© Matthew Buck Hac Cartoons for Hampshire Chronicle
Regular bus users in the villages surrounding Winchester are experiencing the problems associated with ’less money for public services’, even if these are outsourced through ‘more efficient’ private enterprise. Read all about it in the Hampshire Chronicle.
© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for http://tribunecartoons.com
It is five years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers that is popularly imagined to have been the cause of the financial crash and the start of the following great recession. Link to Gillian Tett comment piece at Financial Times. Email registration required to read it.
© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for Hampshire Chronicle
Winchester is starting to see the practical effects of the Chancellor’s attempts to restart the property industry as the City Council considers a reversal of policy and a speedy sale of many city centre car parks for housing developments. Read all about the latest in The Hampshire Chronicle.
The 2013 conference season has begun with the Trades Union Conference held in Bournemouth. Here is the text of the keynote speech from Frances O’Grady the general secretary of the umbrella organisation for the trades unions in the UK.
© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for Hampshire Chronicle
The traditional exchange of information from the electoral register continues to provide for the activity of many businesses. Read all about it in the Hampshire Chronicle.
If you would like to reduce the amount of junk mail you get (and who wouldn’t) try this offer from the Office of the National Information Commissioner.
Updated – 13th September 2013: The Chancellor’s efforts to restart the property and mortgage market have boosted the number of Estate Agents in the UK.
Cover artwork: The Blunders of our Governments © Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons
I have been reading a fine post about why we seem to have so many cock-ups in our national public life at The Real Blog, which is written by David Boyle. It also notes a book, reviewed here by Peter Wilby, in which I had a hand, providing the individual drawings for the cover.
My hat tipped to the authors of The Blunders of Our Governments, Anthony King and Ivor Crewe, and the good folk at Oneworld Publications who artfully bundled us together.
I look forward to working on the surely inevitable follow up!
Edited: To add a review at Politics Home by Austin Mitchell.
© Matt Buck Hack Cartoons for tribunecartoons.com
The parliamentary rejection of the Prime Minister’s desire for a vote supporting the targeted bombing of Syria continues to have repercussions.
Ed Miliband dodged his own bullet (sorry for the mixed military metaphor) when he shifted position to account dissent within his own party.
David Cameron found his sudden recall of parliament and repeated manoeuvres annoyed MPs. The result was a loss of the vote and of personal authority which is bad news when relying on judgment backed by a personal reassurance about the disputed intelligence materials.
The serious subtexts are the difficulties of the civil war in Syria and the larger regional proxy war it represents. Domestically, it is not yet clear if the Prime Minister will be able to avoid his own civil war as a result of the mess. Certainly one of the would-be PM’s, Boris Johnson, is making bellicose noises.
The cartoon references the British propaganda poster which has been in a popular circulation since the financial crash of 2007/08.
© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons
The US Secretary of State delivered his ‘We know’ (all about what Syria did) speech on August 30th 2013.
Pencil drawing taken from the video feed. Here is the speech and a summary as recorded by The Guardian.
© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons
The fall out, or off, from this rejection of a ‘quick strike’ is entirely unpredictable and may follow the passage of a burst balloon.
Essentially, the power of a leader is the power to persuade and as this piece at Stumbling and Mumbling notes that is attached to character, especially in politics.
©_Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for Hampshire Chronicle
A new History of the English language in 100 Places is launched. You can read all about it in the Hampshire Chronicle.
You might also excuse the paraphrasing and the old reference from the joke.
