UK Labour now what?

Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, July 2nd, 2016 - 73 comments
Categories: Europe, International, spin, uk politics, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: , , , , , , ,

get corbyn

The past week has seen some of the most inept political manoeuvring I have ever seen from a left wing party, and believe me I have seen a lot …

Following the Brexit vote the Conservatives and David Cameron should have been pilloried by the forces that be for even risking a vote on such a subject when the stakes were so high. With Cameron falling on his sword, Boris Johnson faltering and a bunch of no name potential successors lining up and with Nigel Farage approaching peak dickhead status things looked good for Labour to impress voters and stake out a position for being an alternative Government.

Instead most of the caucus went rabid.  As Mike Smith has pointed out it seems clear that the plan was premeditated and pre-planned.  Clearly some are willing to sacrifice the government benches for the more important goal of stopping a genuine left winger from being Prime Minister.  Solidarity forever.

Some of the best analysis has come from the blogs.  The Canary in the UK has become for me a must read and if you want a local passionate dissection of what is happening then you cannot go past John Palethorpe’s Shinbone Star.

John summarises events leading up to the mass resignation of Labour MPs from the Shadow Cabinet as follows:

Over the next 48 hours a succession of Shadow Cabinet members, junior ministers and secretaries tendered their resignations. Andy Burnham, notably, refused to resign on the grounds that he never shown disloyalty to a leader and he was not about to start. When questioned, the resigning MPs insisted that there was no coordination and it was a matter of personal choice. This clashed starkly with reports from a fortnight before about the plan to remove Corbyn regardless of the result of the EU Referendum.

The reasons for resignation were curiously similar. Corbyn’s lacklustre campaigning, his leadership style, his ability to connect with voters and, in one case, his lack of experience regarding the upcoming Brexit negotiations. It would be fascinating to know who has that experience, given all parties appear to be panic stricken at the prospect. All of them called for him to resign, to step down. For the good of the party.

Along with Enzo Giordani he also blogs superbly about soccer.  Both sites deserve bookmarking.

It appears to me there are two basic justifications being offered for why Corbyn should not be Labour’s leader.  Strip out the nice superficial language that English MPs use publicly and there are two basic claims:

  1. Corbyn is unelectable.
  2. Corbyn is incompetent.

As to one well every recent opportunity that the British Electorate has had to express its views of Labour have been actually quite positive for Labour, despite the unrelenting negative media narrative that Labour is doomed under Corbyn’s leadership.  For instance (thanks Canary):

  • Labour has won 4 by-elections. Oldham West, Sheffield Brightside, Ogmore & Tooting with three resulting in an increased majority.
  • Labour won 4 mayoral elections under Corbyn – London, Bristol, Salford and Liverpool.
  • Membership of the party has surged, from 193,000 to over 380,000.
  • Labour’s 2016 local election results were not the predicted disaster with all previously Labour controlled councils being retained and Labour losing 1% of its Councillors compared to the Conservative’s 6% and the loss of control of one council.
  • And Corbyn did not fail in the remain vote with the proportion of labour voters voting remain matching the vote of SNP voters.

As to the second justification clearly Corbyn fails the being a member of the in crowd of the political media bubble and being able to play political games test.  Such failure should not rule him out of contention however.  Being a successful bubble game player should not guarantee anything.

The media, including the Guardian, has been especially negative.  But maybe they should review their membership of the bubble.

Jim Parker describes the political media bubble phenomenon as the cult of the savvy.

This is the practice of journalists reporting from inside the system to others like them. The viewpoint and mindset are that of political operatives, judging each day’s developments in terms of who won and who lost the news cycle.

“Promoting journalists as insiders in front of the outsiders, the viewers, the electorate…. this is a clue to what’s broken about political coverage in the US and Australia,” Rosen has written. “Things are out of alignment. Journalists are identifying with the wrong people. Therefore the kind of work they are doing is not as useful as we need it to be.”

Journalists have become inward looking and disconnected from the electorate for a few reasons. One is economic. Thanks to newsroom cutbacks due to declining media revenues, there are few specialists anymore. Where formerly there might have been a health reporter, whose job it was to track health policy, or a technology reporter, who was across broadband issues, there are now only generalists. Few newsrooms have the resources to look at issues as they might affect voters, so the focus becomes the race itself, politics as a process.

