Al Jazeera

Coverage of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza has never been given much prominence by our mainstream television channels, but have you noticed that it has now almost completely disappeared? The excuse, no doubt, is the need to cover in excruciating detail the general election – the entertaining Tory meltdown, the glacial campaign by Starmer’s New Labour (should that be New Tory?) and excessive coverage of  Nick Farage, the dodgy owner of Reform Ltd which is threatening a ‘reverse takeover’[1]  of whatever remains of the Tory Party after the election. Meanwhile, the all-important campaigns by two crucial independent candidates, Corbyn and Feinstein, are hardly mentioned.

Thank goodness, then, for Al Jazeera with its daily reporting from Gaza. While other channels have long ago withdrawn their journalists (if they ever had any), those from Al Jazeera bravely struggle on. Don’t be surprised, however, when Starmer withdraws its broadcasting license and slot on Freeview as soon as he becomes Prime Minister (provided he can first overcome Feinstein in his Holborn constituency). According to  Declassified UK,  Starmer and his court are heavily indebted to Labour Friends of Israel. Israel has already closed down Al Jazeera in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Expect payback time if/when Starmer becomes our next Prime Minister.

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[1] A ‘reverse takeover’ is the technical term for a takeover of a big undertaking by a smaller company which relies on external financial backing to finance the bid – backers who will have to be repaid when the bid succeeds. How appropriate!

LEVELLING DOWN

As the Shadow Cabinet reshuffle this week demonstrated, Starmer is now in complete control of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP); and as the unseating of Jeremy Corbyn demonstrated, the PLP is the Labour Party. Forget the Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) and the affiliated trade unions. Forget collective responsibility. Forget OMOV with its gender-biased name. It’s now One Man All the Votes. The only possible resistance to Starmer comes from his  elected Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner. That’s not much of a threat as she has jokingly referred to herself  as “John Prescott in a skirt”. As you may recall, ‘Two Jags’ Prescott was Tony Blair’s Deputy PM. Despite his credentials as a left wing trade unionist, ‘Two Jags’ did nothing to constrain his boss. Like Angela Rayner, he gave the appearance of representing the working class without actually doing anything about it.

Once upon a time, ordinary Labour Party members chose the Shadow Cabinet. The PLP saw off that challenge to their authority in 2011 – as no doubt, they will see off any further attempt to elect a leader who does not meet with their approval. The chances of another Corbyn being elected as leader are slim and his or her chances of surviving for long if elected are even slimmer.

It may be significant that Starmer has given Angela Rayner the levelling up brief. As described in the previous blog, Labour has foregone redistributive taxation. Reforms must be paid for by growth in the economy. As the fruits of economic growth under capitalism are appropriated by the rich, workers will wait forever for levelling up by this route. Levelling down can, however, benefit them immediately. Here are twelve ways in which this might be achieved –

• Reform Council Tax to make it progressive and come down hard on second homes.
• Equalise Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax.
• Integrate Graduated National Insurance with income tax and make both progressive.
• Limit the extent to which corporations can reduce Corporation Tax by deducting interest.
• Abolish trusts and the use of offshore tax havens.
• Re-establish death duty as an unavoidable tax and use it to fund social care for the elderly.
• Allow councils to borrow to build council houses.
• Reform the financing of political parties – a ceiling of £500 on individual donations and a ban on corporate donations. And no public money unless the CP get a fair share!
• Reform charity law – exclude public schools and bogus think tanks.
• Limit public school access to higher education to their proportion of students nationally.
• Abolish student fees and reintroduce maintenance grants.
• Abolish anti-trade union laws and promote collective bargaining.

I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to ‘level down’. Give us your suggestions and we will publish them.