Michael Meacher MP

Whilst the Great Leader beauty debate continues to divert attention away from policy to every nuance and twist of personality politics, we shouldn’t allow that to overshadow far more fundamental reforms now at last beginning to address the global financial meltdown.   The IMF, no less, the inner sanctum of capitalist orthodoxy, is now proposing not one, but two, taxes on the banks.   One is an annual insurance fee against the risk of future bail-outs, and the other is a financial activities tax, driven by the universal outrage at the vastness of bank profits and colossal bonuses in the last two years when the rest of the economy is in deep recession. (more…)

While the British election meanders along its somewhat flat and lacklustre course, disconnected from the real fundamentals, an ominous cloud is gathering elsewhere in Euroland.   The Greek Government’s decision to initiate help from the IMF and ECB, because it cannot finance the market’s bond yields while still hoping to cut its budget deficit, could on the worst scenario trigger a domino effect across the EU.   The obvious next candidates for vigilante financial attack are Portugal and Spain, with the UK on the outer margins. (more…)