Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Ben Jennings (Gaurdian) on the Fascist Frog's normal day...

#politics #NigelFarage

Zack Polanski is about to put his head above the parapet on the Green Party of England & Wales' economic policy.... we can expect there to be be quite a lot of push back despite much of the policy being pretty uncontentious in economic terms....

What will likely create the most noise are the proposals to shift fiscal rules (again) & to equalise tax rates on capital gains with those on income (highly welcome in my view).

The game is on (as they say).

#Greens #economics
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/18/basics-of-life-in-britain-have-been-sold-for-profit-says-polanski

Not that we should believe the Tangerine Tyrant launched the attack on Iran merely because talks on Iran's nuclear capability had broken down, but if you were so inclined, then after reading the Guardian's detailed account of these talks (undermined by the 'idiosyncratic' negotiating stance of the US' team)... you will be much clearer that something else was going on - this is war of choice & that choice had little to do with nuclear weapons!

#Iran #geopolitics

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/18/ignorance-misunderstanding-obfuscation-iran-nuclear-talks-trump

Unsurprisingly shipping rates have soared as ships are forced to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, but more unusually shippers have invoked a C19th maritime rule allowing them to leave shipments (now containers) at the 'nearest' port to be picked up by the client at their own expense.... resulting in customers finding their containers/shipments are subject to significant extra costs for onwards transportation to their final (contracted) destination.

More inflationary pressure(s).

#shipping
h/t FT

If you wanted an example of how the UK is becoming more like the USA look at the roads.... the appalling state of many roads in the USA partly prompted John Kenneth Galbraith's observation some 50 years ago that the US combined public squalor with private affluence.

Given the concentration of wealth in the UK & the ever growing problem of potholes in roads, a similar observation would seem (and has seemed for some time) apposite for the UK.

#inequality #politics

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2rm8evv7eo

The Varieties of Democracy project at GothenbergU confirms what many have been saying/thinking for years:

the US & Europe are heading towards autocracy (often arriving because voters have supported explicit autocratic leaders in elections).

The Q. is how does one defend democracy against this wave of (renewed) quasi-dictatorship?

One key answer is our political class(es) need to stop colluding with the Far Right & *actually* support democracy!

#democracy #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2026/mar/17/trump-is-aiming-for-dictatorship-thats-the-verdict-of-the-worlds-most-credible-democracy-watchdog

Some great music from the 80s, no.29

Human League. Don't You Want Me

This stone cold classic of electro-pop brings together a driving electro-beat & arrangement with fabulous lyrical content delivered by Phil Oakey & Susan Ann Sulley; a tale of rejection & stardom. The band were surprised it was a hit but it has now become their signature song & remains a 80s night sign-along fave. On this song all the elements of the Human League came together better than ever!

#music #80sClassics #synthpop

Nesrine Malik argues, in the end its all about Palestine:

'The absence of peace & self-determination for the Palestinian people is the original sin; all flows from there. Netanyahu prefers to be in a costly state of wars with seemingly no end rather than see a free Palestine. His government has yoked Israel, the Middle East & the entire world to this expanding crisis, rather than solve the fundamental issue'!

#Gaza #Palestine #Iran #politics

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/16/war-iran-gulf-west-palestine-occupation-us

As the Govt. continues to ease/relax regulation of financial services, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Investment Fraud & Fairer Financial Services has concluded that:

'The recurring pattern of financial scandals in the UK is not accidental or isolated, but reflects deeper structural problems in the way financial regulation operates'.

The group call for a Royal Commission to examine the sector... you'll be unsurprised to hear the Govt. is resistant!

#FinancialServices #politics
h/t FT

RIP Jürgen Habermas.

Habemas was one of those poltiical philosophers we felt we all needed to grapple with when I was a an early career academic.

His notion of consensus building though communication as a way of supporting democracy were incredibly influential on colleagues trying to find ways to make the global order more stable & safer.

To some extent his optimism may have not been realistic, but it was a wonderful message of hope.

#JürgenHabermas #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/14/jurgen-habermas-german-philosopher-and-sociologist-dies-aged-96

Its Mother's Day; so here's a great painting by Caroline Walker (from Mothering, an exhibition recently at the Hepworth, Wakefield & now at the Pallant House Gallery) called Night Feed.

This seems to me to encapsulate both the dedication of mothers, and the exhaustion that often comes with the dedication.

To mothers everywhere, I salute you.

