LyrArc Article Gist
British Prime Minister Theresa May survives a vote of no confidence in parliament brought by the opposition Labour Party. The votes were 325 to 306 to reject the no confidence motion.Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called the May administration "a zombie government." A defeat would have led to a new general election. Labour Party does not rule out calling several more no-confidence votes. 

 

LyrArc Article Gist
In a speech at the Conservative Party Fall conference British prime minister Theresa May positions her party as an advocate for the working class against establishment views. She was critical of smug views that the current situation was acceptable for working class families concerned about immigration and jobs. She also pointed out that the policies of central banks including the Bank of England hurt working class families and savers." She pointed out the development that has also happened in the U.S. economy and other European countries as the Federal Reserve and the ECB cut rates to near zero. "People with assets have got richer. People without them have suffered. People with mortgages have found their debts cheaper. People with savings have found themselves poorer." Her response she said would be to "put the government at the service of those who found themselves poorer as a result of monetary policy." This follows May's first speech at 10 Downing Street where she referred to "the burning injustice."  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
For democracy to be effective people have to have a participatory role and have their voice heard. Mark Easton, Home Editor of the BBC, says this has not happened in the June parliamentary election. How is it that the result leaves Britain without an effective government, as Conservatives have only a 3 seat majority after joining with the DUP party in Ireland. The result a very fragile government. He asks how the election could be seen as providing people with a voice even though turnout had increased, when even after Labor increased its vote by 9.5% and Conservatives by 6% the Conservatives had to woo constantly the DUP party with a tiny fraction of 0.6% to form a government.

LyrArc Article Gist
Brexit and Scotland's referendum both have similar consequences economically for Britain and Scotland. This hurts both countries in unwinding relationships built over many years, unwinding 44 year membership for Britain, and 310 year union for Scotland. Britain exports to EU are 45% of total exports, and for Scotland the number is 63% for exports to the rest of the UK.  Scots benefit about 1200 British pounds more for average citizen than a average citizen of UK, and pay 400 pounds less to the government. Scotland would start with a 90% debt to GDP ratio if it takes a proportionate share of UK government debt from the beginning of independence. Fidler correctly points out the economic risks to Britain and Scotland which are being ignored or not fully taken into account by politicians.

LyrArc Article Gist
Democrats face an uphill battle to recover lost territory during the Obama presidency. The efforts to promote Trans Pacific Trade Agreement by Obama against the interests of the unions, working class Americans, is one example of the way president Obama had alienated working class Americans. By being too close to Silicon Valley and failing to understand the changes in states with blue collar workers Democrats lost some of the working class base that had always voted Democratic. On social issues the party drifted too far in one direction in appealing to small groups and in the process drifting away from blue collar workers who were Democratic in the past but did not share the same passion for these issues. About 90% of better educated Americans were liberal yet among blue collar workers who had voted Democratic in the 1990's only 60% were liberal in the same way. The changes in America's landscape with the shift of manufacturing centres away from cities such as Pittsburgh to blue collar suburbs stretching from Michigan and Wisconsin to the Carolinas and the Deep South, created a new blue collar worker base that was more aligned with Republicans on social issues such as abortion, LGBT, and gun control. As a result the conservative base of the Republican Party now finds itself aligned with the blue collar worker, while the Democratic Party in places like New York and California is more aligned with the workers in the financial industry and in Silicon Valley. The improving economy gives more room for Republicans even with policies that might not help its new working class base as it strives to meet policy demands from wealthier Americans in the Republican Party.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Statements made by Boris Johnson, the new Foreign Secretary of Britain, and former Mayor of London, have gained wide attention in the media.  He has made controversial statements about Obama, Putin, Hillary Clinton, the European Union and written a poem on Turkey's president Erdogan for The Spectator. Theresa May, Britain's new prime minister, is described as making an astute move by making Boris Johnson the Foreign Secretary, as this keeps him  away from the Brexit negotiations, while at the same time including a leader of the Leave campaign in the cabinet.  Foreign ministers of Sweden and France expressed dismay after learning of his appointment. Johnson said of Obama that he was motivated by an anti-imperialist agenda because of "an ancestral dislike of the British Empire," following Obama's recent visit to Britain. Obama's grandfather was a Kenyan porter in British run Kenya. On Trump he says " he is clearly out of his mind," about some of Trump's comments on Muslims. He has apologized for comments on Hillary Clinton. He is in person quite different say people who know him. As Mayor of London he remained popular and helped host the Olympic games in 2012, and setup the city's bike sharing program. He is a prolific author, journalist, and a contributor to the The Telegraph newspaper, with fees of 275,000 pounds a year. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Reports suggest voter turnout of young people 18-24 was close to 70%. With most of the new voters, about 2 million 19-34 year olds registered to vote in the weeks before the election according to the Electoral Commission, drawn into politics by the simplicity and style of Labor leader Corbyn. One voter says young people voted because Labor did not sneer at them, recalling the negative tactics employed in the campaign and the likability of Labor leader Corbyn because he refused to respond. The National Union of Students and organizations such as UpRising, Hope Not Hate, Bite the Ballot, pushed young people into involvement. The election for students was more about the impact of Tory cuts to education, health, and other services, and about the future for generations to come. Students were deeply upset about the results of the EU referendum. The result is that in places where students were predominant such as Newcastle East and Central, Manchester Withington and Central, Cambridge and Canterbury, the turnout jumped  to give Labor wins in the north of England, and in London. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Economist magazine expresses the view in this editorial that Britain is likely to shift to the "greatest extension of economic democratic rights that this country has ever seen" under Labour party because of what it calls the "grotesque"  uncertainty situation created by Brexit and years of austerity under the Conservatives, split in Conservatives under Theresa May. Britain is getting the debate of ideas that the referendum has led to and the possibilities for reshaping Britain under Labour after the "grotesque folly" of Brexit. 

