The TUC still exist apparently. And they still live in the 19th Century.

General secretary Brendan Barber said extreme wealth was "socially divisive and morally objectionable".

The TUC says higher tax rates should be imposed on earnings between £100,000-£150,000 and over £200,000.

Limiting tax relief and tax avoidance measures open to the well-off could raise £5 billion, said general secretary Brendan Barber.

So the state begins to steal the fortunes of rich people. The TUC imagine not only that they will hang around to loose their money, but that this will be a perpetual £5bn income for the treasury.

Vote Labour.

A couple of days ago supermarkets were being criticised for focusing promotions too much on unhealthy foods. Just noticed this at Asda.com - who point out that the government charge no VAT on "essential foods" which includes frozen pizza and chips, but charges the full 17.5% on healthier items like smoothies and fruit juices. Asda want the government to reduce the VAT on healthy foods to 5% (which is the lowest they can go under EU law).

The government's all very good when it comes to using duties and taxes to punish "bad" behaviour like smoking, drinking or polluting. How about they put their money where their mouth is and give us a break for "good" things?

Stop everything! Sean Reynolds has decreed that Dunhill's marketing material is "sectarian".

Boots in Royal Avenue, Belfast, withdrew from an aftershave marketing campaign because the t-shirts their staff were wearing featured a Dunhill Union Jack after an "easy-going fella" (who obviously hasn't been advised that self-praise is no praise) found it "offensive".

Do you know what: I'm offended too. I'm offended that Boots have deemed my country's flag offensive (inside that country to boot!). But I'm more angry that Boots would pander to such a blatantly bigoted, obnoxious, self-important, prick as this Sean Reynolds character. So I'll not be back to Boots in a hurry. I'm sure between my local chemists, the Perfume Shop and t'internet I'll not be missing out on anything.

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This was initially published a couple of months ago now, so apologies to those who have read it elsewhere, but I think it's definitely worth highlighting Jim Cusack writing in the Irish Independent about how prosperous Northern Ireland, and specifically Northern Irish Poor Oppressed Filthy Rich Catholics, have become in recent years.

I've picked out the highlights below, but I'd really encourage anyone with 5-10 minutes free to read the whole article.

earlier this year, when the Rich List for Northern Ireland was published , there was one little detail that went completely unnoticed -- well over half of those on it were Catholics. Places one, two and three were all filled by Catholics. The richest part of Belfast, the Malone Road -- think Ballsbridge in Dublin 4 -- now has a Catholic majority.

...

Isn't Northern Ireland supposed to be, er, depressed, like, after three decades of terrorist violence? Aren't the Catholics supposed to be "oppressed" like Gerry Adams keeps banging on about and the Southern meeja still seems to believe?

...

Truth is, cross the Ormeau Bridge over the Lagan, up into those nice leafy streets, and the arriviste MCCs would rather be seen wearing shell suits and trainers than vote Sinn Fein. Gerry, baby: Middle Class Catholics define their social position primarily through the distance between themselves and you and your voters. About as many Catholics vote Sinn Fein in south and south west Belfast as in Dun Laoghaire. If you live in a part of Belfast that has a street sign in both Irish and English, any self-respecting MCC would cross the road to avoid you.

I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I am certain that if there is a relative increase in wealth among Catholics vis a vis Protestants then it is of their own making and based in no small part on different attitudes to education. On a brighter note, the accepted wisdom is that with money comes power and influence, so it would be nice to believe that Cusick is right and that it also brings a gulf with Sinn Fein and their brand of victimhood-based ethno-nationalism and a shift in priorities away from simply one-upping the Prods.

Was anyone else sickened to see Caitriona Ruane smiling like a Cheshire cat when the exam results were released yesterday, revealing that Northern Irish pupils were once again top of the class when it comes to getting A grades at A-level? (I'm not sure if she was congratulating the students or herself!) This is only the woman is doing her damnedest to single-handedly end that trend after all!

35.4% of grades awarded to Ulster's students were As, compared to the UK-wide figure of 25.9%. In terms of A-E passes, Northern Ireland's figure was 98.2% compared to the national rate of 97.2%.

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Northern Irish bank notes may soon be given legal standing

I noticed an interesting sentence at the very bottom of a Telegraph article about a W.H. Smith store in London overturning a ban on Northern Irish bank notes.

A spokesman for HM Treasury said that moves are under way to ensure notes from Northern Ireland and Scotland have the same standing in England as Bank of England notes.

Of course the difference between theory and practice could still prove frustrating when you have to rely on shop assistants looking in cunfuddlement at the strange piece of paper you're handing to them, nevertheless I thought this was quite interesting given how complicated the issue of legal tender in the United Kingdom is.

Northern Ireland is full of tourists. Spending money. Good.

It's easy to think, when you're travelling abroad in Europe (or even hopping over the border), that it wouldn't be a good thing if we were to join the Eurozone and do away with all the nasty changing money business.

The Irish Times carries a cautionary tale about the inflexibility of a central bank setting policy for such a large and diverse area as the EU though.

The European Central Bank's president, Jean-Claude Trichet, warned that the ECB has more important things to worry about than eurozone members like the Republic of Ireland [sic], Spain and Portugal that are experiencing economic difficulties.

"The ECB has to care for the superior interest of the euro area.
...
Our monetary policy must be optimal at the level of the whole euro area - exactly like the Fed [the ECB's American equivalent] would not look at what is in the interest of Missouri, California or Texas."

The European Parliament is set to vote on proposals that would ban airlines from quoting prices that don't include taxes and charges. Super, smashing, great!

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It's something politicians, particularly in Northern Ireland, seem to be especially adept at. OK its their job, but some outlays seem to be more worthwhile than others.

A few figures appeared yesterday:

• Policing George Bush's one-day visit: £300k
• 1 prosecution out of 1,100 cold-cases re-opened: £34m
• Bloody Sunday enquiry: £188m (to date)
• Enquiries in the next year: £100m (estimate)
• Subsidy to Citi to create 145 jobs: £2m (£13,793 per job)
• Cuts to ambulance services to save £1.5m: priceless!

Ah well, at least Larne's council aren't paying for red, white an blue bunting.