Category Archives: Politics

BBC funding statment from the VLV

The Voice of the Listener and Viewer has published the following Briefing note and press release in response to yesterday’s BBC funding settlement.The briefing includes the claim that, on current projections, the BBC will be in deficit by between approximately … Continue reading

Posted in BBC, Film & TV industry policy, Politics, Public Service Broadcasting, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives, The Conservative Party | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“Ten Culture Secretaries in ten years. We need a grown-up dialogue with government” – Davie

From Tim Davie’s speech at day two of the Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge: “We’re on 10 culture secretaries in last 10 years… the key thing I found is we need a really serious, grown-up dialogue with government to … Continue reading

Posted in BBC, Film & TV industry policy, Politics, Public Service Broadcasting | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Nadine Dorries appointed Culture Secretary

I try to avoid contentious or partisan comments on this site, so the only thing I can say is that Nadine Dorries has been appointed as Culture Secretary. This Nadine Dorries… Left wing snowflakes are killing comedy, tearing down historic … Continue reading

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Politics, Regulation | Tagged | Leave a comment

More analysis of Social Care Levy announcement

There’s a useful Twitter thread here from The Resolution Foundation with some overnight analysis of yesterday’s announcements, along with a report. There’s also a panel discussion here if you’re really interested… NEW OVERNIGHT ANALYSIS: yesterday the PM pushed Conservatives away … Continue reading

Posted in Labour Party, National Insurance Contributions (NICs), Politics, Tax, The Conservative Party | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Labour proposes the creation of a single ‘worker’ status

New #ukemplaw bulletin – Labour announces policy to create a single status of ‘worker’ – https://t.co/naWdwwJ1AE — Daniel Barnett (@daniel_barnett) July 26, 2021 Keir Starmer outlines this on LabourList – here. The party has been briefing that the aim here … Continue reading

Posted in Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Family rights, Freelancer rights, Labour Party, Minimum wage rates | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

British content projecting Britain

I’ll be posting more on this in the coming weeks, but there are some very big concerns circulating even in Conservative circles about the potential damage that the UK could sustain due to changes in the film and TV industry. … Continue reading

Posted in Animation & VFX, BBC, Coronavirus, Coronavirus, Culture policy, EU & Brexit, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, The Conservative Party, UK studios | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

What the Wilson era can teach us.

Welcome to an era when a stronger welfare state was seen as a pre-condition for economic dynamism. When a robust social infrastructure helped workers take risk. New piece by me on why Harold Wilson’s forgotten agenda is relevant to the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Employment, Labour Party, Low pay, Management, Politics, Productivity, Welfare and benefits | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Conservatives getting the credit from the public for the pandemic response

Ipsos Mori’s broad range of current polling will make happy reading for UK Conservatives on all kinds of levels, though they are out of step with public opinion on the delay to the Covid inquiry. The headlines:

Posted in Coronavirus, Coronavirus, Economics, Politics, The Conservative Party | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Biden’s aim: “We want the — the companies to compete to attract workers“

President Biden’s approach is one that many trades unionists may not have even dared to hope for, This, combined with news about a surgin in capital investment to boost productivity, is starting to make it look like all of the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Employment, Politics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Red Wall – more on political bases

I don’t want to use this blog to focus much on party politics, but it is useful for everyone in Bectu to know how far the popular understanding of political bases is grounded in reality. This from YouGov: Is the … Continue reading

Posted in Labour Party, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

What are the main dividing lines in British politics?

It is often said that the main dividing lines in British politics now are age, education and home-ownership. Labour voters are younger graduates that pay rent to landlords, while Conservative voters are older homeowners that didn’t go to university. But … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Labour Party’s base

This is a useful post in helping to understand what the Labour Party’s ‘base’ is and how far the party is the party of its various presumed ‘bases’ (industrial workers, renters, low pay, low-priced housing, unemployed, etc).

Posted in Labour Party, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment