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Prospects for Wednesday 2 July

Brian Thornton | 11:04 UK time, Wednesday, 2 July 2008

Good morning, lots of stories around today - most of them about the increasingly depressing state of the economy. Never mind - at least Andy Murray is still in Wimbledon... Here are the thoughts of programme producer Dan Kelly:

"Economic Downturn - the Politics and the Economics.

The Politics
The Finance Bill will finally limp through the Commons today after an extraordinary number of U-turns by the Treasury (Cap Gains Tax, 10p, Non-Doms etc). Another retreat could be signalled tonight on tax discs after an expected Labour rebellion this evening. Thousand of hauliers will be in Westminster to lobby for fuel duties and related taxes to be reduced. How weak is the Treasury, the Chancellor and government's economic strategy? Whitehall is increasingly aware that there is no longer an easy way to raise taxes (in the face of intense lobbying). There has been talk of an economic relaunch in the autumn, but what would that be?

The Economics
How close are we to a recession? There have been wretched statistics from Marks and Spencer and Taylor Wimpey this morning, and this week's advertising figures could be even more significant.

What guests would you like on? Politicians and business people?


The Taliban
We have an interview with Ahmed Rashid the hugely influential Pakistani journalist who has studied the Taliban for many years. How can the West beat them?

NHS
Liz MacKean has travelled the UK in a former ambulance to hear a variety of different views from workers and users of the NHS."

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    I trust that Hoon's Zinoviev Letter to Vaz will be examined with more rigour than the on-going spate of stabbings. What more proof could the voter need that Gordon Brown has lied to the House and to the voter, over his horse-trading, to save his skin, over 42-days.
    One can only hope that this story isn't pushed aside by the heavyweight item recently suggested, by programme makers in 'Prospects', on the history of the tea-bag.

  • Comment number 2.

    If a shepherd looks after their sheep then we the british people are sheep run by a shepherd who believes in lots of guard dogs and little else.

    If we had 90 days energy storage then the uk could be insulated from a lot of the price rises. As it is instead of storing gas during the summer when demand is low we sell it to the european energy firms who store it and then they sell it back to us at the new winter demand prices.

    If we had a two way grid then it would become economic for individuals to install micro generation and thus savemoney/begreen/improve nationalsecurity/generate tax revenue all in one.

    As for food. Where has all the class 2 fruit and veg gone. Just because a cucumber/tomato/lettice/onion/ is the wrong shape for the eu that doesn't mean it should rot in the fields?

    Why are we paying millionaire land owners not only 4 billion a year subsidy but a subsidy to grow nothing? If you have ÂŁ6000 in savings you lose benefits if you have 600 acres you get them?

  • Comment number 3.

    IS OUR RIGHT UNIVERSAL?

    Centuries ago we found we could oppress others and force our religion on them (while, incidentally, using them as cheap/free labour) we devalued the female. We were the Taliban of that time. Our nastiness is, today, much more insidious. Bizarrely we now major in psychological and physiological damage to ourselves! The world is not ONE TIME ZONE. In another time, we used to burn witches and punish non-attendance in church. Whence comes our right to attack/punish those who have not moved to the position we now hold - SUCH AS IT IS? We have degraded pride, honour, integrity, propriety, humility, deference and other intangibles, and now measure rightness by profit and winning. Nihilistically: WE DEVALUE THE MOTHER ROLE. I suspect the Taliban still revere some of the foregoing concepts, even if paradoxical. One of the most universal 'Christian' concepts is Mote and Beam. Perhaps when we attend to seeking out the 'Weakness and Evil' (Joseph Rowntree) in our own culture and hearts, the Taliban might respect US/

  • Comment number 4.

    TO NEWSNIGHT

    Those of us with any perceptiveness know that Westminster is a defended citadel over-arching the sub-citadels (equally defended) of each party. (By my judgement, there are some among you who would acknowledge this.) Within this self-serving community, much is enacted that runs counter to the interests of the British people. The prime example is that Westminster is willing to hand over this nation to EU control, over the heads of an uninformed and disenfranchised set of bemused inhabitants.
    As Westminster now treats us like chattels (one might liken them to the Taliban?) we must look to a new champion. Newnight does a passable job of playing along with the Hoons and Blears as they say nothing with many words, but could you not spare ONE dedicated commentator to eschew party games and lay open - night after night - the Westminster (YesMinister) reality? This would be Public Service Broadcasting beyond the wildest of dreams.

  • Comment number 5.

