British news from April 8, 2010

There were last minute clashes between Gordon Brown (Labour) the British Prime Minister and David Cameron (Conservative), the opposition leader, this week. Parliament ends in two days and the campaigning for who gets in next is underway.

Brown and Cameron fiercely locked horns in the TV show, �Prime Ministers Question Time� talking about Labour�s planned National Insurance (NI) increase. Cameron said �This prime minister would wreck the recovery by putting a tax on every job, on everyone earning over �20,000, a tax on aspiration, a tax on every business in the country. This government would wreck the recovery.�

Business leaders wrote in to the Telegraph newspaper to protest the increase but Gordon Brown patronised them by saying they had been deceived by the Tories. It was noted as not a politically astute move. Business leaders genuinely believe that a rise in NI will cost jobs and Cameron is promising not to up the tax. This is definitely going to feature heavily in the Conservative campaign although I think that Cameron and anyone else who cares for this country should consider the quandary we�re all in. Of course we don�t want to see tax increases or job losses but we also don�t want to see services cut. As Brown is aware we have a huge budget deficit going into the billions and the money has to come from somewhere. Cameron promises to cut �6 billion of wasted government spending to block the NI rise but let�s face it, the Tories are not in power yet and talk is cheap. If they don�t plan to raise NI then we all know something has to give. The recent budget didn�t go far enough according to some analysts in showing that Labour was serious about plugging the chasm in the deficit - so unhappy days are bound to be ahead. What we can work out is that election victory party celebrations of whoever gets in will be swiftly followed by substantial fiscal changes. Let�s think... we could call it �birth pangs of recovery�. You heard it here first.

In East London, in a story that to me sums up our economy, ten police officers were injured when scuffles broke out at clothing retailer, American Apparel�s temporary sale. Two thousand people turned up to the sale where some items were being sold for as little as a pound. Several people were arrested and the event was closed down. The company was forced to apologise.

Hundreds of supporters of the English Defence League, the far-right anti-Muslim group, clashed with police n Dudley, UK. The protesters were angry at the proposed mosque being built in the town. One group broke down metal fencing and stormed the site. Police say seven people were arrested.

Watching protesters storm the Kyrgyzstan presidential palace on the BBC TV news made me think a coup is imminent. This will cause major concern to the United States, which maintains an air base in Bishkek for re-supplying NATO forces in Afghanistan. Over 35,000 US soldiers move in and out of Afghanistan through the US base in Manas every month and 30 per cent of refuelling operations over Afghanistan start there. The protesters are angry at the growing authoritarianism towards political opponents and the media. Protesters seized parliament and took over the national television station in fatal clashes that left 100 dead in the capital Bishkek.  Both the US and Russia have called for restraint.

In another international story of governments losing power, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship protesters have forced the Thai government to declare a state of emergency. The protesters, normally known as �The Red Shirts� have held the nation�s capital ransom for days. They are demanding that a fresh election be held as they say the present government is illegitimately holding on to power. The emergency status was declared to give more power to the military to deal with the problem. However, no arms are to be used in dealing with protestors.

Maybe I�m a pessimist at heart, but as economies suffer on in the coming years I expect to see more and more unrest on the world scene. It�s human nature that when times are good and money is awash we ask not from where it comes; but when it turns and the money is gone - we do ask where it�s gone!

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