The second reason, and one well canvassed, is the rise of social media, the continuous news cycle and the appropriation of new communication technologies by politicians and their staffers. Stories that might formerly have developed over two or three days now can be born, live and die within two or three hours. Journalists try to keep up, but the more they chase the noise, the less time they have to find the signal.

If you want to think about local examples then Paddy Gower is clearly a member of the insider club, connecting with the social elites and trying to be the news.  By comparison John Campbell with his practice of reaching out to ordinary people and his habit of letting them tell their story is the total antithesis of the usual approach.  We need more reporters like John Campbell.

Parker then describes clearly the superficiality of media analysis of public opinion.

Everyone talks condescendingly about what the “ordinary voters” are thinking, or worse, “the punters”. No-one ever asks them directly. We hear constantly about how political parties have become scientific about picking up phrases uttered in focus groups and then cynically layering them into their communication as if this is somehow admirable.

It’s this insider mentality, this culture of a narrow group of elite opinion makers talking among themselves, that was so dramatically given the middle finger by Britons in their recent referendum on whether to stay in the European Union, irrespective of the rights and wrongs of the Brexit.

If you recall, the late polls in that case were suggesting a reasonably comfortable victory for the remain camp. Indeed, even as the counting began, the exit camp was ready to concede defeat. Then, as the trend reversed, the talking heads had to change their prepared scripts.

John Palethorpe addresses Corbyn’s competency in these terms:

I am not advancing the case that Corbyn has been a fantastic leader. He does lack the modern skills of messaging that have become essential in politics. His demeanour can appear reserved, unenthusiastic even. But he’s the leader elected by the Labour party membership to lead the Labour part. And with less than twelve months as leader the attempt to remove him now, by those who possess a vague Toryish born-to-rule attitude towards Labour, seems cynically opportunistic and has inadvertently threatened the very integrity of the British Labour Party.

But back to the heading of this post.  UK Labour needs to sort its stuff out.  It looks likely that it will split, wIthaca Corbyn, some loyal MPs like Dennis Skinner, the activists and the trade unions on one side and the careerists on the other side.  Given that the UK has a FPP system some sort of armageddon for the left appears to be very likely should Labour fracture.

Maybe Labour should start again and seek out future MPs like this person who will be driven by a desire to improve things for all UK residents and not by a desire to be part of the bubble.

73 comments on “UK Labour now what? ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. lprent 1
    2 July 2016 at 9:41 am

    It is pretty clear that the parliamentary wing of UK Labour haven’t realised that the world has moved on without them. And they certainly haven’t been.listening it their supporters and members. The members operate on family and friend contacts, these days often enhanced by social media. They don’t listen to talking heads in media with any thing like the respect those narcissistic fools think that they deserve.

    Same thing happened here a election cycle back and is still proceeding. The PLPs can do what they like. But it is likely that in the UK we will see a parliamentary rump party form – one that eventually dies without a party base.

    • Jenny 1.1
      2 July 2016 at 10:42 am

      “The PLPs can do what they like. But it is likely that in the UK we will see a parliamentary rump party form – one that eventually dies without a party base.”
      lprent

      Or alternatively the Labour Party caucus could succeed in ousting Corbyn. And the British Labour Party will continue to limp on into an unedifying future in its present form, dominated by a by a conservative caucus, and conservative leader.

      • Jenny 1.1.1
        2 July 2016 at 10:53 am

        As Hone Harawira said at the last election, in a statement that could easily apply to the whole Left. “We are trying to change a system, that resists change.”

        • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.1
          2 July 2016 at 12:08 pm

          Systems always resist change because those who work in the system don’t see anything wrong with it and they feel under threat because it’s their jobs and livelihoods being threatened.

    • AmaKiwi 1.2
      2 July 2016 at 10:49 am

      It is the era of fragmentation.

      Provinces are breaking away to form new countries. Political parties are splintering apart. The center cannot hold.

      To me the similarity between the battles fought by Corbyn and Cunliffe with their respective parliamentary parties is obvious.

      In politics, friends may come and friends may go, but enemies accumulate. The NZL caucus has made a lot of enemies, including me.

      • Chooky 1.2.1
        2 July 2016 at 5:35 pm

        + 100

      • Jenny 1.2.2
        3 July 2016 at 7:45 am

        +100

      • Jenny 1.2.3
        3 July 2016 at 7:47 am

        “Provinces are breaking away to form new countries. Political parties are splintering apart. The center cannot hold.”
        amakiwis

        ‘Independence’, especially from central authority, has often been depicted as a bad thing.

        I like to think of it as ‘devolvement’, where more democracy is being returned to a local, (and more accountable) level.

        And this accountability is made stronger by social media which also has a democratising influence.

        Where more remote authority can ride above social media criticism more easily, those closer to the people they represent find it a lot harder to escape the ‘democratisation’ created in the electronic commons.

        Scottish independence is a good thing and Brexit is a good thing. The centralisation of power has seen that power becoming concentrated in fewer and fewer hands and those hands becoming more and more remote and unaccountable.

  2. newsense 2
    2 July 2016 at 9:51 am

    Chilchot Chilchot Chilchot

  3. invisiphilia 3
    2 July 2016 at 10:22 am

    An excellent round up on the state of things Micky. It’s an interesting phenomenon that’s emerging with the MSM vs the potential of people power on social media.
    Crucially, as you point out “Journalists try to keep up, but the more they chase the noise, the less time they have to find the signal.” This seems like a double edged sword in terms of getting the truth out there and also, to the extent that social media remains dependent on conventional media it imports some of its structural imbalances.

    I’m just waiting for this chapter to be compared to the Arab Spring as the process continues…British Summer doesn’t have the same ring to it. How about Bummer :)?

  4. Jenny 4
    2 July 2016 at 10:22 am

    It appears to me there are two basic justifications being offered for why Corbyn should not be Labour’s leader. Strip out the nice superficial language that English MPs use publicly and there are two basic claims:

    1. Corbyn is unelectable.
    2. Corbyn is incompetent.

    And unstated:

    3. Corbyn is too Left Wing

    • Jenny 4.1
      2 July 2016 at 10:33 am

      Whoever thought leadership isn’t important, does not understand politics.

      The British Labour Party Caucus want their man or woman at the helm.

      A lot of this hysteric reaction has been fuelled by the very real possibility that the political chaos as result of fallout from the Brexit vote, could lead to a snap election and the very real possibility of a Corbyn led government.

      http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/will-there-be-a-snap-brexit-election/

      As Chris Trotter likes to say about the similarly conservative dominated NZ Labour Party caucus, “They would rather keep control of the losing side, than lose control of the winning side.”

    • Pat 4.2
      2 July 2016 at 12:20 pm

      the main reason is he is not a neoliberal…..the only game in (their) town

  5. jcuknz 5
    2 July 2016 at 10:32 am

    I think it is a necessary change for the Labour Party and lprent has it right that the timid half way MPs will die a natural death come election time.

  6. Colonial Viper 6
    2 July 2016 at 10:52 am

    The more Corbyn tries to appease the 100+ hard core blairites and right wingers in his Caucus, the more he will sound like every other compromised Labour Leader and as swordfish has pointed out, his support amongst the ordinary members will drop.

    This was part of Cunliffe’s failing as well. Trying to appease the careerists and the right wing with praise and position, when all they are aiming to do is stab you in the back at the first turn.

    Corbyn needs to stay strong with his principles, and with the messages that gave him the leadership by a landslide. Or he will be gone.

    • Jenny 6.1
      2 July 2016 at 10:56 am

      +100

      • Kiwiri 6.1.1
        2 July 2016 at 12:08 pm

        x 100

        Btw, my friends and family (NZ citizens, as well as British citizens who are NZ permanent residents) have sent emails of support.

        Feel free to write to him. We emailed to both his addresses – the generic one as well as his MP address:

        [email protected]

        [email protected]

    • Anne 6.2
      2 July 2016 at 11:06 am

      Spot on CV.

      I did read somewhere that Corbyn is hanging out for the Chilcot report to be released (Thursday NZ time?) and after that he may well resign. Don’t know if that’s speculation or not, but it’s possible he will do so provided they come up with the candidate of his choice to succeed him.

      http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/chilcot-inquiry-report-published-what-11548292

    • Draco T Bastard 6.3
      2 July 2016 at 12:21 pm

      This was part of Cunliffe’s failing as well. Trying to appease the careerists and the right wing with praise and position, when all they are aiming to do is stab you in the back at the first turn.

      QFT

    • Chooky 6.4
      2 July 2016 at 5:37 pm

      +100 CV

      • Jenny 6.4.1
        3 July 2016 at 2:26 pm

        +100

        A lesson for Andrew Little if his Right Wing try to pressure him. Especially over his new relationship with the Green Party.

        Deep sea oil drilling is the Keystone XL of New Zealand politics.

