Andy Burnham plans to pass a law scrapping the triple lock before the next election despite Labour pledging in its 2024 manifesto to keep it intact and the PM himself previously saying it would stay until 2030.
The post Burnham to Start Dismantling Triple Lock Before Election appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
So, this is Andy Burnham's solution to soaring energy prices: nationalisation and relitigating the 1970s. It's just a shame, says Ben Pile, that energy was far cheaper under Thatcher than in our Net Zero era.
The post Political Spite Won’t Keep the Lights On appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Amidst all the sentimental populist fluff, a political theory of sorts could be discerned in Andy Burnham's conference speech, says Professor James Alexander. Let's call him Our Andy-with-his-10-year-Plandy.
The post Our Andy With His 10 Year Plandy appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The joint sitting of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, 30th September, had been convened specifically to consider Mureșan’s programme and proposed Cabinet.
His government received 182 votes in favour and 15 against. It required at least 233 votes to take office.
Of Romania’s 464 MPs and senators, 321 were present and 197 valid votes were cast. PSD legislators attended but did not vote, while AUR members were absent from the chamber, according to the official result reported by Romania’s national news agency.
The result extends a crisis that has occupied Romanian politics for much of the year.
President Dan had nominated Mureșan after previous attempts to establish a stable government failed. Mureșan’s proposed coalition brought together the centre-right National Liberal Party, PNL, the Save Romania Union, USR, and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, UDMR.
Without support from the Social Democratic Party, PSD, that combination did not have the parliamentary numbers needed for investiture.
After the vote, Mureșan said his three-party grouping had presented a programme intended to end the crisis and accused the parties responsible for bringing down the previous administration of prolonging the instability.
The political breakdown began after the government of Ilie Bolojan lost a no-confidence vote in May.
Months before its collapse, EU Today had examined the growing strains inside Romania’s governing coalition, including disputes over fiscal consolidation and the position of Bolojan.
The subsequent search for a replacement has produced repeated nominations without restoring a stable majority. In June, President Dan turned to Adrian Veștea after an earlier nominee withdrew, while another confidence-vote attempt exposed the same underlying parliamentary arithmetic.
Mureșan was the latest effort to break the impasse.
The president must now decide whether another candidate has a realistic prospect of assembling the necessary 233 votes.
Romanian constitutional procedures also raise the possibility of early elections if repeated attempts to form a government fail. A review of the procedure following Wednesday’s vote notes that the president can make another nomination and that dissolution of parliament can become an option under the constitutional conditions governing failed investiture attempts.
Dan has previously warned against rushing towards another election, arguing that it could extend political uncertainty rather than resolve it.
The crisis is unfolding while Romania faces substantial fiscal pressure.
Successive governments have been required to address one of the largest budget deficits in the European Union while delivering reforms connected to EU funding and maintaining investment.
A prolonged period under an administration without a full parliamentary mandate would reduce the political room available for unpopular fiscal decisions.
Romania’s strategic position also gives the domestic crisis a wider European dimension.
The country sits on NATO’s south-eastern flank, shares a border with Ukraine and hosts allied military infrastructure. The Black Sea and Danube corridor have become increasingly important for European security and trade since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure close to Romanian territory have repeatedly forced Bucharest to respond to drones approaching or entering Romanian airspace. The security pressure was highlighted earlier this year when President Dan addressed the threat posed by Russian drone activity around the Danube.
Foreign and defence policy has therefore remained an important consideration during the government crisis.
Dan has stressed that Romania’s pro-Western orientation will continue despite the domestic deadlock.
The most immediate political question now concerns the PSD.
Party leader Sorin Grindeanu said after the vote that Romania urgently needed a government with full powers and that his party was prepared to assume responsibility for the country’s recovery.
Any new government able to command a reliable majority may therefore require either direct PSD participation or an arrangement under which Social Democrat MPs provide parliamentary support.
The alternative would be another attempt to construct a majority without them — something the past several months have shown to be difficult.
Wednesday’s result has not changed the parliamentary numbers. It has simply returned the decision to the Cotroceni Palace.
President Dan must now determine whether another coalition can be built from the existing parliament or whether Romania is moving closer to an early election.
Black Labrador and warm ale life is no fantasy, even less a "far Right" one, says Joanna Gray. But it is tragically far removed from the experience of the overwhelming majority of the population these days.
The post Black Labrador and Warm Ale Life is No Fantasy, But it is Tragically a Minority Pursuit appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Andy Burnham has announced that he will axe the pensions triple lock in 2030 to pay for free social care as well as unveiling an elections shake-up to shut out the Right from power.
The post Burnham Axes Triple Lock and Unveils Elections Shake-Up to Shut Out the Right appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Labour Minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter has said that visions of Britain based on warm ale, pubs and black labradors are a "far-Right" fantasy that "never really existed".
