Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 12:04 am, January 10th, 2023 - 3 comments
Categories: abortion, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, us politics
Tags: abortion, donald trump, Joe Biden, midterms, nick kelly, republican party, US Democrats, us politics
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's blog Last week we saw extraordinary scenes from the US House of Representatives. The election of the Speaker, normally a formality whereby the winning party gets behind a candidate, became an utter circus where 15 rounds …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 1:46 am, November 7th, 2022 - 3 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, climate change, cost of living, Donald Trump, economy, employment, Environment, feminism, International, Joe Biden, news, Politics, science, us politics
Tags: Bolsonari, democracy, donald trump, Joe Biden, mid-term, nick kelly, Roe v Wade, ukraine
Originally published on Nick Kelly's blog On Sunday 30 October, a watershed run-off election was held in Brazil where former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) narrowly defeated incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro 50.9% to 49.1%. There was a lot at…
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 10:46 am, May 19th, 2022 - 13 comments
Categories: economy, Europe, Financial markets, Free Trade, Globalisation, inequality, International, Media, Politics, uk politics, Ukraine, us politics
Tags: cost of living, inflation, Joe Biden, nick kelly, NZ Labour, scott morrison, UK Conservatives, World Economic Forum
Britons woke up to the news today that inflation in the UK has hit a 40 year high of 9%. Recent increases to power bills, fuel and groceries have in no small part driven this inflationary pressure and indications are that prices could increase further. …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 8:44 pm, May 3rd, 2022 - 140 comments
Categories: Europe, International, Russia, Ukraine, war
Tags: NATO, nick kelly, putin, russia, ukraine
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's blog On February 24 2022 Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to invade Ukraine, a nation that declared independence from Russia on August 24 1991. This is not the first time in Ukraine's 30 years …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 2:18 am, February 21st, 2022 - 10 comments
Categories: Brexit, Europe, uk politics
Tags: Boris Johnson, brexit, nick kelly, UK election 2019, UK politics, ukraine
I answer the question posed in the title by returning to what I wrote on my blog when Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson became Prime Minister in 2019: Make no mistake, Boris Johnson has talent. He knows how to make a stirring speech and can tap into …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 9:57 pm, November 29th, 2021 - Comments Off on Post:The US withdraws from Afghanistan and the inevitable happened
Categories: afghanistan, Donald Trump, helen clark, Joe Biden, us politics, war
Tags: afghanistan, donald trump, george w bush, helen clark, Joe Biden, nick kelly, russia, tony blair, War on Terror
Originally published on Nick Kelly's Blog The withdrawal in August of US and allied troops from Afghanistan saw the return of the Taliban in control of that country. This sadly was always going to be the outcome once the US and its allies withdrew. I …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 2:53 am, November 27th, 2021 - 1 comment
Categories: Brexit, Europe, uk politics
Tags: Boris Johnson, brexit, Captain Tom, covid-19, nationalism, nick kelly, Northern Ireland, scottish independence, The Queen, UK politics, World War Two
Originally published on Nick Kelly's blog All national identities are a construct that evolves and changes over time. That the identity of Britain has evolved is in no way unique to this country. The concept of the national state or borders is a relatively…
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 11:31 pm, May 17th, 2021 - 35 comments
Categories: Brexit, electoral systems, First Past the Post, Jeremy Corbyn, leadership, local government, uk politics
Tags: Andy Burnham, covid-19, jeremy corbyn, Kier Starmer, nick kelly, Sadiq Khan, scottish nationalist party
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's Blog In a nation that has suffered over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, one may be somewhat taken aback to see the latest YouGov Poll where The Conservative Party enjoy a 15% lead over the Labour Opposition. 17 months after the …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 9:13 am, April 20th, 2021 - 28 comments
Categories: boris johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, news, sport, uk politics
Tags: Boris Johnson, britain, football, jeremy corbyn, nick kelly, Premier League, sport
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's Blog People overseas often have preconceived ideas about British society. On moving to the UK I was told that in Britain people will try and place you based on your accent, the school you went to and your job. This does …
I would not say it is a free pass. Yes, it was largely motivated by ideology, but there are other right-wing governments who still managed better. I think ideology and arrogance were both at play. Either way these people are not fit to govern and yet they ...
