Aneurin's Ghost

Profits can be manufactured to pay dividends. Carillon did it by capitalising interest and repair and maintenance costs. All water companies have done the same for years. Of course, profits do not equal cash and companies then borrow to pay dividends.

No state has a ‘right’ to exist – least of all an apartheid, genocidal state like Israel jonathancook.substack.com/p/no-state-h...

NHS faces exodus of ADHD and autism services staff to private clinics. Low wages have caused brain drain, loss of skilled staff. Part of privatisation of the NHS by stealth. Private sector picks up NHS contracts, profiteers, higher cost to public purse, increases NHS queues.

England's water infrastructure at breaking point. Large part of water network installed 130-150 years ago. Thames Water infrastructure has average age of 79 years; industry average 56 yrs. 40% of TW assets are 100+ yrs old. Must end privatisation, remove profit motive.

Overcrowding in UK A&E depts and treating patients in corridors linked to hundreds of deaths. Neoliberals urge cuts in public spending, silence on human consequences. Delayed care leads to premature deaths People sacrificed to gods of fiscal policies.

Energy suppliers urge UK govt to help households struggling with energy bills. Silence on cutting profit margins, windfall taxes on excessive profits. Household energy debt heading to £7bn. 120,000 a year die in fuel poverty. We can't afford privatisation and resulting profiteering.

NHS England waiting list hits 7.33m appointments for 6.21m individuals, rises for the third time in 4 months. Privatisation by stealth. NHS capacity neglected. Thousands suffer. Private sector profiteers. www.oecd.org/en/publicati... Hospital beds per 1,000 population, Comparison 2013 and 2023.

Failures of privatisation. Royal Mail to cut up to 2,500 jobs Foreign-owned RM doesn't meet letter delivery targets even after regulator lowered them. Postage: 1st class, £1.80, 2nd class 91p. When privatized in 2013: 1st class 60p; 2nd class 50p. Poor service at triple price. Customers fleeced.

Burnham to pass law scrapping pension triple lock before next election. Risks handing advantage to opposition parties who will argue the opposite. Will alienate some senior voters. Risks Labour backbench rebellion, repeat of the Winter Fuel Payment episode. Numerous ways of funding triple lock.

It’s corruption on steroids in plain sight. He doesn’t even try to hide that he’s looting US and cashing in on insider trading. He’s the most corrupt president in American history.

Today's jobs report is a reminder that tax cuts for corporations and the rich don’t create jobs or grow the economy. What's required is investment in working people — and better wages. When workers have money to spend, the economy grows and businesses create more jobs. Remember this.

Richest 1% of Britons owns more wealth than the bottom 70% of the population combined. 50 richest families hold more wealth than the poorest half of the population combined. The concentration of wealth in fewer hands has not provided the necessary economic stimulus. Need redistribution.

Houses can be built on floodplains despite failing safety test, says UK high court. Profitable for developers, misery for buyers/residents. Problems with insurance, reselling, quality of life. Too many defective homes built. Get a private survey before buying a new home. Must change laws.

Thames Water: Andy Burnham should nationalise this failed monopoly. The entire water industry has failed. Must be nationalised. It is similar story in the energy sector. Profiteering, low investment. Privatisation has deepened cost of living crisis.

Swiss private equity firm and UK investor buy 1,570-bed student accommodation. Another sector taken over by PE, loaded with debt, high rents, profiteering. Rents outstrip govt maintenance loans. No UK tax charged on dividends paid to foreign investors.

One from the archives In 1984 Dunnes shop worker Mary Manning refused to handle South African goods & was backed by her shop steward, Karen Gearon. Both were suspended. 9 colleagues came out in support. The strike lasted 3yrs & forced the Irish govt to ban the import of all SA goods. All heroes

#settlercolonialism

Israeli airstrikes continue to hit southern Lebanon despite framework deal https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260927-israeli-airstrikes-continue-to-hit-southern-lebanon-despite-framework-deal/

www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240606-uk-...

BREAKING: 94 year old Jewish human rights barrister, Margaret Owen arrested under the Terrorism Act outside Andy Burnham’s Labour Party conference. UK taxpayers are funding these arrests while masked men terrorise the streets in coastal towns. Lift The Ban on Palestine Action.

Bank of England (BOE) governor says soaring energy prices could trigger interest rate rise. BOE will deplete business/household incomes by hiking costs. Force people to hand wealth to banks, boost their profits How about curbing profiteering, supply-chain problems, taxing those with surplus cash?

Andy Burnham announces new homes scheme for first-time buyers. Any help welcome but what about renters? No curbs on rents. Previous schemes boosted house prices. Real problem is low wages, job insecurity, high interest rates, profiteering by developers.