    "Newsnight's" approach to news non-reporting is spreading. ±«Óătv 1's lunchtime news totally failed to mention London's latest stabbing, which cleverly saved them not giving any details of the culprit.
    Can "Newsnight" top this?
    Does this failure to achieve basic competence interest anyone at "Newsnight"?
    Is anyone there? Hello? All popped to Wimbledon? Calling "Newsnight".

  • Comment number 6.

    MULTICULTURAL RECESSION.

    When the masses of cheap labour we have imported and reclassified under the euphemism of 'multiculture' find themselves out of work, can we look forward to unprecedented street displays of ethnic colour and gaiety as they apply all that free time in a celebration of their cultural roots?
    Fortunate Britian say I! I hope we shall see Tony Blair - returned in triumph - out there, in the thick of it, receiving his just reward for making it all possible. We might even see a proper smile on Gordon's face!

  • Comment number 7.

    HEALTH WARNING

    Sir Jeremy Hardy (elevated by me for services to bottom kicking) once remarked to the effect that a room full of unlovely Tories would convince you there had been a nuclear accident. The benches of Parliament convince me that Health is not one of their priorities. (Perhaps a biological attack?)
    It is well established that individual health is optimised with quality egg and sperm, phisico/mental state of mother, birth experience, mothering, family, and late-onset institutionalising (aka shool). Everything that GDP obsessed governance does, mediates against the above. Britian draws the most aberrant from a pool of distressed citizens to govern her, and the whole asulum ends up run by an l-word.

  • Comment number 8.

    On the Taleban I would be interested to know how much the Talibs are now Pakistani as opposed to Afghan? If I understood the situation then the Taleban were heavily embedded in Afghanistan. But I thought these days the Talibs were mainly over the border.

    So my question would be "is the relationship between the ordinary Afghans and Pakistani Taleban fracturing?". If so you would have thought the intelligence gathering is going to change.

    Also the recent Pakistani engagements around the Khyber Pass. Is that for show to appease the West or is that a real change?

    Also is Musharraf a lame duck now and will the judges get reinstated?

  • Comment number 9.

    Marks and Spencer :

    This should be a piece to camera with Jeremy and his under - pinnings of course!

  • Comment number 10.

    I think Grumpy-Jon points to a good investigation in #1 .

    What exactly were the "Rewards" that the letter referred to ?

  • Comment number 11.

    I heard one political commentator saying, with some truth, that neither the Tories or Labour have a clue about what to do over the stabbings and deaths of young people.

    Perhaps it has gone out of fashion or that it has to be regarded as taboo in the current politically correct climate, but my solution would to bring back the death penalty even to young people. It may make them think twice before pulling out a knife to kill what may be our sons or daughters.
    Oh dear I can see all the "bleeding hearts" wringing their hands as these ferials' are disadvantaged, have poor parents, have nothing to do so it gives them the excuse to form gangs and kill or kick people to death.
    The death penalty might even free up our overcrowded prisons as we keep some monsters in the lap of luxury at probably tens of thousands of pounds per year.

    Perish the thought if Labour ever adopted as a definite promise to restore it, they could be re-elected?? It won't happen so we will sit by and watch the death toll rise and more thugs get off with smacks on wrists. Even the police, we read today, are about to scarper off the beat leaving thses thugs to frigten us all.

    That Yank in Texas had the answer. Those two won't be robbing any more.

  • Comment number 12.

    we keep getting scoops on the beeb. the man u supporting political editor of NN and now the head political correspondent unearths on the Andrew Neil 'Talking Politics' just before PMQ's. Someone has been doing their homework as five minutes before PMQ's doesn't half narrow down the wriggle room. Nice One Beeb. The Vaz man will go to ground like the DUP lot yet with Crick and co., expect a lot of searching questions.

  • Comment number 13.

    Eyebrows are being raised in Scotland and at PMQ's over the speed with which Labour
    has moved the writ for the Glasgow East
    by-election which will be on 24th July - in
    the middle of the Glasgow Fair holidays!

    Is this a sign of panic? What news of Fife
    where it is rumoured that another Labour
    MP is being urged not to resign on health
    grounds in case that sparked a byelection
    even closer to Gordon Brown's backyard?

    Labour is currently without a leader in Scotland - Newsnight forgot I think to
    mention this but Wendy Alexander MSP
    resigned on Saturday when you were
    off-air and/or focussing on Wimbledon.