        For the new rapprochement between Labour and the Green Party to succeed will require the Labour Party to join the Green Party in opposing deep sea oil drilling in our waters.

        At the last election the Green Party said that they would drop all “bottom lines” to get cabinet seats in a Labour led government.

        According to Russell Norman this included the Greens ditching their opposition to deep sea oil to get a coalition agreement.

        https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/archive/russel-norman-on-deep-sea-oil-drilling-6073831.html

        Without getting any their bottom lines agreed to, what would they achieve?

        The answer is ; Nothing. And this is because once in cabinet the Green Cabinet members would have been outvoted on every issue. But worse than this they would be bound by cabinet collective responsibility, to discipline the rest of the party to go along with what ever Labour decided.

        This position is no longer tenable. (If it ever was).

        To go into coalition with Labour, the Green Party will need to get some of their bottom lines agreed to first.

        The first of these is no deep sea oil drilling.

        No doubt the screams of outrage from the neoliberal right of the LP if Little makes any concession to the Greens on this issue will be heard to the heavens.

        Little needs to tell his right wing caucus colleagues just as Corbyn has, “Get lost.”

  7. swordfish 7
    2 July 2016 at 10:54 am

    Latest YouGov Poll of UK Labour Party Members
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02072016/#comment-1197978

    Although the majority doubt that Corbyn can win the next Election (35% Likely / 57% Unlikely), the majority have precisely the same doubts about the viability of any New Leader as well (38% Likely / 50% Unlikely).

    Anti-Corbynites in the UK media often “forget” (deliberately ignore) the fact that Polls taken during the leadership campaign last year usually found far more Labour Members and Labour voters saying the Brownite candidate Yvette Cooper and the arch-Blairite candidate Liz Kendall were ‘Unelectable’ (ie would be very unlikely to win the next General Election) than was the case for Corbyn. (Soft Left candidate, Andy Burnham, was sometimes seen as a little more electable than Corbyn and sometimes not, depending on the particular poll).

    Instead, we get this nonsense in the MSM that last year Labour members self-indulgently opted for a principled but totally unelectable leader instead of 3 highly electable alternatives. The reality is that not only Labour people but also voters in general didn’t see it that way at all.

  8. BM 8
    2 July 2016 at 11:08 am

    UKIP party is up around 20%, I reckon they’re going to be a big mover in the coming months.

    Interesting if you end up with three parties all around 30%, or if Labour splits, 2 parties at 30% and two at 15%.

    All the stars seem to be aligning for Farage to become England next PM.

    http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/voting-intention-2

    • Jenny 8.1
      2 July 2016 at 11:17 am

      Echoes of pre-war Germany.

      • BM 8.1.1
        2 July 2016 at 11:31 am

        Not wanting to Godwin the thread, but yes, you can sort of see similarities.

        With Hitler he managed to convince the Germans that the Jewish bankers were the reason that the German economy had crashed and why the German people were suffering.

        if the economy starts to go pear shaped because of Brexit, it would be quite easy for a talented orator such as Farage to harness that same sort of anger and discontent, then use it in a way to catapult himself into the top spot.

        Instead of the Jews it will be the EU, the multinationals etc.

        • Colonial Viper 8.1.1.1
          2 July 2016 at 12:21 pm

          The National Socialists rose to power for a very simple reason: the political establishment of Germany stopped listening and acting on the concerns of 90% of the citizens.

          • Tory 8.1.1.1.1
            2 July 2016 at 1:11 pm

            Corbyns personality cult Momentum is doing the same as the National Solicisits, it’s just from the other side of the political spectrum and its Marxism. The vitriol spewing forth from those supporters is interesting to say the least.

            • Colonial Viper 8.1.1.1.1.1
              2 July 2016 at 1:14 pm

              Sorry mate, but that’s a total mis-characterisation.

              Corbyn for starters is a grumpy grand father type, not a charismatic orator cult figure.

              • Tory …
                2 July 2016 at 6:00 pm

                If you read through the vitriol that Momentum are spewing out it’s clear they are advocating a “cleansing” from the Labour ranks and the only person capable of leading this “left wing revolution” is Corbyn (according to them). Of course it’s a movement based on a person (Corbyn). This is the cult of Marxism and I bet the plans for gulags are well advanced.

                • Colonial Viper …
                  2 July 2016 at 6:07 pm

                  Uh, it’s the Blairite turncoat MPs who have planned and launched a “cleansing” of the Labour Party, against the General Membership.

