The Uniparty ‘at work’ …

 

There are some newsy ‘news’ today which are of interest because the ‘Red Wing’ of the Uniparty seems missing in action, either because the MSM didn’t ask or because they’re on holidays. Firstly, see the headline produced by ‘staff’ this morning: “Newspaper headlines: Protesters on Sunak’s roof and UK economy ‘in a trap’.” (link).

The Express, Metro, DM and even the grauniad have this Sunak ‘protest’ on their front pages. Yes, it’s the usual crew, ‘Just Oil’, and so it’s no surprise that the Labour Red Top, the Mirror, is not reporting. After all, why would they attack the supproters of Starmer … It is however strange that ‘staff’ didn’t pick up the report in the DT, headlined: 

“NHS goes private in biggest expansion of sector since Blair – Independent firms to carry out hundreds of thousands of scans and tests as ministers vow to cut record waiting lists” (paywalled link)

Shouldn’t there have been areal outcry from Labour, not just an obligatory quote from Labour’s shadow minister, saying that they’d have ‘gone further’ than the Tories who ought to’ve acted sooner, with Labour supporters asking now ‘what took the Tories so long?

It’s a valid question, especially since those of us who can recall the covid years remember how the Sacred Cow demanded – and paid for – beds in private hospitals which had all been closed down in expectation of the whole of the UK keeling over. And now this (emphases are mine):

“Private sector firms will be asked to operate community diagnostic centres for NHS patients, starting with eight units carrying out more than 400,000 scans, checks and tests a year. Across the country, such companies will be asked to identify all spare capacity, enabling the NHS to send patients facing long waits to private hospitals that can treat them more quickly.” (paywalled link)

Perhaps Labour is hoping that this might finally lead to nationalising all private hospitals.

Next,  there’s the ongoing banking scandal. It’s wonderful that ‘ESF’ – “Ever Since Farage” – some intrepid investigative ‘authors’ are finding out that more cancellations were taking place. Perhaps this: “Jeremy Hunt asks financial watchdog to report on extent of debanking – A threat to your bank account is a threat to freedom of speech, the chancellor says” (link, paywalled) has concentrated some minds in the Westminster MSM newsrooms?

Perhaps it was the report in the DT, headlined “Gun clubs’ accounts shut as banks ‘cancel the countryside’ – Firms accused of treating shooting groups ‘like criminals’ as latest example of de-banking increases pressure for ministers to take action” (paywalled link) which got them interested? The DT at least had someone doing some digging:

“A third of shooting businesses have had their accounts suddenly closed down, research has shown, with major high street banks including HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest among those named as having refused accounts or credit to businesses linked to the rural pursuit. It comes after The Telegraph revealed that hunts have been banned from taking card payments through major financial services firm SumUp.” (paywalled link)

Well, that won’t be of interest to the Red Wing of the Uniparty. After all, posh people who can go hunting (boo hiss) and shooting (double boo hiss) need their activities curtailed!

Meanwhile, there are the first green shoots of ‘concern’ about the economy. It’s still a bit disjointed but will surely provide material for the weekend editions and ‘opinion makers’. This is about the economy which is in deep trouble, with the BoE predicting more pain for consumers.

Yesterday evening there was a tear-jerk article in the DM about the horrors of homeowners now faced with an increase in their mortgage payments (link). I found the numbers bandied around a bit unconvincing, but what do I know … This morning we’re treated to an ‘outlook’ by the BoE, and never mind their announcement to rise interest rates even further:

The era of cheap food is over, economists have said, after the Bank of England forecast that prices would remain high for the rest of the year. The Bank predicted that food price inflation would fall from 17.3 per cent but still be at about 10 per cent by the end of the year. It conceded that food price inflation had remained high for “longer than anyone expected”.” (link, paywalled)

That’s certainly bad enough. I wonder though if this statement is meant to provide a handy excuse for businesses to keep prices high, especially when I read this next:

“The Bank said that while costs for food producers had fallen, they remained higher than normal, while many companies also faced increasing wages and high energy bills. Many businesses would not benefit from the reduction in wholesale gas prices until their energy contracts came up for renewal, which was not likely to be until the autumn for many smaller ones. (link, paywalled)

Why aren’t there headlines about wholesale gas prices being reduced? Where is the demand from government that gas and energy firms reduce their household energy bills immediately, certainly before autumn? Are private households, are consumers, going to have to bear the burden of high energy costs while said firms still rake in money ‘because: contracts!!’? Where is Labour? Don’t they have ‘economists’? Are they hoping that, by keeping silent now, people will become more desperate and thus flock to Labour? How despicable is that!

I find it noteworthy that the Westminster MSM seem to be uninterested in getting Labour spokespeople to make statements about these issues. We’ll see if Labour Shadow ministers will come up with some articles and statements for the weekend. They can’t all be on holidays, can they? Holidays are now only for the posh rich, after all.

That’s all I have for today. It looks as if the Uniparty regards the economy as an ‘Act of God’ which just happens and which they can do nothing about – except fleece us peasants ‘until the pips squeak’, as a famous Labour Chancellor once said. Have a good day.