Tag Archives: Tory government

In Ñspel: The Guardian view on Sunak and the strikes: misreading the mood of the nation

‘At prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Rishi Sunak challenged Keir Starmer to back even tougher anti-strike legislation.’ Photograph: Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament/AFP/Getty Images
‘At prîm̦inistr’z qsćnz on Wnzde, Riśi Sūnac ćalinjd Cir Starmr t bac īvn tufr antīstrîc lejsleśn.’ Foṭgraf: Jesica Teilr/YC Parḷmnt/AFP/Geti Iṃjz

Ɖ Gardịn vy on Sūnac n ɖ strîcs: msrīdñ ɖ mūd v ɖ neśn

(Transcription of a Guardian editorial of 7 Dec. 2022)

Ɖ prîm̦inistr z sīcñ confṛnteśn wɖ ɖ yńnz in ɖ b’lif h wl rīp a p’liticl rword

Wnzde 7 Dsmbr 2022

Ɖ  rplesmnt v ɖ haplis Liz Trus bî Riśi Sūnac wz wîdli asymd t heṛld ɖ rtrn v a “groun-up”, maṇjirịl stîl v poḷtics t Dǎnñ Strīt. Wɖ ɖ marcits dyli pḷcetd bî Jeṛmi Hunt’s ōtmstetmnt, sm sīńr Tōriz īvn bgan t wuri ɖt Sūnacịn stbiḷti n fiscl orʈ̇doxi wd b tù borñ a platform on ẃć t fes Lebr at ɖ nxt ilex́n.

Bt it trnz ǎt ɖt, ǎtsd ɖ Siti, Brítnz r’nt bord bî Mr Sūnac’s flejlñ premịrśp; ɖe r fyrịs n insrjnt. Rel n postl wrcrz, nrsz, ambyḷnswrcrz n sivl srvnts r cuṛntli planñ t g on strîc in Dsmbr. Ɖe me b jônd bî tīćrz n jūńr doctrz in ɖ ny yir. In ol, mor ɖn a miłn membrz v ɖ wrcfors me wɖdrw ɖer lebr in ɖ līd-up t Crisṃs – numbrz reṃnisnt v ɖ “wintr v discntnt” in 1978/9. Ɖs z dspt lowr levlz v yńnmembrśp n far mor strinjnt rūlz guṿnñ strîc ax́n.

Dzastṛsli, aftr biyñ buḟtd intu U-trnz on hǎsbildñ n onśor windfarmz bî intrnl parti rvolts, Mr Sūnac apirz t si ɖ strîcs az a ćans t cnfǎnd ɖoz critics hu akz him v biyñ wìc. At prîm̦inistr’z qsćnz on Wnzde, h ćalinjd Cir Starmr t bac īvn tufr antīstrîc lejsleśn, t b intṛdyst nxt yir. Az ɖ transportsecṛtri, Marc Harper, hz admitd, ɖs wl nt afct industrịl ax́n ɖs wintr, bt ɖt z nt ɖ pônt. Ɖ guvnmnt’s cuṛnt straṭji z t ẃip p a confṛnteśn wɖ ɖ yńnz in ɖ b’lif ɖt ɖ public wl b on its sîd.

Ɖs “hu guvnz?” aproć feṃsli endd badli fr Edẉd Hīʈ, hu lost an ilex́n cōld on ɖt besis in 1974. Bt Mr Sūnac no dǎt prifŕz t dwel on Marġrit Ʈaćr’z trîumf in 1979, ẃn ɖ arğmnt ɖt yńnz wr “holdñ ɖ cuntri t ransm” – a lîn rpitd bî ministrz ɖs wīc – cntribytd t a Tori landslîd. Unforćṇtli fr ɖ prîm̦inistr, ɖt wz ɖen.

Bî ɖ end v ɖ 1970z, mć v ɖ popyleśn agrìd ɖt yńnz hd bcm tù pǎrfl. Forti yirz on, az Mr Sūnac proṃsz t leɉslet t “pṛtct” ɖ public, popylr simṗʈi fr ɖ rît t strîc hz acć̣li groun sins Jūn. Ɖ rīznz fr ɖt g bynd ptiklr dspyts, n dīpr ɖn ɖ cuṛnt cost-v-livñ crîsis. Ɖr z a wîdspred n akṛt public pspśn ɖt, sins ɖ craś, ɖ cuntri hz witnist a būm in unrnd-aset wlʈ n pe at ɖ top, cmbînd wɖ stagnetñ or fōlñ riyl-trmz wejz fr olmst evrwn els. A deced v undr-invstmnt in ɖ public sectr hz olso fyld a pspśn ɖt mć v ɖ cuntri jst dz’nt wrc proprli eni mor. Rsponsbiḷti fr ɖs dsfuñśnl stet v aferz z dīmd nt t lî wɖ 1970z-stîl militnt tredyńnists, bt wɖ s’xesiv Cnsrṿtiv guvnmnts.

F onli fṛm an instñt v slf-preẓveśn, a wîz admiṇstreśn wd rec̣gnîz ɖs bacdrop n ngośiet, n compṛmîz, acordñli. Ahd v a wintŗseśn ɖt strîcs wl onli dīpn, ɖs wd olso b ɖ rît ʈñ t d fr ɖ cuntri. Bt fr nǎ, Mr Sūnac’s fiscl cnsrṿtizm mīnz h wl nt cǎntinns sć an aproć. Instd, h apirz dtrmind t f’mnt sośl strîf in ɖ hop v îṣletñ Lebr n ynîtñ hiz ǒn parti wɖ sm retro reṭric. Ɖt z msgîdd n irisponsbl oṗtynizm, nt groun-up poḷtics. It olso sirịsli msrīdz ɖ mūd v ɖ neśn.