The post Labour Minister Claims That Visions of Britain Based on Warm Ale, Pubs and Black Labradors Are a “Far-Right” Fantasy that “Never Really Existed” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Not for the first time, there is a conspiracy among members of the established parties to exclude one element of our politics and make it effectively taboo, says Prof James Alexander: they want to keep the 'stasis quo'.
The post Notice How the Establishment is Trying to Defend the Stasis Quo appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
At the UN last week, Ed Miliband shared details of a secret "damning" climate spy report. Ben Pile points out that a similar secret report appeared 22 years ago – and not one of its apocalyptic predictions came true.
The post Spies and Their Climate Lies appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Shabana Mahmood is to announce a fast-track new legal route for "vulnerable" refugees from Palestine, Afghanistan and elsewhere that will grant them permanent settlement in the UK.
The post Mahmood to Open New Fast-Track Legal Route for Refugees appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The tour marked Ariana Grande’s return to the stage after a seven-year absence.
The post Ariana Grande ends ‘Eternal Sunshine Tour’ with tearful London goodbye appeared first on BOL News.
Galliano was filmed making antisemitic and racist remarks while intoxicated at a Paris bar.
The post John Galliano makes bold ‘Met Gala 2027’ move after fierce backlash appeared first on BOL News.
CHICAGO: Corn and wheat futures have rallied to their highest prices in more than three years, though the factors driving the gains for each crop remain distinctly different. Wheat futures settled Friday at $7.84 per bushel, up 3.1% on the day, after hitting an intraday peak of $7.9025, the highest level since Feb. 14, 2023. ... Read more
The post Corn, wheat prices surge to multi-year highs on divergent supply threats appeared first on BOL News.
Se procura aquele Algarve que ainda se sente virgem e selvagem, a Praia de Vale dos Homens, perto do Rogil, no concelho de Aljezur, é o seu destino.
Mas prepare-se: o acesso não se faz por um caminho qualquer. É através de uma imponente escadaria de madeira com quase 300 degraus que se desce até este areal dourado.
Como diz o ditado, “para baixo todos os santos ajudam”, mas é na subida que o corpo sente o esforço.
Felizmente, a autarquia pensou nisso e instalou bancos estratégicos onde pode descansar enquanto enche os pulmões com o perfume da maresia e das estevas.
Ao chegar lá abaixo, a recompensa é absoluta.
Rodeada por enormes arribas de xisto que parecem muralhas naturais, esta praia no concelho de Aljezur é o refúgio perfeito para quem foge das multidões.
Quando a maré vaza, o cenário transforma-se e surgem pequenas piscinas entre as rochas, ideais para explorar com calma.
É um daqueles recantos onde o tempo parece parar e onde a natureza manda em tudo.
Embora o acesso exija algum preparo físico, a vista panorâmica durante o percurso e o sossego que encontra no areal fazem de Vale dos Homens uma experiência obrigatória.
É o Algarve no seu estado mais puro: exigente, deslumbrante e profundamente revigorante.
Davos, Switzerland (dpa) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has blasted the European Parliament for referring the contested EU free trade deal with four countries from the South American Mercosur bloc to court.
“I deeply regret that the European Parliament has put another obstacle in our way,” Merz told political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. “But rest assured, we will not be stopped. The Mercosur deal is fair and balanced. There is no alternative to it if we want to have higher growth in Europe.”
Merz said he expects the trade deal to be implemented “provisionally” despite the Parliament’s challenge.
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to have the Mercosur trade deal, which was signed last week following decades of painstaking negotiations, reviewed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Waiting for the court’s opinion could significantly delay the ratification process for the agreement with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. It is unclear how long it will take for the judges at the ECJ in Luxembourg to submit their assessment, but previous assessments took between 16 and 26 months.
The agreement, which aims to remove trade barriers and customs duties and boost the exchange of goods and services, would create one of the largest free trade zones in the world. (22 January)
Strasbourg, France – Several thousand European farmers protested in the French city of Strasbourg on Tuesday against the European Union’s free trade deal with countries in the Latin American Mercosur bloc.
Around 5,000 protesters and several hundred tractors gathered in the city, according to local officials, where the European Parliament is holding a plenary session this week.
EU lawmakers are to decide on Wednesday if they want to seek an opinion from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on whether the contested Mercosur agreement is compatible with EU law, which could delay the ratification process.
The free trade agreement was signed in Paraguay last weekend and still has to be approved by the European Parliament.
With their protest, the farmers want to keep up the pressure on EU decision-makers. They fear disproportionate competition from cheap imports from South America.
Protesters lit smoke bombs and held up placards with slogans such as “Von der Leyen go home,” directed at European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The demonstration caused major traffic disruption in Strasbourg, with several roads blocked. (January 20)
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