Michael Grummitt

43 Followers
114 Following
618 Posts
Born in GB, lived and worked in Africa since 1976, semi-retired Mining Consultant. Not a fan of the Tories in UK or ANC here in Mzansi. Politically not pigeonholed , in the wilderness - people & environment matter, #MMT proponent - no need for "Austerity" in a sovereign fiat currency issuing nation
Hello! We are a small independent bookshop in Stow, in the Scottish Borders. We are no longer using Twitter, for obvious reasons, but could use some new followers on Mastodon and other social media channels - where our presence is smaller than on Twitter. Please help / share this is you can! Thank you.

If the last week & half of violence by the far right proves anything its this:

Britain does not have a problem with migrants.... it has a problem with racism!

#racism #migrants #politics

The BBC have been complicit in the behaviour we've seen recently by giving a platform repeatedly to people like Farage & spokespeople from obscure right-wing 'think-tanks' who have never been required to reveal the names of their backers, or to say where their funding comes from.
traitor Trump praises Putin in another batshit crazy speech

if you’re rooting for Russia, you’re on the wrong side

everyone is entitled to my own opinion

"A reminder.

After the August 2011 riots in the U.K., police & my prosecutors examined all the video evidence for MONTHS identifying & bringing offenders to justice - 1000s of them

Some didn’t get arrested till a year later!

Prison was the usual sentence.

My boss was someone called Keir Starmer."

Nazir Afzal,
Former Chief Public Prosecutor,
U.K.

#UKPolitics
#UKRiots

In the U.K. the regional Police and Crime Comissioners are elected.

The pro is that people get to participate in the local electoral process and choose how policing is led.

The con is that you get people like Tory councillor Donna Jones in Hampshire elected who has no policing experience, has no idea of the issues and is more interested in inflaming the situation further by sending out populist right wing bat signals to her mates.

She has to go.

#UKPolitics
#UKRiots

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-police-crime-commissioner-statement-riots-b2590879.html

Tory police and crime commissioner deletes statement that appeared to justify far right riots

Tory police and crime commissioner for Hampshire Donna Jones issued a controversial statement on the far right riots which has been removed from the website

The Independent

Recycling of materials has always had a role in construction (underpinning architectural salvage shops/dealers around the country), but what if we widened such efforts so at dismantle all buildings at the end of their lives rather than just demolish them?

The re-use of generic (rather than specialist) material(s) is one key aspect of turning construction greener, requires no special equipment; just time & effort.

An interesting proposal?

#construction #recycling
https://theconversation.com/demolishing-buildings-is-bad-for-the-planet-heres-an-alternative-223596

Demolishing buildings is bad for the planet – here’s an alternative

A passport for construction materials could keep resources in circulation for as long as possible.

The Conversation
Government deficits create private wealth https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/04/government-deficits-create-private-wealth/ It’s widely claimed that our national debt threatens the well-being and stability of the UK, which is quite absurd when the national debt exactly equates to the value of private wealth that the government has injected into the UK’s economy. Why is it that those talking about the national debt do not seem to know this stuff?
The stock market is failing according to the CBI. So why don’t we just let it go?

I posted this on Twitter this morning: https://twitter.com/RichardJMurphy/status/1942861045426516103 My point is serious. The CBI is saying that the situation with regard to the UK stock exchange is getting desperate, because it is losing out to overseas markets and not attracting sufficient business. The question that needs to be asked is, why is that?...

Funding the Future

Hmmm... I can just imagine what these business owners say about 'benefit cheats;, while all the time claiming tax credits for innovations that are very much not.....

As always, when businesses defraud such schemes its seen as an error, or unfortunate; when the poor are even suspected of doing something similar they are treated like criminals & forced through ever more stringent checks.

Its (once again), one law for you & another one for us...

#benefits #fraud

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/03/free-money-4bn-lost-to-and-error-on-flagship-hmrc-innovation-scheme

‘Free money’: £4bn lost to fraud and error on flagship HMRC ‘innovation’ scheme

UK tax credits to promote research and development were claimed by a pub for changing its menus and by window cleaners for hanging their buckets

The Guardian
Setting the Record Straight

A response to my family

The Good in Us by Mary L. Trump