Labour Heartlands

09/10/2025

What is it with the BBC? Another Predator Exposed.

The former BBC Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood has been charged with multiple sexual offences against seven women, including four counts of r**e, spanning over three decades from 1983 to 2016.

According to the Metropolitan Police, Westwood, now 68, faces 15 charges in total: four counts of r**e, nine of indecent assault, and two of sexual assault. The alleged victims include teenage girls as young as 17 and women in their twenties.

The charges follow a joint Guardian and BBC investigation in 2022 which revealed accounts from 18 women who accused Westwood of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour. He has denied all allegations.

But the question many are asking is this: how did the BBC not know? Or, more accurately, how often has it known and chosen to look the other way?

Because this is not the first time the BBC’s halls have echoed with scandal. Jimmy Savile. Rolf Harris. Stuart Hall. Huw Edwards, Decades of sexual abuse hidden behind the polished veneer of “Aunty Beeb,” an institution that somehow managed to protect its predators while lecturing the public on morality.

Each time, the same refrain: lessons have been learned, processes reformed, safeguards improved. Yet, time and again, predators operated under the BBC’s banner, shielded by celebrity, complacency, or complicity.

Tim Westwood’s case, still to be proven in court, stands as yet another reminder of what happens when power, fame, and institutional protection combine. The BBC’s culture of silence, where misconduct was whispered about but never acted upon, created an environment where abuse could thrive for decades.

The Metropolitan Police’s Det Supt Andy Furphy praised the women for their courage in coming forward, urging others with information to do the same. But courage should not be required just to be heard. It should be met with accountability, not denial.

For an organisation that claims to speak truth to power, the BBC has far too often been the power that truth was afraid to confront.

The question lingers like a stain on its reputation: how many more were protected, promoted, or quietly retired while their victims were silenced?

Tim Westwood will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court next month. The women he allegedly abused have waited decades for justice. The BBC, meanwhile, continues to polish its halo, even as the cracks widen.

Labour Heartlands

09/10/2025

What if the UK admitted it uses MMT and turned that into its superpower?
In this video, Richard J Murphy explains Why MMT isn’t a policy, but a fact.

How the “market panic” MMT would supposedly create is a myth.

How the UK could use MMT to invest, create jobs, and tackle inequality.

The truth is simple: the UK already creates money this way. The question is — how do we make that work for us all?

IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO
If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2...

HOW TO SUPPORT US
Please consider donating: https://ko-fi.com/taxresearch

ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY
Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’.

This video was edited by Thomas Murphy.

RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY:
https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurp...

OR

ON HIS BLOG: http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/

09/10/2025

If anyone's interested, there's a great weekly podcast and 24-7 Bristol Politics Show live stream here

www.talkradio.org.uk

Live Fridays 5pm 'til 8.30pm

Wanna be able to pick and choose interviews, on demand service, download the show's android or apple app here, updated this pm ;-)

https://github.com/NickPax/bcfm-android-app/releases

NOT The BCFM Politics Show

09/10/2025

09/10/2025

“When you have lost hope, you have lost everything. And when you think all is lost, when all is dire and bleak, there is always hope.” – Pittacus Lore

There is finally a glimmer of hope. Both Israel and Hamas have reportedly signed off on a deal to end the genocide in Gaza. The remaining hostages, both dead and alive, are expected to be released by Monday.

May this mark the beginning of peace, the end of the slaughter, and the first step towards rebuilding Gaza.

09/10/2025

The Clay Cross Rebellion and the Death of Democratic Faith

When Politicians and Councillors Were Comrades: Working for the People, by the People

A few miles down the road from where I sit, there’s a small former mining village in Derbyshire that most people have never heard of. Yet what happened there in 1972 should be taught in every school, discussed in every town hall, and remembered by every politician who claims to serve the people. Clay Cross. The name might mean nothing to you now, but it should. Because what happened there tells us everything about what democracy can be, and everything about what we’ve lost.

It’s a story governments would rather we forgot. A story about what happens when councillors and politicians actually keep their promises. A story that asks the most dangerous question in British politics: who do our elected representatives really serve?

In 1972, eleven Labour councillors in this Derbyshire mining town stood for election on a simple manifesto: for the people, by the people. They won overwhelmingly. Then they did something that now seems almost mythical in British politics.

They kept every promise they had made. For this act of democratic fidelity, for honouring the mandate given to them by their constituents, they were surcharged, bankrupted, and banned from public office. Their crime? Refusing to betray the people who elected them when Westminster demanded they increase council house rents by £1 a week, whilst unemployment in their town stood at 20 per cent.

Clay Cross Urban District Council’s rebellion against Edward Heath’s Housing Finance Act stands as a monument to a vanished political culture. But let us be precise about what has vanished. Not merely the willingness to fight (though that has certainly gone), but the fundamental understanding of who elected representatives serve.

The councillors of Clay Cross knew the answer with absolute clarity: they served their constituents, not their party hierarchy, not Westminster bureaucrats, not property developers or financial interests. They served the people who voted for them. Full stop…

This raises the most uncomfortable question in modern British politics, one we must ask again and again until we get a straight answer: who do our elected representatives serve? The people who elect them, or the party machines that select them? The communities they represent, or the lobbyists who wine and dine them? The citizens of their constituencies, or the globalist institutions that set the boundaries of acceptable policy?