LyrArc Article Gist
France was exceptionally well prepared says France 24, citing a report in Le Monde, for the SARS crisis in 2002 and the H1N1 influenza in 2009. A billion masks were stockpiled by 2009. Following the H1N1 influenza not appearing in any significant way the media, political parties and the public shifted their attention away from public health crises preparation. For H1N1 the government spent 1 billion dollars some of it going to pharmaceutical labs. The eurozone financial crisis that followed the global financial crisis shifted policy to austerity measures. The entire preparation effort for influenza type health crises was abandoned as too costly.  The same pattern repeated in Britain which was also well prepared before 2010. Austerity budgets after 2010 had little room for public health investment.  One could say a similar pattern was seen in the U.S. Today the worst hit countries are U.S., Britain, France and other European countries. France which had 1 billion masks in 2009 to tackle a possible H1N1 epidemic finds itself with 150 million masks in March 2020 and scrambling to find masks. Some masks which were usable were even destroyed as expired, ministers and experts who had built up the prevention effort in 2009 were even demoted and forgotten, as was much of the preparation in these years. It wasn't just medical supplies pubic awareness had practically disappeared. In the U.S., in Europe, the same situation of a lack of public awareness so that experts, government, and the public could work together quickly, was clear to see. In countries such as Taiwan the preparation led to speedy response at all levels, making contact tracing, isolation of clusters effective. In the U.S. and Europe this early, early, period was lost leading to makeup mitigation measures and the growing sense of a loss of control over the virus. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
As the old rules are being rewritten or changed there is considerable ambiguity about the new nuclear rules for India and Pakistan, says The Times. This happens as Mr. Trump is distracted by the international problems such as North Korea and Venezuela and the Mueller probe into Trump and the election of 2016, and as UK prime minister May is distracted by Brexit. 

LyrArc Article Gist
In this op-ed in the NYT Matthew D'Ancona, former deputy editor of the Daily Telegraph, is sharply critical of British prime minister Theresa May for planning to remain in office after the election losses of the Conservative party in the June 2017 election. He calls her decision deplorable and the alliance with the Democratic Unionist party of Northern Ireland with its 10 seats and less than 1% of the total vote a huge mistake, because of its extremely conservative views on social issues which are out of touch with socially liberal conservative voters. His prediction is that the parliamentary majority will be under constant attack, making governing difficult. He expects the government to collapse.

LyrArc Article Gist
Bernie Sanders tells his supporters at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia that "immediately right now, we have got to defeat Donald Trump, and we have got to elect Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine." He says this campaign was not about just electing a president but about transforming the country. And for this he was planning to back about 100 candidates with similiar thinking across the U.S. He called on supporters to continue the campaign for social, economic, racial and environmental justice. Voters for Sanders were offended by the information shown in DNC email leaks of the bias against Sanders shown by DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has since resigned.

LyrArc Article Gist
This piece in the DW.com describes the error made by Andrea Leadsom in her interview with the Times, saying that she was better qualified than Theresa May for leadership of the Conservative Party and the post of prime minister because she had children. Leadsom's error was compounded by the comments made by May that she regretted being childless. The comments were in the media for days and led to negative perception of Ms. Leadsom. Leadsom called for a retraction by the Times but the Times had already recorded her comments, making the whole affair appear to be a mistake by Leadsom, even a  bit stupid. Leadsom's efforts to embellish her resume about investment banking experience had already raised questions.With Boris Johnson supporting Leadsom this has proved Johnson, Gove and other Brexit leaders as lacking credibility. Therea May is now left with the difficult task of negotiating Brexit, but at least says most of the European media and media in Germany, May is not a fanatic, and Brexit is in the hands of a responsible politician who never supported Brexit. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
40 members of parliament agree to sign a letter of no confidence in prime minister Theresa May, in November 2017, according to the Sunday Times report. If 48 members of parliament agree Theresa May would be forced to resign from office.

After a snap election in June members of the Conservative Party are showing lack of support for her government. There is also considerable uncertainty over Brexit and the outcome of negotiations with the EU.