#MothersDay #art #feminism

So, if we take the instruction to follow the money... then the news that US oil groups are likely to gain upwards of $60bn windfall from the rise in global oil prices caused by the US/Israeli attacks on Iran & the Iranian's response, would lead one to presume few in the oil industry will be working to resolve this crisis....

Of course, their short-term advantage may in the end prove a pyrrhic gain if it encourages a speedier take up of alternatives (renewables)?

#Iran #oil #economics
h/t FT

Q. will escalation traps & incrementalism draw the US into an ever wider range of attacks & involvement in the war on Iran?

The lessons of history (specifically Vietnam) suggest it may well do, which offers little hope of an early resolution & peace for the Iranians, and a continuation of the ramping up of tensions across the Middle East, with considerable impact on the global system.

No good will come of this... as is already clear!

#Iran #politics #MiddleEast

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/14/how-iran-war-escalate-vietnam-trump-netanyahu-us-israel

The conflict(s) between Ryanair & its customers (or passengers as we used to call them) took a further turn when as part of a legal dispute about delayed flights, bailiffs boarded a Ryanair flight in Austria in a demand unpaid compensation (awarded in an Austrian court case).

Just one more reason to think twice about flying with Ryanair.... unless you enjoy the potential for such a long-running dispute?

#Ryanair #consumers

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/13/bailiffs-board-ryanair-plane-after-airline-refused-to-pay-compensation-over-delayed-flight

Jonathan Freedland:

'To confront the Iranian regime was to walk, with a lit match, towards a tinderbox soaked in gasoline. If it were to be done at all, whether by military or other means, it had to be done with the greatest care. But Trump has blundered in, crushing & trampling all before him, making a bad situation worse. He does not deserve the benefit of the doubt. He does not deserve his war to be assessed charitably. He deserves our contempt'!

Exactly!

#Iran

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/13/donald-trump-iran-war-total-disaster

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given recent Govt.s have seldom been really interested in prisons as anything more than punishment or warehousing for criminals, the budget for prison education (a key aspect of any hope fro rehabilitation) has been cut (again) in real terms.

This is doubly disappointing as one might have hoped James Timpson as Prisons Minister might have been able to shift the Govt. towards realising the value of prison education.

#prison #education #politics

https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2026/03/13/cuts-to-prison-education-why-the-uk-cannot-afford-to-take-this-step/

Despite the depiction of the NHS as a 'secular religion' & the place it has in the public perception of the country, falling levels of satisfaction (as well as rising levels of overt racism & sexism in society) are increasingly reflected in the attitudes of patients to NHS staff.

So not only are NHS staff often over-worked, under-paid & dealing with a health service in crisis, the patients are taking it out on them too!.

Its all pretty grim.

#NHS #workers #racism

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/13/hundreds-of-thousands-of-nhs-staff-in-england-attacked-and-harassed-survey-shows

A growing problem at the interface of AI/LLMs & science is that while it raises research productivity (measured by publications & citations) it's also starting to narrow the problems that scientists work on.

It steers them towards areas & issues where there is abundant & reliable data.

When such data is less evident, the productivity gains by using AI/LLMs are less & so acts as a disincentive in a profession where publication is (often) everything.

This looks dangerous!

#science #AI
h/t FT

It looks like the US Federal Reserve is about to move to reduce capital requirement for major banks in the USA.

What could possibly go wrong? oh, wait a minute; these restrictions were put in place in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis.

As the aphorism has it: before taking down a fence make sure you know why it was put up in the first place.

Its yet one more aspect of the (wilful) forgetting of history; both in the banking sector & in Govt.

#FinancialCrisis #banking #USPol
h/t FT

I'm not the only person to note that given Elon Musk's often expressed antagonistic views about, & seeming support for insurrection in, the UK the idea of welcoming Tesla Energy Ventures into the fold of the electricity market seems wrong-headed at least & a danger to national security act worst.

This is the same Govt. that thinks peaceful placard holders are a threat to society, when they welcome in with open arms a real threat!

FFS

#electricity #ElonMusk #politics
h/t FT

You'll have seen this sort of data before but its worth repeating.

Those who claim to be worried about migration levels but then focus on the issue of 'small boats', are either not clear abut what is really going on as regards migration into the UK, or (perhaps more plausibly) are driven by other concerns....

I'll leave you to draw your conclusions about what those 'other concerns' might be.

#migration #refugees

h/t BBC Verify

So while some other politicians are battling tales from their past concerning racism or corruption the most so far that anyone has found to use against Zack Polanski is that he repeated a ludicrous claim (originally planted via a tabloid journalist) that hypnotism could be an aid to breast enlargement;

Foolish, perhaps, but not on the scale of past 'miss-steps' (misdemeanours) by others in our political class whatever the BBC & the rest of the media are trying to imply!