                  Or are the facts alluding you even harder than usual?

                  As I said – Corbyn is a grumpy old grandfather type. He’s no charismatic orator.

      • AmaKiwi 8.1.2
        2 July 2016 at 12:18 pm

        @ Jenny

        “Echoes of pre-war Germany” and USA and UK and NZ, Australia, France, Italy, Russia . . .

        The age of empire is ending. That collapse did not lead to dictatorship everywhere. That is our challenge. Can we change the system without dictatorship?

        • Colonial Viper 8.1.2.1
          2 July 2016 at 12:53 pm

          Unless you look at Sheldon Wolin’s model of inverted totalitarianism.

          Which differs from the typical tyranny of a single, charismatic dictator figure.

          Instead it is the tyranny of a tiny faceless elite through an institutionalised dictatorship, operating through a highly managed and increasing illiberal democracy.

          In this form of tyranny, pushing a figure head John Key or US President out of power does nothing to change the tyranny that the population is subjected to.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism

          • KJT 8.1.2.1.1
            2 July 2016 at 1:26 pm

            The “patsy” model is well known in Business.

            Use a figurehead “hatchet man” to close down the plant, reduce wages, sack workers or make other unpopular changes.

            Then they are blamed, and usually sacked themselves, while the real power behind the scenes keeps their teflon coating.

            Hence “Patsies” like Bennet, Brownlee, Joyce, Parata, etc are used to front the more evil policies. (Douglas? Goff, Shearer?).

            Key will be dumped as well, once the groundswell of public opinion makes him unpalatable.

            There is a never ending supply of “Patsys” among those who will give up their conscience to be part of the “big boys” in group” for money, status or the illusion of power.

            • Colonial Viper 8.1.2.1.1.1
              2 July 2016 at 1:44 pm

              it seems the public is tired of voting for Patsy after Patsy.

        • D'Esterre 8.1.2.2
          4 July 2016 at 12:00 pm

          AmaKiwi: ” Echoes of pre-war Germany” and USA and UK and NZ, Australia, France, Italy, Russia . . ”

          Russia? I don’t think so. Best not to take at face value Western propaganda regarding that part of the world. See this:

          http://thesaker.is/counter-propaganda-russian-style/

      • Jenny 8.1.3
        3 July 2016 at 8:21 am

        What I meant in my comment is that like prewar Germany, though never getting a majority vote, a minor Extreme Right Party was able to gain control through the political unclarity and vacillation on the Left.

        Which is what we are seeing repeated in the UK.

        http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/16/nigel-farage-defends-ukip-breaking-point-poster-queue-of-migrants

    • swordfish 8.2
      2 July 2016 at 11:51 am

      Then again … split between Ukip’s Farage and Carswell over last couple of days … not to mention leading Ukip donor, Arron Banks, to start new Party, possibly minus Farrage …

      UK politics imploding all over the place … shit’s hit the fan … every man, woman and child for themselves … reminds me of the Panic scene where passengers start fighting and strangling each other in Flying High once they realise there’s no pilot.

      • BM 8.2.1
        2 July 2016 at 12:12 pm

        Wow, it really is insanity over there.

        Going to be interesting to see who comes out on top.

        • AmaKiwi 8.2.1.1
          2 July 2016 at 12:22 pm

          @ BM

          “Wow, it really is insanity over there” AND here.

          Jonathan Pie (3.2 above) is also describing New Zealand.

        • Colonial Viper 8.2.1.2
          2 July 2016 at 12:54 pm

          I hear that UK applications for Irish passports have gone through the roof.

          • Peter Swift 8.2.1.2.1
            2 July 2016 at 1:52 pm

            As Ireland citizens have been assured free passage in to the UK independent of any EU directive or movement of trade clauses in the brexit negotiations, it’s probably all the euro residents and illegals fearing the deportation axe, checking out how they can remain on British soil and carry on enjoying the way of life and benefits they have become accustom to.

    • McGrath 8.3
      2 July 2016 at 1:45 pm

      I wouldn’t rule out a Tory split given the grief in their party as well. Brexit has smashed a hammer into UK politics

  9. save nz 9
    2 July 2016 at 11:16 am

    Really well thought out post and good links. +1000

  10. RedLogix 10
    2 July 2016 at 11:30 am

    I have nothing but admiration for Corbyn’s courage under such withering circumstances. Who knows what next week holds, but his refusal to buckle under the weight of such self-interested betrayal is a remarkable thing.

