Exactly, John, a worthless, pointless petition. Yet now signed by getting on for two and half million people. The petition itself and the numbers signing are themselves signs of the serious democratic deficit in the UK, and of the stresses in our failing societies.

There's a chap called the Blackbelt Barrister who seems to have wandered off into a more overt libertarian political blog - he can be found here for instance





He talks about the Retail Association's criticism of the government, "Big business telling the government that job losses are certain, prices will rise ...et" Among the "retailers" signing this open letter is Amazon!!

This was my comment below the video

Come on Blackbelt political commentator - you are taking the supposed woes of some of the largest and most predatory retail corporations as gospel? Amazon?? Bezos as a defender of British workers? Are you that naive? Retail the most valuable sector of the economy? No it isn't - the retail "industry" is like the tourist "industry" a non-productive redistributive service in any economy. You have to earn the money to be able to spend it, and the fact is UK PLC no longer earns much money. Now, I'm not saying there may well be issues with the Government's combined measures that are detailed here, but this one-sided hit piece doesn't do you well. All this was done so as to not have to increase taxes more directly. You live in a country living on tick and denying reality. That's what this petition is.

So Starmer's not popular? Goodness, you've all just realised this and yet you voted him in with a massive majority? Did you really believe he represented "change"? Pathetic. He's a devious, rigid, vindictive, genocide supporting autocrat - he was when he took over Labour and he still is. What you don't understand is that the whole capitalist, corporatist system is failing, allied to the failures of the creaking and decaying "democratic" institutions of the UK, allied to the self-inflicted wounds of Brexit, of pursuing a reckless gung-ho a war with Russia rather than trying to stop one, allied to stopping low cost energy supplies from Russia (we did that, not Russia) which must have cost the UK citizens hundred of billions of pounds and some very cold evenings, and a climate of change, literally, that's promising ever more dire consequences - of course things are falling apart. Starmer's government, like Biden's, like Trump's will be, like the prior Tories, are symptoms of a failing system. 

Nothing other than a radical and cooperative societal endeavour will save us. And here you are being gulled into signing a worthless petition asking for a new election? Who's behind this petition, eh? Well, we're told it's a small business and pub owner, Michael Westwood, so nothing too suspicious there. So good on him, no complaints there. He's annoyed that he's been lied to?!! Come on Mr Westwood, they all lie. Lying and gaslighting are the only political realities nowadays - and another election will help?.He says "he's been betrayed". The betrayal started forty years ago under Mrs Thatcher and neoliberalism, the hollowing out of the UK's productive sector. The "there's no such thing as society" Well if you run an economic systems that doesn't even recognise "society" no wonder that society is angry, neglected and failing, is it? North Sea oil saved the exchequer for many years, but now there's nothing in the coffers. Perhaps folks signing this petition might reflect on the expressed support of that arch humanist and concerned human being, Elon Musk, and the right wing press will be pushing their agenda on the back of this petition, you know, stay out of Europe, let's fight and bomb Russia, support Israel's war crimes, suckle on the teats of the US for another few disastrous years of our "special relationship". Great human beings to a man and woman.....so when the first missiles fly over the bucolic countryside of England's green and pleasant land, duck, and don't complain to me, if you're still alive, that is.