London investment bankers, lawyers, accountants make £1.2bn from takeover frenzy. Everything for sale in slicing/dicing, asset stripping bazaars. Anyone focused on the long term? UK has been at/near the bottom of the OECD league for investment in productive assets for 30 yrs.

Interest on Reserves: The £100bn UK Bank Subsidy You Fund. Banks making £50bn profits a year receive subsidies, long ended by the EU. UK Treasury will payout over £150bn over a five-year period from 2023 to 2028. No justification for handling billions to banks. End bank subsidies, help people.

New York Times Affirms Haaretz Report: Netanyahu Was Warned About Oct. 7 www.commondreams.org/news/benjami...

I'd be very happy because a Zack Polanski win would be such a strong signal to the super-rich, to powerful polluters, to media barons and tinkering politicians and complacent parties that they have been rejected and they will be challenged as never before. #VoteGreen

Yep! Do hope the #Greens win! @zackpolanski.bsky.social NEEDS to be in the #Commons - and needs to continue to continue to call out the #Genocide in #Gaza, despite the vicious, lying #Bullying of the #ZionistLobby! #Burnham might be on "their payroll" -but #Zack isn't- and he'd better NEVER be!😬💪

Trump and his donors are making a fortune from the sky high oil prices every single extra cent spent in N.America is going to them. He is a corrupt dictator.

As an old-ish Yorkshire lad, I don't often wish I was in London! But today I'd love to be there, challenging complacency, and helping Zack to work towards a brighter future for our country and our communities, long after I'm gone. Good luck everyone! @greenparty.org.uk 👍

Just want to point out Vladimir Putin can't go to the UN because he is a War Criminal. But Netanyahu can go to the UN even though he is a War Criminal. Because EVERYBODY is on Israel's payroll.

'It's a mystery, isn't it' via Christopher Warner

Only 10% of the richest 0.01% of the population paid close to the top 47% (45% income tax marginal rate + 2% NIC) rate on earnings. A quarter of that group paid an effective average tax rate of 20% or less. The tax system appears to be progressive for some but is frequently not so at the very top

The hit the poor and cut corporation tax (CT) brigade are out in force. UK headline CT rate is 25%. Companies pay about 10% less as govts give them numerous reliefs which reduces taxable profits. Companies also dodge tax by shifting profits to tax havens. obr.uk/box/corporat...

We want an end to the violence in the Middle East. And it all comes from the White Supremacy Colony Israel.

Declassified journalists banned from Labour conference – again. A Trumpian policy started by Keir Starmer. Burnham can't make a fresh start without getting rid of the previous advisers. Democracy means accepting scrutiny, even when it is uncomfortable.

Actress Susan Sarandon being arrested earlier today for protesting Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations. One is speaking out against genocide, one is committing it. One was arrested, one was not. Photo: AP News

Tom Watson’s move to Palantir is the latest sign of how far the rot has spread in UK politics. Like Blair, Cameron, Clegg, Mandelson, hired to open govt networks to companies and corporate capture of the state. They sell political capital built with public money. What do we get in return?

UK food and drink trade deficit largest since 2000 at £21bn. Brexit, Trump tariffs/wars and deindustrialization add to woes. Exports to the EU fall, cheaper imports control inflation but reduce food security. Must support local production, rejoin EU.

CAA, the Israel-funded group habitually treats opposition to Israel's genocide and apartheid as antisemitic Via @skwawkbox.org

"Billionaire Brexiteeer and Man United owner says he has "lost confidence in the UK"... A man who is so 'patriotic' to our country that he doesn't even live here! He lives in Monaco to avoid UK taxes, owns several luxury properties." via Jay Church

Iran doesn't have Nuclear Weapons. Israel has illegal Nuclear Weapons. Iran is the problem. Iran isn't mass murdering children and journalists. Israel is mass murdering children and journalists. Iran is the problem... No we are the problem, we are supporting the problem.

If the Irish players go ahead with this game on Sunday, then all they'll be representing is their own selfishness, greed and cowardice - when instead they could be heroes for taking a stand against genocide. #StopTheGame

Thames Water has long passed its notice period. Labour can use its massive majority to nationalise it right now.

Jim Ratcliffe suspends production at key UK plants as gas prices soar. High prices due to Trumpian wars, profiteering by energy companies. UK squandered the North Sea oil revenues, privatised energy. Govt has fewer policy options but can remove green levies from customer bills. Nationalise energy

Palantir have just bought themselves a Labour Lord with close links to the Labour government. No other word to describe this other than corruption. How can Watson remain a member of the House of Lords and keep the Labour whip?

Meanwhile in unrelated news......

Yes.