for 180 years until 2017. Labour gained the middle-class, and lost the working class.

      • pat 36.1.1

        or the Tories lost enough remainers (temporarily) who held there noses …likely as temporary as the Red norths support.

        The reality is for an increasingly large segment of the electorate there is no expectation of representation from either party …this was referendum 2.0

  36. Jum 37

    Perhaps I was not totally correct about egalitarianism in NZ, and it involves a supermarket checkout operator, Ad:

    https://www.msn.com/en-nz/lifestyle/life/supermarket-samaritans-heartwarming-act-of-xmas-generosity/ar-AAK4sXV?li=BBqdg4K&ocid=SK2MDHP

  37. greywarshark 38

    Some lighter moments in the Commons under the jester's rule as allowed by John Bercow trying to defuse the often heated debate.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_Zh9KSVrFg&feature=emb_rel_pause

  38. Jum 39

    And the biggest lesson? A giant cockup:

    • The UK Billionaires who funded Brexit have won their plutocracy.

    To fully appreciate the scale of manipulation here, one has to appreciate why British Billionaires backed Brexit.

    The only real threat to the power of the 1% within Britain was EU regulation to force transparency and close tax havens, thus the 1% wanted to get Britain out of the EU so that their influence and power wouldn’t be challenged, that’s why they stumped up for the Brexit campaign using Boris and Farage as front people while exploiting Cambridge Analytica’s ability to target angry white working men who had been left behind by globalisation.

    Manipulating working class resentment into making a decision like Brexit to ensure the power of the 1% is as Machiavellian as it gets. Boris has played the exact same trick Trump did which shouldn’t surprise anyone because the same social media mining company plotted both strategies.

    National are currently playing the same game.

    Brexit is a blindsiding of Westminster Democracy for a neoliberal plutocracy hell bent on taking power no matter what the price. Dark days are ahead for Britain under neoliberal Boris and Labour’s impending implosion into sectarian fighting will ensure two terms.

  39. millsy 40

    Corbyn really fucked up big time. Not only did he fuck his party, but he fucked the chances of anything remotely left wing happening around the world. You think the Democrats in the US aren't watching and learning? The ALP? Here in NZ?

    • Anne 40.1

      You're not being fair millsy. He was up against the dirtiest political machine in the history of British politics. Yes he had some faults – his procrastination over Brexit and the antisemitic claims were probably the most damaging – but he was better than Johnson who changed his political views so many times it was impossible to keep up with his latest reincarnation.

      • ScottGN 40.1.1

        Labour was horribly exposed Anne by Brexit and the dichotomy between the liberal elite who run the party in London and the working people across the UK whom they always rely on to troop dutifully to the polling booths on their behalf. It could take years for the damage to be repaired if, indeed, it ever is.

        • greywarshark 40.1.1.1

          Sounds like the way that NZ Labour runs their system. Lawyers to the left of us, millionaires to the right, and voters stuck in the middle, with fashionable middle-class rhetoric.

          • greywarshark 40.1.1.1.1

            I was wrong to make that sweeping generalisation, though partly true, about lawyers. Replace it with financiers and snake-oil merchants selling 'insurance swaps'* as derivatives to Hopeful Farmers. See further on Open Mike.

            • UncookedSelachimorpha 40.1.1.1.1.1

              Nothing wrong with lawyers – it's just the 99% of them that give the rest a bad name, that I have a problem with.

    • Dennis Frank 40.2

      Arguable. Blame the leader is flawed logic when a party has to broaden support via consensus politics. Blaming groupthink is more sensible. Leftist consensus ought to incorporate public opinion, not just in-crowd idealism. If the leftists want to strike a chord in the public mind & get voters to resonate with their program, that is.

      I'm disappointed inasmuch as I still believe Jeremy would make a better PM for Britain, but the collective strategy adopted by the Labour leadership group wasn't in tune with what people broadly wanted. Remainers evaporated (LibDems losing traction proved that weeks ago). Get Brexit done! That was the mood of the electorate. RNZ news this morning reported Boris won a landslide victory – after asking voters for a mandate for Brexit. The left simply failed to read the public mood.

      • greywarshark 40.2.1

        Shilly-shally could be the word that sized up the previous Labour voters in England. 'What does Labour do, they think, shilly-shally and seem to wait for somebody to think of something, rather than show us joined-up thinking about ideas for the way forward. When they have been in government we have not seemed to advance. Decision – let's have a change, we might get something better as well as different, and at least Boorish sounds definite. We have heard about Brexit, had it thrust down our throat like medicine that will be good for us and heal all.'

        Who knows Brexit might be like warfarin that thins the blood, and in the right dosage does its work well and prevents heart problems for a while.