At Clay Cross, the answer was never in doubt. Today, the evasions and qualifications flow freely, but the honest answer is rarely spoken.

Let me take you back to where this all began, because understanding Clay Cross’s roots illuminates how far we’ve fallen.

Read more...

https://labourheartlands.com/the-clay-cross-rebellion-and-the-death-of-democratic-faith/

A few miles down the road from where I sit, there's a small former mining village in Derbyshire that most people have never heard of. Yet what happened there

08/10/2025

We published this in 2021, and thought it might need an airing.

Starmer’s Selective Outrage: Standing Before a Banner Calling Israel ‘Fascist’

Yes, the man who has turned Labour into a safe haven for flag-waving Atlanticism and censorship of Palestinian solidarity once shared a stage with campaigners calling for sanctions against Israel, and no disciplinary emails were pinging around the NEC at 2 am.

Back in 2015, Starmer, then just another parliamentary hopeful for Holborn and St Pancras, attended an event organised by the Camden Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The meeting backed a boycott of Israeli goods and supported efforts to suspend Israel from world football’s governing body over restrictions on Palestinian players.

https://labourheartlands.com/labour-sir-keir-starmers-antisemitism-purge-takes-a-hit-after-he-appeared-at-a-meeting-which-included-a-call-to-punish-israeli-racism/

So much for moral consistency. Sir Keir Starmer, who has built his leadership on the promise to purge Labour of antisemitism and discipline anyone even

08/10/2025

Not sure if Aaron Bastani sets the right scene delivering a political monologue involving "Axel Rudakubana" from his daughter’s bedroom, but he’s spot on when he says:

"Axel Rudakubana, the Southport murderer, took a knife into school more than 10 times. He was found, by two police officers, with a knife on the bus (nothing happened). He even called childline telling them he wanted to kill people.

He was referred to PREVENT. Three times. Nothing happened. Then he went on a killing spree.

People can talk about ‘culture’, ‘identity’ and all the rest of it. But that seems to miss something quite basic: this is what happens when the state effectively lets young men run around with knives, without consequences.

And what were the consequences for PREVENT? Because it clearly doesn’t work.

07/10/2025

Got to give credit to Owen Jones here.

07/10/2025

Millions of victims of car finance mis-selling could receive less compensation than previously estimated, under plans from the regulator.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said payouts could result from 14 million motor finance agreements between April 2007 and November 2024.

The regulator previously suggested motorists could receive less than £950 per deal, but it now says the average will be about £700. Lenders could pay out £8.2bn in compensation.

The payouts are over commission arrangements between lenders and dealers, unfair contracts, and inaccurate information given to car buyers.

"It's time their customers get fair compensation," Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA, said.

"We recognise that there will be a wide range of views on the scheme, its scope, timeframe and how compensation is calculated. On such a complex issue, not everyone will get everything they would like."

The scheme would be free to access for consumers. The FCA estimates that 44% of all agreements made since 2007 will be eligible for payouts.

However, a ruling at the Supreme Court in August limited the breadth of these cases.

The FCA advises anyone who wants to make a complaint to get in touch with their lender or broker, and has this guidance on how to complain, external.

Unfair deals
The vast majority of new cars, and many second-hand ones, are bought with finance agreements.

About two million are sold this way each year, with customers paying an initial deposit, then a monthly fee with interest for the vehicle.

In 2021, the FCA banned deals in which the dealer received a commission from the lender, based on the interest rate charged to the customer. These were known as discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs) and meant drivers were at risk of overpaying for the loan.

Other car buyers had an unfair contract because the commission paid to the dealer was so high, accounting for 35% of the total cost of credit and 10% of the loan, and some were not given accurate information about getting the best finance deal because of an exclusive rights given to certain lenders.

The regulator has now proposed a scheme to compensate drivers who were subject to these arrangements. If it gets the go-ahead, once the scheme starts:

lenders will contact those who have already complained. If they don't hear back after one month, lenders will assume they should look at the case and pay compensation if appropriate

those who have already complained before the scheme gets up and running are likely to receive compensation faster

those who have not complained will be contacted by their lender within six months of the scheme starting. People will be asked if they want to opt in to the scheme to have their case reviewed. They will have six months to decide

those motor finance borrowers who do not receive a letter, for example because lenders no longer have their details and cannot trace them, will have a year from the scheme starting to make a claim

The regulator admitted that consumers can choose not to take part in the FCA's compensation scheme and instead go to court, where they may get more or less compensation, based on the facts of their case.

David Bott, senior partner from Bott and Co, which is representing some drivers in court, said: "The true measure of success will be whether it delivers meaningful compensation that reflects the real financial harm suffered by consumers.

"The average payout figure of £700 per agreement raises serious questions about whether the scale of redress will match the severity of wrongdoing."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqlzwqv7xz1o

Lenders could pay out £8.2bn in compensation, which is less than the FCA had previously estimated.

07/10/2025

A team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council has concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Where does that leave tge UK?

A government can be complacent in war crimes by failing to prevent atrocities, refusing to investigate or prosecute perpetrators, actively supporting or enabling perpetrators with arms and intelligence, or by ignoring or downplaying violations of international humanitarian law.