    Often it is that the introverted, reserved personality hides a hidden resiliency.

  11. Ad 11
    2 July 2016 at 11:36 am

    Just freaking sad.

    Should the Labour Party split there, the broader UK electorate will at next elections have the option of an even more unstable coalition, or a post-Brexit re-stabilised Conservative Party.

    We could give them lessons on losing.

  12. mikesh 12
    2 July 2016 at 12:07 pm

    J M Greer (aka The Archdruid) has, in his latest blog, suggested that one of the reasons for the Tories’ success in 2015 was Cameron’s promise of a referendum. In other words many voters, who might otherwise have voted Labour or LibDem, and who were desperate to bring about an egress, would have voted Conservative to ensure that the referendum went ahead.

    If a snap election is held and Labour decides to make EU membership the defining issue by promising to “remain” in the event of their being elected, as some have suggested, it could turn out to be the stupidest move they have ever made. This seems unlikely if Corbyn continues as leader as he seems lukewarm on EU membership anyway, but it would seem eminently possible if Corbyn is dumped.

    • Colonial Viper 12.1
      2 July 2016 at 12:55 pm

      if it’s a stupid move for UK Labour, you can bet that its on the cards somewhere.

  13. mosa 13
    2 July 2016 at 3:07 pm

    Corbyn is on a hiding to nothing and what i would do is sit tight and wait for the inevitable vote to sack him or not.
    If they take him out but there is still massive grassroots support there he should take that support and form a new Labour party with like minded people who believe there is a place for what Corbyn has been articulating and seek funding and present that alternative to the british people and ask for support.
    Or if he prevails reform the current party driving out all those who want to be MPs for Labour but dont believe it should return to its founding principles and dont have the courage or the peoples respect to articulate those principals.
    Its been split before as right leaning Labour MPs left in 1981 and formed the SDP and merged with the old Liberal party which ironically was too the left of the then Labour party and formed the Alliance which contested the 1983 general election and polled poorly and are now the Liberal Democrats and are still a party of the left that Corbyn could work with.
    He has options and this current realignment has a long way too go and a future proportional system could be on the cards but will be a hard fight but not impossible.

  14. Bill Drees 14
    2 July 2016 at 4:13 pm

    The Suicide Squad

    http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-suicide-squad/#more-86234

    13. At some point during this mayhem – next week, to be precise – the Chilcot Report will be released, setting off a fresh bout of internecine warfare within the party.

    Read all 14 well thought out point of The Rev on Wings over Scotland.

  15. johnm 15
    2 July 2016 at 4:43 pm

    Corbyn is the Labour leader. He was elected by the majority of the Labour membership. Basically the parliamentary shower can f@ck off there are always fresh replacements. Go Corbyn stick it up the traitorous bastards!

    • Tory 15.1
      2 July 2016 at 8:41 pm

      I totally agree, the sooner that “Momemtum”, “Socialist Workers Party” and Affiliated Unions take over the UK Labour Party the sooner we see the Left fracture and Conservatives can look forward to a long period of government. Perhaps you could send KDC to offer some advice to Corbyn to speed up the process?

  16. OneTrack 16
    2 July 2016 at 6:01 pm

    ” Following the Brexit vote the Conservatives and David Cameron should have been pilloried by the forces that be for even risking a vote on such a subject when the stakes were so high”

    Of course we can’t risk real people on the street having their say, can we? Then where would we be?

  17. peterlepaysan 17
    2 July 2016 at 8:15 pm

    If Corbyn loses there is no british /english (whatever ) labour party.
    Our own labour party went down the gurgler post 1984/87.
    The clark years came in on a centrist micromanagement strategy
    Over reliance on focus groups and prodding sleeping dogs can have unwanted results.
    Like being voted out of office.
    One has to be rather egotistic to want to become an mp, let alone a pm.
    Egotism has its place but can lead to not relating very much to other people in any meaningful way.
    The british plp have an almighty attack of hubris. The gods will destroy them.
    The party could survive and probably will under some banner.
    There are nzlp caucus members still extant in the house who remember the glory days when they could pull stunts like the english plp and win.
    At the end of the day, who is paying the bills?

  18. Jenny 18
    6 July 2016 at 3:52 am

    Now we are getting somewhere, and it is the key to how the Left should view the EU (negatively), and the Brexit, (positively). And take back the Brexit from the Nigel Farage racists.