Instroduction to Ñspel

"House by the Railroad," Edward Hopper, 1925

In Ñspel: The Guardian view on Britain’s electric vehicle industry: slow-motion car crash

An artist’s view of Britishvolt's planned gigafactory. Photograph: Britishvolt/Reuters
An artist’s vy v Britiśvolt’s pland giġfacṭri. Foṭgraf: Britiśvolt/Rôtrz

Ɖ Gardịn vy on Britn’z ilectric-viycl inḍstri: slo-mośn carcraś

(Transcription of a Guardian editorial of 13 Nov. 2022)

Ɖ struglz v a flagśp baṭrimańfacćrr pônt t a wîdr mleiz

Súnde 13 Nvmbr 2022

Rlịr ɖs yir Boris Jonsn pridictd ɖt a pland £3.8bn giġfacṭri in Blaiɖ, bilt bî a start-up cumṗni cōld Britiśvolt, wd sn b “at ɖ hlm v a globl grīn industrịl reṿluśn”. Az wɖ so mni v Mr Jonsn’z būsṭriś clemz rgardñ Britn’z jrni t net ziro, facts on ɖ grǎnd hv sigṇli feld t cīp pes wɖ súni reṭric. Britiśvolt’s vast sait on ɖ norʈ-īst cǒst rmenz a mudi fīld. Ɖs munʈ, hvñ feld t pswed ɖ ny biznișecṛtri, Grant Śaps, t īz its caśflo probḷmz, ɖ cumṗni fîndz itslf mor or les brouc n p fr seil.

T pt ɖs dpresñ stori in its propr pspctiv, it hz bn esṭmetd ɖt 41 giġfacṭriz r îɖr oṗreśnl or pland in wstn Yṛp, cmperd wɖ jst ʈri in Britn (n ɖt’s f Britiśvolt z opṭmisticli includd). Guvnmnts in Jrṃni, Frans n elsẃr hv spent biłnz v yroz t atract līdñ baṭrimańfacćrrz, hu wl b funḍmntl t 21st-snć̣ri carpṛdux́n. Ɖ stṛtījic lojic at wrc z nt dificlt t grasp: in ɖ fyćr, mańfacćrrz wl b best ẃr axes t baṭriz z locl n stretfwd; a fŭli fuñṣ́nñ dmestic s’plîćen wl olso b sefgardd fṛm xtrnl śocs, n jeṇret jobz t compnset fr ɖoz lost in ɖ trnziśn awe fṛm petṛl n dīzl.

A viźn v ɖs jônd-up fyćr cn b glimst in Swīdn, ẃr Norʈvolt – a stet-bact baṭri start-up ɖt hz bcm wn v Yṛp’s bigist mańfacćrrz – hz partnrd wɖ Volvo, Volkswagen n BMW. Bt a similrli proactiv industrịl straṭji apirz t b bynd ɖ preznt guvnmnt. Planz r in ples fr a ny giġfacṭri srvñ Nisan in Sunḍḷnd, bt Britn nīdz p t sevn mor bî 2030. Ɖ fundñ s’port on ofr fṛm Ẃîthōl hz bn wǒḟli inadiqt, az s’xesiv ministrz hv sat on ɖer handz.

Ɖs laissez-faire imoḅlizm hz bcm an xistnśl ʈret t ɖ fyćr v ɖ dmestic car inḍstri. Tata Grūp v India, ẃć ǒnz ɖ YC’z līdñ carmańfacćrr, Jağar Landrovr, z b’livd t b mulñ a reskbid fr Britiśvolt, bt hz rportidli bn pt of so far bî ɖ lac v guvnmntbacñ. Ɖr r firz ɖt wɖt gd rīznz t foc̣s on Britn, Jağar Landrovr me śift fyćr carpṛdux́n t its plant in Sḷvacia. Mnẃl, ɖr r uɖr sînz ɖt a tipñpônt z aproćñ. BMW z trnsfŕñ pṛdux́n v its Mini IVz t Ćîna. Ɖ YC ilectric-van start-up Arîvl z dcampñ t ɖ YS, ẃr it cn tec advantij v ny fînanśl insntivz ofrd bî ɖ Bîdn admiṇstreśn.

Britiśvolt, a ʈri-yir-old start-up wɖ no xistñ product n no car mcr on bōrd, śd nvr hv bn tōct p so xtraṿgntli bî Mr Jonsn in ɖ frst ples. Nvɖles, ɖ cumṗni’z “red wōl” lceśn simḅlîzd hops ɖt ɖ eṇji trnziśn – hvr ćaḷnjñ – cd b ɖ caṭlist fr an ic̣nomic rnesns in ǎr post-industrịl rījnz. Ɖt z a prîz wrʈ fîtñ fr. Bt az invstmnt dsiźnz r tecn ẃć wl dtrmin ɖ śep v ɖ globl car inḍstri fr decedz t cm, its rîz n fōl iḷstrets ɖt ɖ guvnmnt z simpli felñ t d its job.

Fr ɖ sićueśn t b trnd arnd, car mcrz n ɖ bigist baṭricumṗniz nīd t si a chiṛnt industrịl straṭji in ples – wn in ẃć ɖ stet hz scin in ɖ gem n ofrz sirịs insntivz t invst. Ɖs z ol ɖ mor vîtl gvn cntinywñ Brexit hedwindz n endlis p’liticl uphivl. Bfr it z tù lêt, Mr Śaps mst rec̣gnîz ɖ lūmñ carcraś in ɖ cuntri’z flagśp mańfacćrñinḍstri n tec b’letd ax́n t avrt it.

Instroduction to Ñspel

"House by the Railroad," Edward Hopper, 1925