FTPT plus possession giving Tories unfair advantage as they enslave us to foreign capital

It is now clearer that there is much more to the coming 12 December 2019 General Election than a Brexit/Remain decision.

A family member has sent me

Nothing to see here folks, nothing dodgy going on, just significant sums changing hands for access to senior tories...

https://www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnsons-conservatives-receive-surge-in-cash-from-russians-2019-11

Business Insider:

Boris Johnson's Conservative Party has received a surge in cash from Russian donors

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party has received a surge in donations from Russians in recent months.
• Donors with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin have donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the party.
• They have previously paid for meetings with senior government figures including Johnson.
• The figures come with Johnson blocking publication of a report examining whether Russia had influence over recent UK elections.
• Johnson's senior strategist Dominic Cummings is also under the spotlight following reports about time he spent in Russia in the 1990s.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A new investigation reveals that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party has received a surge in cash from Russian donors over the past year, news that comes as his government continues to block publication of a report into Russian influence over recent elections.

 So much for 'The Transparency of Lobbying Act' by which Conservative/Liberal Democrat UK Government attacked trade unions' capacity to take political action!
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=transparency+gagging+act+trade+union+finance

First Past the Post as an electoral parasite, sucking the life blood out of free choice in the UK

The story from Business Insider helps outline consequences of previous 'access for cash' Tory Government policy. See also
https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/media/Documents/9781510449220_sample.pdf
and
https://newsforwardsfromalanwheatley.blogspot.com/2019/10/government-and-fiona-bruce-backing-for-mipim-uk-summit-2019.html


Meanwhile, there has previously been this from Make Votes Matter sitting on my desktop PC:

Make Votes Matter logo

It's time to make votes matter

Dear Alan,

We think our democracy is worth saving, and we hope you agree. That's why we want to make sure the next general election is the last in British history to be held under a failed system: First Past the Post.

Since launching, we are just over half way towards our £50,000 target, thanks to over 900 incredibly generous donors. Amazing! And with your help we can do even more to maximise the chances of winning Proportional Representation in the next Parliament.

So please donate today! How much is winning real democracy worth to you? From £1 to £100, or as much as you can afford, every penny helps in the fight for fair votes.

 Please give whatever you can and share the crowdfunder page to keep us campaigning; building the movement during the election and in the critical period after. Thank you so much for your support - and a huge thank you if you've already donated.

General election actions

Visit our GE2019 action page throughout the election campaign to find the most urgent actions anyone can take to help win PR.

From submitting a killer question to the first televised Leaders' debate, to telling Labour's manifesto consultation your want fair votes, to signing our letters to Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, drop in to view the quick actions you can take today.

Visit the Make Votes Matter General Election 2019 action page

With hope and dedication,

Aaron, Caroline, Emma, Joe, Klina, Sarah, Surrinder, Tim and the rest of the team

Make Votes Matter

---

Electoral Reform Society: "It's time to move to a voting system fit for the 21st century"

And on 26 October, Electoral Reform Society wrote me:

Why our next General Election will be an unfair lottery

Westminster’s voting system of First Past the Post fails time and again to represent the interest of British voters...

Read the article

Electoral Reform Society: "Loopholes in the current laws put free and fair elections under threat"

Dark ads and dodgy donors: How the Queen’s Speech missed a chance to protect our democracy

Britain’s election rules are nearly 20 years old. In many ways, they ignore the existence of the internet – which has completely changed the face of political campaigning...

Read the article

---

Over the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, there is another man who has had questionable pre-election dealings with Vladimir Putin. How was or how will that matter be resolved?

Voters beware! Ballots to Boris and his dodgy allies!

That's it for me for now.

Alan Wheatley

'Tax cut' promises for some, thumbscrews for others

Left: General Election propaganda; Right: thumbscrews

The Daily Express front page as reported at today's edition of https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs/the_papers flag-waving toward a Tory General Election victory for December, chimes, "Boris: I'll cut taxes for every worker; and boost welfare spending by £5bn."

"Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is looking at plans to give every employee a tax cut worth up to £460 by raising the National Insurance threshold, says the Daily Express. The paper explains that the proposal would be at the heart of a manifesto designed to win over working-class voters, particularly in the Midlands and the North,"

is what BBC News reports.

At what cost to public services and preservation of 'the commons'? one might ask, in line with Prof. Guy Standing's statement cited at https://newsforwardsfromalanwheatley.blogspot.com/2019/11/prof-guy-standing-expounds-upon-plunder-of-the-commons.html

“The commons have been eroded by neglect, in recent times accelerated by budget cuts due to austerity... Often, the erosion has resulted from the deliberate neglect, part of the strategy adopted by the early Thatcherites in which services and industries were starved of investment in order to induce public indifference to, and support for, their privatisation.”

It should be pointed out, as film director Ken Loach does in his new film Sorry We Missed You, that the majority of claimants of 'Universal Credit' (UC) are the working poor.
https://theconversation.com/ken-loachs-new-film-on-the-gig-economy-tells-exactly-the-same-story-as-our-research-125743

 UC incorporates the 'legacy benefits'

• child tax credit
• housing benefit.
• income-related employment and support allowance.
• income-based jobseeker's allowance.
• income support.
• working tax credit

 Source: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=universal+credit+legacy+benefits

The working poor are fleeced both by the cruelties of UC and taxpayer-subsidising of greedy landlords and skin flint employers alike.

Thumbscrews

Meanwhile, Taxpayers Against Poverty founder [retired] Revd Paul Nicolson reports [by e-mail]:

SPINNING THE 'RISE' IN BENEFITS

BBC News. "Benefits freeze to end in 2020, government confirms". This is technically a lie @BBCnews ought not publish. An increase at the rate of inflation is by definition not a "rise".

This is like unwinding a thumbscrew a quarter of a wind after it has been wound up a hundred times and implying the pain will be less or like closing the door of a fridge and saying it has stopped freezing without turning it off.

Single adult JSA £73.10 a week equates to UC £317 a month. Increases were limited to 1% pa 2011 to 2015 then frozen. It is worthless The nightmare of debt & hunger continues.

JSA/UC is paid to about 4 milion people.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/…/datasets/mainoutofworkbenefitsben01

It has been losing value since 1979 - yes 1979! (Bradshaw & Lynne). Worth 21% of average earnings in 1979 and 10.5% in 2008.

https://www.theguardian.com/…/letter-jobseeker-allowance-un…

Too low to tax but since April 2013 290 councils of 326 have been enforcing a proportion of council tax against £73.10pw JSA/UC, with Magistrates Courts and Bailiffs costs added to the arrears. JSA/UC of £73.10 a week pays rent because housing benefit is also cut. Hunger and debt are inevitable.

Tax & rent are enforced by local authorities, rent by all landlords against £73.10 pw JSA/UC, regardless of delayed payments, benefit sanctions or zero hours contracts.

http://taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk/…/tap-tell-united-nat…The state damaging health by the Imposition of extreme poverty is morally indefensible

 So, there you have a little more 'balanced reporting' than you are likely to get from the BBC or Daily Express!