    Corbyn Vows to Veto TTIP

  19. Jenny 19
    6 July 2016 at 3:58 am

    Corbyn “unelectable”?

    Only because the main stream media silence him while giving the right wing detractors in his caucus inflated headlines.

    http://gmmuk.com/why-wasnt-this-speech-shown-on-mainstream-media/

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    A National government would make spending cuts on a scale not seen since the 1990 – 96 Bolger government.That much was confirmed with the release of their Fiscal Plan on Friday.Government spending is currently high as a percentage of GDP — as high as it was during the Muldoon ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 hours ago

  • A crucial week starts as early voting opens in the NZ Elections … it’s been a ride so far. Are y...
    Chris Hipkins down with Covid, at least for 5 days isolation, National continue to obfuscate, ACT continues to double-down on the poor and Winston… well, he’s being Winston really. Voters beware: this week could be even more infuriating than the last. No Party is what they used to be ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    14 hours ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #39
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 24, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 30, 2023. Story of the Week We’re not doomed yet’: climate scientist Michael Mann on our last chance to save human civilisation The renowned US ...
    Skeptical Science
    23 hours ago

  • Clusterf**ck of Chaos.
    On the 11th of April 1945 advancing US forces liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald near Weimar in Germany. In the coming days, under the order of General Patton, a thousand nearby residents were forced to march to the camp to see the atrocities that had been committed in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • The party of business deals with the future by pretending it isn’t coming
    Years and years ago, when Helen Clark was Prime Minister and John Key was gunning for her job, I had a conversation with a mate, a trader who knew John Key well enough to paint a helpful picture.It was many drinks ago so it’s not a complete one. But there’s ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • 2023 More Reading: September (+ Old Phuul update)
    Completed reads for September: The Lost Continent, by C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne Flatland, by Edwin Abbott All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque The Country of the Blind, by H.G. Wells The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • Losing The Left.
    Descending Into The Dark: The ideological cadres currently controlling both Labour and the Greens are forcing “justice”, “participation” and “democracy” to make way for what is “appropriate” and “responsible”. But, where does that leave the people who, for most of their adult lives, have voted for left-wing parties, precisely to ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • The New “Emperor’s New Clothes”.
    “‘BUT HE HASN’T GOT ANYTHING ON,’ a little boy said ….. ‘But he hasn’t got anything on!’ the whole town cried out at last.”On this optimistic note, Hans Christian Andersen brings his cautionary tale of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” to an end.Andersen’s children’s story was written nearly two centuries ago, ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • BRYCE EDWARDS: The vested interests shaping National Party policies
      Bryce Edwards writes – As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: A conundrum for those pushing racist dogma
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – The heavily promoted narrative, which has ramped up over the last six years, is that Maori somehow have special vulnerabilities which arise from outside forces they cannot control; that contemporary society fails to meet their needs. They are not receptive to messages and ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER:  The greater of two evils
    Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.   Chris Trotter writes – THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 30
    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:Labour presented a climate manifesto that aimed to claim the high ground on climate action vs National, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Litanies, articles of faith, and being a beneficiary
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Litanies, articles of faith, and being a beneficiary
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • The ‘Recession’ Has Been Called Off, But Some Households Are Still Struggling
    While the economy is not doing too badly in output terms, external circumstances are not favourable, and there is probably a sizeable group of households struggling because of rising interest rates.Last week’s announcement of a 0.9 percent increase in volume GDP for the June quarter had the commentariat backing down ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: The wrong direction
    This week the International Energy Association released its Net Zero Roadmap, intended to guide us towards a liveable climate. The report demanded huge increases in renewable generation, no new gas or oil, and massive cuts to methane emissions. It was positive about our current path, but recommended that countries with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • “Racism” becomes a buzz word on the campaign trail – but our media watchdogs stay muzzled when...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Oh, dear.  We have nothing to report from the Beehive. At least, we have nothing to report from the government’s official website. But the drones have not gone silent.  They are out on the election campaign trail, busy buzzing about this and that in the hope ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Play it, Elvis
    Election Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t have time for. You’re welcome, etc. Let us press on, etc. 1.  What did Christopher Luxon use to his advantage in ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Pure class warfare
    National unveiled its fiscal policy today, announcing all the usual things which business cares about and I don't. But it did finally tell us how National plans to pay for its handouts to landlords: by effectively cutting benefits: The biggest saving announced on Friday was $2b cut from the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Ask Me Anything about the week to Sept 29
    Photo by Anna Ogiienko on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour, including:duelling fiscal plans from National and Labour;Labour cutting cycling spending while accusing National of being weak on climate;Research showing the need for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 29-September-2023
    Welcome to Friday and the last one for September. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt highlighted at the latest with the City Rail Link. On Tuesday, Matt covered the interesting items from Auckland Transport’s latest board meeting agendas. On Thursday, a guest post from Darren Davis ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    3 days ago