    • ScottGN 41.1

      Remainers all of them. Swept aside in the wave of exhausted anger from ordinary Britons who, after 3 and a half years said enough of this bullshit. Tories tapped into that brilliantly.

  40. DS 42

    This wasn't Corbyn. This was realignment:

    https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2019/12/13/a-latter-day-king-canute-the-british-election/

    British Labour has become the US Democrats. Welcome to the world of the Culture War.

  41. adam 43

    I'm happy:

    The tory pricks created brexit – they can deal with it. It's going to rip them apart.

    Lies only bring heartache, and that's what england is in for.

    • pat 43.1

      Not only England….the fracturing of western societies into disparate groups is making it increasingly difficult for the formation/operation of broad based parties…factionalism on steroids if you will

    • Anne 43.2

      That's what I've been thinking too adam. Let em clean up their own mess and wow… what a mess its likely to be.

      Labour may well end up thanking their lucky stars they lost.

      Another thought: Johnson won't last 5 years. He's too unstable. They will have to get rid of him at some point and whoever takes over will be on a hiding to nothing. My pick is: a snap election in say… 3 years? Just a wishful hunch.

      • greywarshark 43.2.1

        Who would take over – pinched-face Jacob Rees-Mogg seen apparently pinching his son's ear to indicate some message.

        He has retained his electorate – Daily Mail says increased majority despite Remainer campaign

        The Mirror says – Disgraced Tory toff holds his North-East Somerset seat

        He seems appropriately callous, disparaging of the public's realities and uninterested in cause and effect to be a leading Conservative.

        https://www.theguardian.com/politics/jacob-rees-mogg

        Jacob Rees-Mogg is never normally one to shy away from the media lens. But following his claim that it would have been “common sense” to ignore fire brigade advice and flee the Grenfell tower block fire – a statement that prompted outrage – he went uncharacteristically quiet after apologising.

        https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/06/rees-mogg-keeps-low-profile-after-grenfell-comments-outrage

  42. Rae 44

    Couple of interesting "watch out fors"

    Scotland, overwhelmingly voted SNP, what will Boris do if they seek another referendum, will he support them as he has the people of Hong Kong or will he come over all CCP?

    What will Trump demand for a free trade agreement.

    I think GB is about to find out they are very small

  43. greywarshark 45

    Chris Trotter musing on thoughts of "The Daily Blog's resident Marxist Dave Brownz".

    https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2019/12/some-thoughts-on-socialism-as-jeremy.html

    If Corbyn and Labour had won and proceeded to take a left turn this is the likely outcome.:

    There is a grim logic to this position. Certainly, a socialist government surrounded by capitalist institutions will very swiftly find its room for political manoeuvre shrinking. The courts will intervene on behalf of those affected by its most radical policies. Senior public servants will leak its transformative plans to the capitalist press. Right-wing middle-class students take to the streets in protest. Foreign corporations will threaten to seize the nation’s overseas assets in the event of inadequately compensated nationalisations. Hostile capitalist powers will impose sanctions in order to “make the economy scream”. …

    To date, Corbyn’s fate lends credence to Dave’s case. In the four years he has led the British Labour Party he has been the target of an unrelenting campaign of personal vilification and political destabilisation. With hindsight, it is clear that the Labour Party has, for decades, been kept “fit for office” through a combination of destruction and creation. The careers of potentially successful Labour left-wingers have been destroyed, while the reputations of those considered a “safe pair of hands” have been enhanced – mostly by Capitalist Britain’s well-positioned defenders in the security services and the news media. Corbyn’s success was a slip-up – a big one. Exactly how big is indicated by the sheer viciousness of the campaign set in motion to destroy him.

  44. pat 46

    "They will have to face the fact that the electorate did not abandon Labour for the centre. They went either to the far right, in England and Wales, or to the social democratic nationalist alternative, in Scotland. They did not go to the Liberal Democrats or back Change UK. Chuka Umunna, Dominic Grieve, David Gauke, Anna Soubry, Jo Swinson and Luciana Berger all lost."

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/13/labour-why-lost-jeremy-corbyn-brexit-media

    A Herculean task, especially given the ructions in the party before and during the election

  45. WeTheBleeple 47

    Seems to me lefties better learn to stick up for themselves and deliver a clear message as faffing about gets them nothing but time out. This was a victory for the billionaire press league, the antithesis of democracy.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • At a glance – Does CO2 always correlate with temperature?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    52 mins ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. â€œSomebody must have been telling lies about ...
    4 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    5 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    10 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    12 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology â€“ the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of DĂŠjĂ  Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T07:14:37+00:00