Posts Tagged ‘Spain’

Labour history uncut: The unions purge the left

15/05/2014, 06:50:21 PM

by Pete Goddard and Atul Hatwal

The Communists’ attempts to affiliate to the Labour party might have been resoundingly rejected at the 1936 Labour conference, but they didn’t give up that easily.

The Socialist League faction within the Labour party, led by ex-Communist J.T.Murphy, and funded by Stafford Cripps, convened three-way negotiations with the disaffiliated Independent Labour Party, and the Communist party to discuss a “united front.”

Few people were aware that Socialist League leader JT Murphy was a free-floating, disembodied head

Few people were aware that Socialist League leader JT Murphy was a free-floating, disembodied head

For People’s Front of Judea aficionados, it’s important to note the difference between a “united front” and the idea of a “popular front,” that was also gaining support at this time.

A “popular front” meant a broad coalition of Labour, Liberals and assorted leftish types, in the style of Leon Blum’s socialist-led French government or the Spanish republican government. Some by-elections at this time had seen successful co-operation between Liberals and Labour in this manner.

In contrast, the “united front” featured only organisations pure of heart, class-conscious and electorally irrelevant. This meant the ILP, the Socialist League and the Communist Party, who all wanted to join forces with the Labour party, mostly because of the ‘electorally irrelevant’ in the previous sentence.

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A Spanish economics lesson for Scottish independence

26/04/2012, 02:54:10 PM

by David Mathieson

It is ironic that just as the nationalist government in Scotland is churning the ground in preparation for a referendum on independence or ‘devo max’, another European country, Spain, is actively considering at ways of reining in a decentralised state.

The administrative system in Spain is one of the most highly devolved of any country in the EU and the wide range of powers exercised by the powerful regions or autonomias has long provided something of a model for the SNP.

Yet, with their economy under pressure, the costs of ultra-devolution are being increasingly questioned by Spaniards themselves.  Some regions are close to bankruptcy whilst the leaders of others are would like to throw in the towel and revert to a more centralised state.  A new political debate has opened up in which many ordinary Spaniards are openly asking ‘what is the point of further devolution – and is it worth the price?’

The 17 Spanish autonomias are generally responsible for the organisation and delivery of key public services such as health, education and justice and these alone account for some 80% of average regional spending.

The funding comes from a mixture of central and regional government revenues although not all regions enjoy the same spending powers nor do they raise revenue in the same way.  The founding fathers of the post-Franco constitution decreed that whilst the pace of devolution would be determined by local needs the eventual goal should be a uniform provision of services or what the Spanish have dubbed café para todos or ‘coffee for everyone’.

A noble aim maybe, but in the meantime the mishmash of services can be confusing – even the most enthusiastic advocates of the system admit that there are failures of coordination – and it is costly.

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Angry with RBS? Take a look at the Spanish bank bonuses that British customers are helping fund

06/02/2012, 07:00:49 AM

by David Mathieson

Poor Stephen Hester.  Poor ex-Sir Fred.  Not of course in financial terms, but perhaps unfortunate to find themselves the individual objects of public indignation while others escape without the slightest scrutiny.

Chukka Umunna made the points again eloquently on the Today programme last week: there would be no RBS to pay Hester or Goodwin anything had we, the tax payers, not come to the rescue of the stricken bank and saved it from complete collapse in 2008.

When millions of public sector workers are having their wages, salaries and in some case jobs cut, the payment of bonuses at RBS – always discretionary and never contractual – should not even be on the table.

But does the story stop there?  Hardly.

RBS is different only in that it is more than 80% owned by the state. For all the other retail banks, the bonuses being paid are funded from the charges paid by millions of ordinary account holders.

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Spain faces up to unpleasant economic realities, says David Mathieson

25/07/2010, 11:20:54 PM

The celebratory soccer binge over, Spaniards are once again having to face up to some unpleasant economic realities and along with the rest of Europe Spain has just published the results of a stress test on its banking system.   A report on financial services would not normally be the stuff of conversation in the bars of Madrid but most people are aware that the consequences could be serious.   Apprehension has again replaced euphoria.  For Prime Minister Zapatero the findings will have far reaching political consequences: confidence in his socialist (PSOE) Government is at a record low and the revealed weaknesses in parts of the Spanish financial system will not improve the national mood.  So far, Spain has avoided a Greek style meltdown but renewed trust in the Spanish banking system is essential if Madrid is not to become the new Athens.

Up to now debate on the crisis in Spain has focussed on the state of the public finances and the growing fiscal deficit – the difference between the Government’s income and spending – which is now around 11.5% of annual income.   Over the last couple of years unemployment has soared to 20% – the fastest increase in Europe – and nearly two million people have stopped contributing to the social security system.  Consumption and investment have slowed (trade between the UK and Spain, for example, fell by more than 30% last year) and Government revenues have collapsed. 

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Mike Forster looks at the leadership contenders: David Miliband is Brazil.

12/06/2010, 04:59:11 PM

Much has been said on this site and others about communicating with our core constituency in a language they can understand. So thought I’d have a crack at explaining the second-most interesting contest going on at the moment in terms of the first.

True, there aren’t 32 contenders in the Labour leadership contest, but there are parallels with the world cup.

Whichever team wins the football, though, it is unlikely to have much of an impact on your life or anybody you know. Even England winning will only have a fleeting impact, mainly a stinking hangover on July 12th.

Our eventual choice of leader, though, could mean the difference between 5 years of a Tory government or 10, or even more. (more…)

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