#Greens #media

Well, well, well... web searches for 'Epstein Files' have significantly fallen over the ten days since the US & Israel launched their attack on Iran.

Of course, only a cynic would regard this as an intended outcome from the Tangerine Tyrant's willingness to go to war.... I mean why would anyone think that?

#Iran #EpsteinFiles #USPol

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/epstein-files-interest-drops-amid-us-israel-strikes-1784056

Here is the count of violence against women & girls put together each year (this for for 2025).

The violence continues even as policing shifts its attitudes & the legal system seeks to increase successful prosecutions.

The problem remains (some) men & their attitudes towards women and girls - this goes beyond toxic masculinity, although that is part of the issue.

Men must refuse to ignore their peers' behaviour(s)!

#VAWG #politics

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg5nelp5enpo

In the past I've mentioned that my wife (of 40 years) suffers from Functional Neurological Disorder.... now in a meeting of two aspects of my private life, my friend's daughter (who is a GP & blogger) has written an excellent guide to FND for those unaware or only vaguely aware, of the condition (which I usually describe as a software problem not a hardware one).

If you're interested in knowing more about FND then I can heartily recommend Charlotte's blog.

#FND #health
https://thehealthandhealingnarrative.com/2026/03/09/what-is-functional-neurological-disorder/

Roy Lilley (NHSManagers.net) argues that the idea another review of social care will resolve the issue misunderstands the problem with social care;

the 12 year old Social Care Act, actually contains most of what is needed to start to deal with the problems in social in England & Wales.... the obstruction is not a lack of a strategy or plan, its the unwillingness of the Treasury to fund the complete & proper implementation of the SCA2014.

#politics #SocialCare

https://harrowtogether.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/An-Overview-of-the-Care-Act-2014.pdf

For businesses to hire new employees (and even replace those who leave), they need to have some confidence in their (and the country's) immediate economic future... unfortunately that is not the case (and the US/Israeli attack on Iran will make things even more uncertain in the short-term).

Not only does this have a negative impact on 'effective demand', further depressing economic activity, it continues to deny young people early career experience(s).

#workers

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/09/britain-job-market-floundering-companies-cautious-hiring

As their popularity rises the Green Party of England & Wales will see its policies gain more attention & criticism in the media.

The FT has run a long analysis of various policies this morning, suggesting that while popular, they may be under-estimating the need to find ways to convince bond-market actors their economic policies are 'credible'.

If the GPEW is not already reaching out to calm such actors, they might want to think about quietly (and pragmatcally) doing so.

#Greens #economics

This week its 250 years since the publication of Adam Smith's magnum opus The Wealth of Nations.

Too often this book is read in isolation from the rest of his work, which leaves important normative aspects of his political economy ignored....

while interpretations of the WoN itself are too often based on selective quotations & partial understanding of his analysis of markets.

You'll see a lot of claims Smith is the celebrant of unfettered free markets;

read WoN & find he isn't!

#economics

The Tangerine Tyrant may be being advised that sending in troops to Iran ('boots on the ground') will be welcomed by a population wanting salvation.... but experience tells us:

the advisors saying this are unlikely to actually know (and indeed may have reasons of their own for wanting US troops in the country);

the population may not universally welcome a US invasion, especially when we look at a century or more of US-Iran relations.

Things could be about to get even worse!

#Iran #USPol

#InternationalWomensDay

After a couple of requests, a (by no means exhaustive) list of women on Mastodon you might want to follow:

@christineburns@mastodon.green
@TCatInReality@mastodon.social
@Geri@mastodon.online
@TCMuffin@toot.wales
@CarolineLucas@respublicae.eu
@amokura@mastodonapp.uk
@AnnPettifor@econtwitter.net

And while there are, of course, many, many more, each of these Masto-folk are well worth following

#Mastodon

It seems appropriate today to highlight the call by Wendy Hall for more women & girls to get involved in computer science.

Numbers of women being educated in computing has halved in the last 10 years, with now around 25% of computing students at university being women.

If AI & other technologies are to be more attuned to female needs & interests, this decline needs to be reversed & computing become less of a male dominated domain!

#AI #women #InternationalWomensDay
https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/misogynistic-robots-a-real-risk-unless-more-girls-get-into-computing

The (now seemingly) likely refund of tariffs (now deemed illegal) paid in the US by importers, may actually turn out to be yet more corporate welfare.