  • Protest at Parliament: The Reunion.
    Brian’s god spoke to him. He, for of course the Lord in Tamaki’s mind was a male god, with a mighty rod, and probably some black leathers. He, told Brian - “you must put a stop to all this love, hope, and kindness”. And it did please the Brian.He said ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Labour cuts $50m from cycleway spending
    Labour is cutting spending on cycling infrastructure while still trying to claim the higher ground on climate. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Labour Government released a climate manifesto this week to try to claim the high ground against National, despite having ignored the Climate Commission’s advice to toughen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • The Greater Of Two Evils.
    Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very rarely is an opposition party elected ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #39 2023
    Open access notables "Net zero is only a distraction— we just have to end fossil fuel emissions." The latter is true but the former isn't, or  not in the real world as it's likely to be in the immediate future. And "just" just doesn't enter into it; we don't have ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Chris Trotter: Losing the Left
    IN THE CURRENT MIX of electoral alternatives, there is no longer a credible left-wing party. Not when “a credible left-wing party” is defined as: a class-oriented, mass-based, democratically-structured political organisation; dedicated to promoting ideas sharply critical of laissez-faire capitalism; and committed to advancing democratic, egalitarian and emancipatory ideals across the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalitio...
    Labour’s  Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the  leaders’ debate  on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of  the pundits  rated  him the winner against National’s  Christopher Luxon. But will this make any difference when New  Zealanders  start casting their ballots? The problem  for  Hipkins is  that  voters are  all too ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a di...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”. The ministers were dishing ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW: Election 2023 – a totemic & charisma failure?
    The D&W analysis Michael Grimshaw writes –  Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Known for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • FROM BFD: Will Winston be the spectre we think?
    Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. JC writes-  Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former. This week Luxon declared his position, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • California’s climate disclosure bill could have a huge impact across the U.S.
    This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
    This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    4 days ago

  • Try A Little Kindness.
    My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • What makes NZFirst tick
    New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • September AMA
    Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • Bludgers lying in the scratcher making fools of us all
    The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements.  There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
    Alex Holland writes –  In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • If not now, then when?
    Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • THE FACTS:  77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
    The Facts has posted –        KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
    The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
    New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Old habits
    Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
    Real ClimateBy rasmus
    5 days ago

  • Bennie Bashing.
    If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • The kindest cuts
    Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
    While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    5 days ago

  • At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • How could this happen?
    Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    6 days ago

  • Always Be Campaigning
    The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • STEPHEN FRANKS: Press seek to publicly shame doctor – we must push back
    The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Competing on cruelty
    The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Further funding for Pharmac (forgotten in the Budget?) looks like a $1bn appeal from a PM in need of...
    Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan  – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: The Vested interests shaping National Party policies
    As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 days ago

  • Labour may be on way out of power and NZ First back in – but will Peters go into coalition with Na...
    Voters  are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris  Hipkins’  valiant  rearguard  action.  So  where  are they  heading?  Clearly  not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that  the  outcome  will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a  few weeks  ago  was ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago

  • GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?
    Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes –    With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence
    As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    6 days ago

  • Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
    ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummeted
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • September-23 AT Board Meeting
    Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago

  • Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
    Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Big money brings Winston back
    National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • 20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
    As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    7 days ago

  • A night out
    Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • A pallid shade of Green III
    Clearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaos
    Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekers
    Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • Letter To Luxon.
    Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.   Brian Easton writes –  Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • 100 new public EV chargers to be added to national network
    The public EV charging network has received a significant boost with government co-funding announced today for over 100 EV chargers – with over 200 charging ports altogether – across New Zealand, and many planned to be up and running on key holiday routes by Christmas this year. Minister of Energy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Safeguarding Tuvalu language and identity
    Tuvalu is in the spotlight this week as communities across New Zealand celebrate Vaiaso o te Gagana Tuvalu – Tuvalu Language Week. “The Government has a proven record of supporting Pacific communities and ensuring more of our languages are spoken, heard and celebrated,” Pacific Peoples Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Many ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
    Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
    The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
    The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
    Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
    Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Immigration settings updates
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