    That may make things a little easier in the Glasgow East byelection according to one
    of the pundits up here (Peter Lynch of Univ
    of Stirling) but John Curtice has been on the radio suggesting that the outcome might be rather closer than some assume.

    The MP standing down (David Marshall)
    was anti-Trident and Alex Salmond was
    in Sri Lanka in person to lead the official
    bid for the Commonwealth Games which
    will give the East End a real shot in the
    arm. Perhaps time to wheel out Mr Crick?

  • Comment number 14.

    Re #10.
    According to our fabulous PM Steve, the reward was Hoon's thanks! As fine a display of contempt for the people as it's been my privilege to see, since Brown said that Wendy Alexander calling for the SNP to have a referendum, wasn't a call for the SNP to have a referendum.
    Naturally, nothing will be done this incompetent and lying Govt., since Cameron is too pathetic to boot them out.

  • Comment number 15.

    AND THERE'S MORE

    Miliband (D) has stated in the plainest terms: no 'yes' from the Irish, no Lisbon Treaty. I could not help being reminded of Blair's: 'Even now, if Sadam gives up his WMD, he can stay in power.' The same disingenuous quality, common to both statements, is rife in political utterances. Grumpy Jon (#14) gives other examples.
    On Sunday, when Hague was dancing round a question from John Sopel, Sopel said: 'Mr Hague, you are speaking in code!'
    That's how it is done. Now lets have more of the same please.

  • Comment number 16.

    Billbradbury at post #11

    I believe there is a way to reduce the number of armed attacks.

    However, cushioned as they are from the real world, don't expect politicians to improve the situation. Read this if you want
    to see what a fatuous, useless bunch they are:


    The Lib Dems and Tories are both pretty bad, but for out-and-out misleading propaganda New Labour take the cake so could you really believe any future manifesto promise (I'll give a straight-talking illustrative quote from Genewatch at the end of this post)? New Labour are more interested in forcing people to acquiesce to their ideology than in improving British
    people's lot in life, and consequently we cannot rely upon getting all the relevant facts of any important issue from the
    media as there is a social political agenda being pushed, as virtually admitted in that article.

    Why is this relevant? Because, due to this political sympathy for the criminal and lack of empathy for the victim, now within
    the British political and legal 'elite' the 'Human Rights' of the criminal outweigh those of the innocent victim and of society in general.

    It's relatively easy to turn that around if there is the will, and send the clear message:
    'If you choose to be a dangerous person using weapons to harm other members of our society then, when found guilty, you will
    lose the benefits of our society, and we will send you to a foreign prison where you will be the one in danger.'

    We list the five most violent prison systems in other countries.
    We do a deal with those countries, and pay them to incarcerate our violent prisoners as they would their own.
    The more violent the crime, the worse the prison.
    Then publicise just how bad their lives are.
    If they suffer or die, well, they are on the receiving end of the treatment they dished out. It's equality - you'd think New Labour would like that!



    What follows is an extract from the Genewatch website; you can read the full article there but this demonstrates the use of lying and pushing fear:
    On 17th June 2008, in a major speech on ‘Liberty and Security’, Gordon Brown stated:
    “I say to those who questioned the changes in the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, which allowed DNA to be retained from all charged suspects even if not found guilty: if we had not made this change, 8,000 suspects who have been matched with crime scenes since 2001 would in all probability have got away, their DNA having been deleted from the database. This includes 114 murders, 55 attempted murders, 116 rapes, 68 other sexual offences, 119 aggravated burglaries, and 127 drugs offences”.

    This briefing examines the evidence for this claim and concludes that:
    1. The Prime Minister’s claim is false;
    2. Ministers are well aware that this claim is false;
    3. This figure is misleading to members of the public who are concerned about the
    implications of retaining innocent people’s records indefinitely on the National
    DNA Database.

  • Comment number 17.

    Re Billbradbury and DerekPhibes.
    If only our politicians were as concerned and desperate to come up with solutions, as you fellers. I suppose our problem, ultimately, is that they don't.

  • Comment number 18.

    Not happy - have tried posting here three times now.

    This is a test...

  • Comment number 19.

    DrKF77 (#18) Keep an eye out for accidental inclusion of illegal characters such as the ampersand in posted text as this results in a DNS/illegal xml message in the address line - i.e. an auto-rejection of one's post.

  • Comment number 20.

    Many thanks, JadedJean - the moment has passed for the comment I was going to make, but it's good to know for the future.

    I do wish they'd issue some guidelines on that sort of thing...

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