If importers raised their prices to cover tariff charges, but then receive a refund on those charges, but do not pass that refund onto customers (which to be frank may actually be impractical at the retail level), then either the importers or the retailers (if refunds are passed down) are getting a windfall!

#tariffs #USPol #CorporateWelfare

Suddenly the Court of the Tangerine Tyrant is a lot more interested in engaging with Ukraine, now that its clear they have already refined drone defences against the very drones that Iran is using in it retaliations...

But as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has observed the US has used more Patriot interceptors against the barrage in the last week than have been supplied to Ukraine in four years.

His potential deal; anti-drone tech for Patriot arrays?

#Ukraine #Iran #politics
h/t FT

As healthy life expectancy in the UK (across all four nations) declines, Aditya Chakrabortty argues that too often we're putting attempts at growth ahead of concerns for health.

This is both exemplary of the problem with our political class but also an indication of the impact of the failed (and toxic) politics of austerity (that continue, just under different terms).

If Govt. cannot help us have a longer healthy life then what's it for?

#politics #health #UK

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/06/uk-death-healthy-life-expectancy-decline-state

Hardly surprisingly given Brexit, the UK remains outside the EU's designation of 'made in Europe' that will likely govern the sales of fleet & electronic cars in Europe.

Nissan have observed that should the UK remain outside that designation, they would move production out of the UK (and other car manufacturers would likely do the same).

No doubt the UK 'negotiators' will be trying to gain such designation; their problem: we need it, but the EU really is quite ambivalent

#EU #politics
h/t FT

It is so uneconomic for dentists to treat NHS patients, they're handing back funds provided for that work, preferring to focus on the better paid (more profitable) private work.

Of course, Dentists are businesses & this is a rational decision, but also emphasises how the privatisation of health provision plays out.

Rationing availability of NHS work also (again rationally) feeds into dentists preferred private work.

Dentistry needs urgent reform!

#NHS #dentistry
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpqwwvnp7z8o

So, Matthew Swindells (a senior NHS official - joint chair of four NW London NHS Trust) urged his colleagues to put more patient data into Palantir's patient record system, at the same time that he was a paid consultant for Palantir.

Once again, the privatisation of NHS functions is riddled with conflicts of interest; the move to private provision is hardly a 'reasoned' decision but rather is the result of the corrupt purchase of influence.

#NHS #politics #Palantir

h/t FT

One more aspect of the UK's barbarity is the handcuffing of pregnant women (often to male prison officers) when having vaginal examinations *and* during birth. If you're surprised at this, you'll be shocked reading the accounts in this article.

James Timpson (Prisons Minister) has requested an urgent review of the practice, but seemingly as yet no funding has been allocated - so we can see how seriously the Govt. takes this issue, ehh?

#prisons #women

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/04/the-scandal-of-women-handcuffed-while-in-labour-i-was-so-shocked-when-the-restraints-werent-removed

Ed Davey (LibDems), making the point I made yesterday:

'We rightly expect our Armed Forces to protect British citizens around the world in crises like this. But that includes tax exiles like Isabel Oakeshott & washed-up old footballers who mock ordinary people pay our taxes here [in the UK]. So as we protect them, does the prime minister agree that it’s only right for tax exiles to start paying taxes to fund our Armed Forces just like the rest of us do'!

#LibDems #Iran #politics
h/t The Bear

Emily Thornberry (Chair of House of Commons foreign affairs committee) on Keir Starmer's EU 'reset':

'In many areas, the government has failed to provide timelines, milestones or priorities & it does not appear to have an ambitious strategic vision for the UK’s new relationship with the EU'!

Indeed & that is because its a classic bit of declaratory politics; the declaration we want to reset EU relations was seen to be enough but sadly the EU has other ideas!

#EU #Brexit #politics
h/t FT

Q. rather than being a distraction from the Tangerine Tyrant's domestic problems, will he use the US/Israeli/Iran war to declare a state of emergency due to the threat of Iranian 'inspired' terrorism in the USA?

Just a thought, but as I typed it, somehow it didn't seem that implausible.....

I guess we'll see in the next week or so.

#USPol #StateOfEmergency #Iran

The Financial Conduct Authority has concluded that 25 bodies supervising anti-money-laundering controls are not working well, as their 'dual role as both a membership organisation & a supervisor can hinder effective action... [and] their enforcement lacks the teeth to deter firms from falling short of minimum standards'...

In other words, letting membership organisations mark their own homework on money laundering isn't working.... well what a surprise!

#MoneyLaundering #politics
h/t FT