UK income falls more fairly than France

Hamish McRae wrote an interesting article on income inequality and  the recession in Monday's Evening Standard quoting a report from researchers at UBS.  In it they stated that the loss of personal income due to the recession in the UK has affected all income groups pretty evenly - which contrasts with most of mainland Europe and the US where the fall in income for the richest 10% has been much less than for the poorest.

I've finally tracked down the report on the web here and I've reproduced the table that compares income falls over the last five years by decile:

Those progressive paragons of France and Scandanavia - who the left are telling us to be more like - saw the poorest 10% lose far more than the richest.  In France the poor's income dropped nearly 10% whereas the richest dropped by less than 5%.  In Finland the richest 10% actually saw incomes rise over the last five year.  In contrast in the UK, the poorest decile's income fell by about 7% over the last five years - slightly less than the richest 10%.

One can't help wondering that the UK would look much more like the US and most of Europe if the Tories (or even New Labour) were governing on their own. 

By-election night 10

Not a lot of interest from last week's results - particularly as the Lib Dems only stood in three of the eight contests - with all the elections being held by the incumbents.  The Lib Dems did poorly polling just 44 votes in Manchester and falling back slightly in Tweedale West in Michael Moore's constituency.  The remaining contest saw the Lib Dems actually increase their first preference share in Govan Glasgow to 1.5%, where the most interesting electoral stat of the night were the 23 transfers the 'No to the bedroom tax candidate' received from the eliminated Tory!

This week's six contests see for the first time in months the Lib Dems fielding more candidates than UKIP (5:4) and a tricky defence for the party in Luton's split Barnfield Ward which in 2011 elected one Labour and one Lib Dem in a previously safe Lib Dem ward (with Labour third).  The other interseting contest is in Carlisle's Dalston ward where the Conservatives are defending a vacancy in a ward with one Lib Dem councillor who has been unable to transfer his clear personal vote to fellow lib Dem candidates when he doesn't stand. 

Wilko Johnson in Camden

Just returned from Wilko Johnson's farewell tour gig at Koko in Camden.  He played for more than an hour and half, ably supported by former Blockhead bassist Norman Watt-Roy and drummer Dylan Howe.  And a still angry Ruts provided the main warm up.

I have some video which if I can work how to download it I will share...

Friday favourite 126

Saturday night family TV, Ted Rogers, Dusty Bin, impossible clues, the Police, Gloria Gaynor, Every Breath You Take... shurley shome mishtake?

No - but the most bizarre cover version ever:

By-election night 9

Last week provided that rare thing in current local by-elections - a good night for the Lib Dems with the party winning two out of the four contests.  Labour rather surprisingly picked up an independent seat in East Lindsey, with the Tories easily holding off a Green challenge in St Edmundsbury.

This week's eight contests highlight the weakness of the Lib Dems in much of the country with the party only standing three candidates and failing to find a candidate in Salford'sWeaste and Seedley ward - a ward the party held all three seats until 2010 (although it polled just 58 votes in a by-election earlier this year).  In next door Manchester an old mate John Bridges is flying the Lib Dem flag in a ward where the party used to be solidly second, but its vote has collapsed since coalition - coming in fourth behind even the Tories last year.

But perhaps the most interesting contest is in Glasgow Govan.  Not only is it a super tight SNP/Labour marginal a grand total of 14 candidates (including Scottish Lib Dem blogger and drug policy reformer, Ewan Hoyle) are standing.

So farewell Michael Moore...

The replacement of Michael Moore as Scottish Secretary with Alasdair Carmichael is being promoted by the party as a toughening of the party's stance against Alex Salmond.

If this is indeed the case then it is a mistake.  Taking a tougher line against the most popular politician north of the border is self defeating and futile.  As I have written previously, Moore's and the party's constitutional conservatism on independence has marginalised the party in Scotland and given it nothing distinctive to say on the major issue in Scottish politics.

I hope Carmichael uses the opportunity before him to take a more nuanced stance on independence - perhaps working with the Scottish government to define more clearly how the relationships with a post independence Scotland might work - rather than parroting the simple scaremongering of the Labour dominated 'Better Together' campaign. 

Scotland deserves a grown up debate on the real pros and cons of independence, not more sloganeering and name calling.

Friday favourite 125

BBC4 is showing documentaries about Elton John this evening - so I was rather pleased to find this collaboration by Reg and Marshall on the outer reaches of YouTube...

By-election night 8

After last week's ten by-elections there are just four this week.  And two are Lib Dem defences - in Aylesbury Vale and Taunton Deane.  The Oakfield ward in Aylesbury is a marginal Lib Dem/Tory contest but in an area UKIP outpolled all comers in May's county elections. And the Taunton Halcon ward is traditionally safe for the Lib Dems, but with UKIP coming up on the rails in second last May. 

Once again UKIP are standing in every ward - along with Labour and the Tories - with the Lib Dems in three out of four.

UKIP should pick up the independent vacancy in East Lindsey like they did in a similar vacancy a few weeks ago and it will be interesting to see what progress the second placed Greens make in the Abbeygate ward of St Edmundsbury.

Last week UKIP once again significantly outpolled the Lib Dems scoring somewhere between 15 and 30% almost everywhere.  The one exception was in Mole Valley where they were restricted to 13% in a winning Lib Dem campaign that increased the party's majority over the Tories.

More evidence of UKIP's appeal to lost Lib Dem voters came in the contests in Sevenoaks where UKIP won a seat the Lib Dems used to hold before their previous sitting councillor switched to independent.  And in Coleford in the Forest of Dean UKIP polled 29% - almost exactly matching the 25% the Lib Dems polled four years previously.

Soldiers sing sectarian songs at Ibrox

The police are somewhat belatedly investigating an incident on Saturday where members of the armed forces joined in with fans of the Rangers in singing sectarian songs before their routine victory over Stenhousemuir.  The troops were there to celebrate armed forces day pre-match.

Singing sectarian songs as this YouTube video shows is an offence under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 - an act inspired by the late Donald Gorrie who championed anti-sectarianism as a Lib Dem MSP.

Fans of the Rangers (and their predecessor club Rangers) have sung these songs with impunity for years - the question is now will the authorities take any action now the reputation of the armed forces is on the line?

Former Kingston council leader pleads guilty to child porn charges

At Southwark Crown Court today, Derek Osbourne - former Lib Dem leader of Kingston Council - pleaded guilty to 17 charges of making and possessing indecent images of children.  He had in total more than 5,000 images - some involving children as young as three.

The Surrey Comet reports that he faces up to five years in jail.