The Oxford research on deaths per million is a week or so out of date. The UK after nearly a month in lockdown has started to fall in the death per million numbers - thankfully
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 6:11 am, January 29th, 2021 - 21 comments
Categories: Austerity, Politics, uk politics
Tags: Boris Johnson, covid-19, Kier Starmer, nick kelly, pandemic, UK Conservatives, UK election 2019, uk labour
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's Blog In late March 2020, the medical director of the NHS Stephen Powis said that keeping the UK COVID-19 death toll to under 20,000 would be a good result. Ten months later, almost to the day, the UK's official death toll …
There will be other senate seats and the house in two years
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 12:30 am, November 19th, 2020 - 8 comments
Categories: democratic participation, Donald Trump, electoral systems, First Past the Post, Joe Biden, us politics
Tags: covid-19, donald trump, Electoral College, Joe Biden, nancy pelosi, nick kelly, US Elections 2020
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's Blog Two weeks after one of the most tumultuous elections in US history it is now clear that Joe Biden has won. This was not clear on election night as much of the in-person vote favoured Trump in key swing states. But as…
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 12:27 am, October 20th, 2020 - 47 comments
Categories: act, capital gains, capitalism, Christchurch Attack, democratic participation, education, election 2020, elections, electoral systems, employment, greens, housing, jacinda ardern, labour, Maori Issues, MMP, national, nz first, Parliament, tax, terrorism, tertiary education, transport, workers' rights
Tags: capitalism, cgt, fiscal responsbility, Free Education, Ilam, jacinda ardern, labour, MMP, national party, nick kelly, Wairarapa, whanganui
Originally published on Nick Kelly's blog When I posted back in August about the New Zealand Labour Government, I was fairly confident that they would win this year's election. I did not however think they would win by as much as they did. On Saturday, …
Yes I mean unlikely - will correct now. Nick
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 8:42 am, August 10th, 2020 - 33 comments
Categories: abortion, bill english, Christchurch Attack, education, election 2020, electoral systems, First Past the Post, greens, housing, jacinda ardern, Judith Collins, labour, law, law and "order", leadership, MMP, national, nz first, polls, terrorism, tertiary education
Tags: abortion law reform, homelessness, jacinda ardern, KiwiBuild, nick kelly, nz first, NZ General Election 2020, NZLP, The Green Party, winston peters
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's blog Just over three years ago, a few weeks before leaving New Zealand, my friend Rob and I were in Burger Fuel on Cuba Street the hipster trendy part of Wellington. Piko was renting an office space in the old Wellington …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 10:36 pm, July 27th, 2020 - 19 comments
Categories: health and safety, Living Wage, minimum wage, Unions, workers' rights
Tags: awards, CTU, employment, Graeme Clarke, helen kelly, nick kelly, zero hour contracts
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's blog In mid-2016 the former president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Helen Kelly (no relation) came to speak to PSA staff at morning tea. Helen had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and would sadly die …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 11:02 pm, July 11th, 2020 - 21 comments
Categories: Unions, workers' rights
Tags: council of trade unions, CTU, nick kelly, The future of work, Union peak bodies
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's blog: The role of the Union peak body is to provide national or international leadership for all union members. The union movement structure in NZ and many other countries is to have several sector-specific unions, which …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 12:27 am, July 11th, 2020 - 4 comments
Categories: Living Wage, Privatisation, Unions, wages, workers' rights
Tags: local government, nick kelly, paul eagle, privatisation, Public Libraries, The Living Wage, wellington city council
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's blog Local Government provides some of the most crucial and front-line public services we have in society. Yet internationally, voter turnout and engagement with Local Government is generally abysmal. The services …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 7:27 am, July 6th, 2020 - 15 comments
Categories: employment, public transport, transport, Unions, wages
Tags: Chris Laidlaw, Chris Morley, fran wilde, go wellington, Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), nick kelly, nz bus, Paul Swain, public transport, Unions, Wellington Tramways Union
The Wellington Tramways and Public Passenger Transport Employees Union for 20 years gallantly held the line in protecting employment conditions for bus drivers in the region. Where other unions drivers' unions were taken out in the late 1980's after …
Yes, in fact even by the 2010 negotiations those rates had increased significantly in Wellington. Unfortunately in many of the smaller bus companies where there is little to no union presence the rates of pay will be much lower than in the unionised bus ...
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 5:44 am, July 3rd, 2020 - 6 comments
Categories: blogs, class war, local government, Privatisation, Unions, workers' rights
Tags: bus drivers, council of trade unions, go wellington, Go Wellington driver lockout 2008, Graeme Clarke, nick kelly, nz bus, Trade Unionism, tramways union, Wellington Tramways Union
On my blog, I've been doing a series about my time in the Trade Union movement. Links to these earlier posts can be viewed below. I thought I would share this reflection on the 2008 dispute as The Standard reported on it at the time: 20 days after being …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 12:25 pm, May 27th, 2020 - 14 comments
Categories: Africa, International, United Nations
Tags: African Union, covid-19, Cyril Ramaphosa, John Magufuli, nick kelly, pandemic, South Africa, tanzania
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's blog The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that COVID-19 has so far made a “soft landfall” in the continent of Africa – with nearly 100,000 cases throughout and a relatively low number of deaths. Compared to other …
Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 1:35 pm, May 7th, 2020 - 27 comments
Categories: Jeremy Corbyn, labour, political parties, politicans, Politics, uk politics
Tags: Antisemitism, Blairites, jeremy corbyn, Kier Starmer, nick kelly, UK election 2017, uk labour
Originally posted on Nick Kelly's blog In the middle of a global pandemic, it seems almost trivial to be writing about internal disputes within the UK Labour Party. Certainly, the UK media seem to have taken this view towards the recently leaked report. I…
The EU has agreed to a set of measures now. That's basically a good month after the horse has bolted they are locking the stable door. Hopefully, the economic decisions they are making now do save the day. If they don't, the EU is moribund.
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