Monday 15 November 2010

"Haven't the rich suffered enough?"

Astonishingly, that's a quote from Peter Mandelson, supposedly a Labour politician, in negotiations with the Liberal Democrats before they decided to go with the Tories: the Lib Dems toyed with an extra tax for those who owned houses worth more than £2 million.

The simple answer from those of us who don't habitually hob-nob with the super-rich is that they appear not to have suffered at all. Bankers' bonuses are going to be around £7 billion pounds this year. On the other hand, the poor are going to suffer an awful lot.

This is why Mandelson's hated in the Labour Party.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Students has come up with a cunning wheeze. The Lib Dems proposed a recall election if 10% of a constituency signed a petition, so the NUS are planning to recall all the Lib Dems who lied about tuition fees. If the government doesn't bring in the law, they'll look like cowards. If they do, many Lib Dems might lose their seats and the government may fall. Excellent.

Also: support the national day of action on campuses, 24th November.

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