Ben Wray

Journalist & researcher: [email protected] | Co-author 'Scotland After Britain' (Verso, 2022) | co-ordinator @project_gig

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

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[The Gig Economy Project @project_gig]

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[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

@CSBlenner There's 2.3 million landlords who are private individuals in Spain. Let's say 10% of them are in Catalunya. I reckon a party like Junts will be more concerned with that group than with renters. A lot of Junts' politicians will also be landlords!

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

Junts per dueños...

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

The Basque nationalist Party will vote for the (weaker) first housing decree and opposed the (stronger) second one.

The reality is that PNV and Junts represent the rentier class in the Basque Country and Catalunya, and are defending their interests.
https://t.co/x0Q9av2M2R

[elDiario.es @eldiarioes]

El PNV apoyará el primer decreto y tumba con su ‘no’ los alquileres indefinidos https://t.co/4PqDydpeBS

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

Maybe there's an opportunity here for the housing movement to escalate actions now. The fact that Junts has set itself up as the party of the rentier class could be a chance to strengthen the movement in Catalunya. Some talk of a general strike ¡Adelante!
https://t.co/7oglMYEqSl

[EL PAÍS @el_pais]

🔴 ÚLTIMA HORA | Junts acuerda tumbar los dos decretos de vivienda del Gobierno https://t.co/wnjtkpKGBO

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

@CSBlenner They aren't far-right, but they are definitely being pulled further to the right by the rise of Alianca Catalana, which is far-right. Though I'm not sure that explains this vote: I just think their core support is probably the Catalan rentier class.

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

@CSBlenner Why? You didn't defend the political rights of Catalans because they had leftist politics, you defended them because Catalans deserve to have political rights.

[The Sobremesa Podcast @Sobremesacast]

New Episode: Madrid's Housing Revolt!

@EoghanGilmartin talks to Hannah Fakir from the @InquilinatoMad about the protest wave hitting Spain over property speculation, evictions and soaring housing costs.

https://t.co/vyNCDMjRGg

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

Finally, a country has actually transposed the Platform Work Directive. Well done Slovakia!

The law is by no means perfect, but it includes a mechanism for a collective employment claim by workers, which is something other countries should follow.
https://t.co/LRSi4FmkPs

[The Gig Economy Project @project_gig]

The first country to transpose the EU Platform Work Directive is Slovakia.

We take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of 'The Act on Work Performed through Digital Labour Platforms' in this GEP briefing: https://t.co/jk36YXicbp

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

There's an obvious conflict with someone having diplomatic community and running a major business: it's a licence to do illegal things. No wonder it's reported that Man City top execs are still relaxed: they are immune to the law!

https://t.co/PDi2zRVDvR

[Financial Times @FT]

FT exclusive: The Premier League football club’s Emirati chair, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, was granted immunity six years ago in a move that could complicate any legal action resulting from findings that it artificially inflated its finances by more than £900mn. https://t.co/MMdyqNAIqB

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

The next stage in algorithmic labour exploitation: control workers' eyes.
https://t.co/t66FFH3juk

[Jacobin @jacobin]

Amazon says it is introducing “smart delivery glasses” in order to make delivery safer.

A former Amazon delivery driver argues that the glasses will also help it further expand AI-driven surveillance and control of its workforce: https://t.co/EOC3t7z9v8

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

Remarkable if you think about it. An independent panel of KCs has just found that a big business in the UK committed fraud on an epic scale, and the prime minister's response is to jump to the defence of the foreign owners of that business.

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

Burnham's thrown populism out the window to defend Abu Dhabi, despite the blatant corruption. Just shows the influence that the gulf states have in the British establishment.
https://t.co/Kn546LHHtM

[Sky Sports News @SkySportsNews]

Prime Minister Andy Burnham would be "really concerned" to lose Manchester City owners as a result of club being found guilty of Premier League financial rule breaches, by an independent commission.

The club are expected to appeal the decision.

[Fay Young @fay_young]

Free social care in Scotland? This would be a good day to repost Ben Wray’s @Ben_Wray1989 detailed analysis of costs and challenges of caring for the elderly in the highly privatised Scottish system   
1/5  https://t.co/aXcU37pTt8

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

Football clubs are community institutions. Handing over that heritage to rapacious Gulf states and Elon Musk-style characters is never going to end well. They might win you a league title, but what happens when they lose interest, or there's a geopolitical conflict, etc etc?

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

Amazes me that football fans dont seem to get this. When you let entities into your clubs that are more powerful than the league itself, don't be surprised that they'ld rather torch everything than be held to account. That goes for states and billionaires.
https://t.co/h17x0ibSjx

[Miguel Delaney @MiguelDelaney]

The threat is now that City's aggressive response turns the Premier League into a joke

If so, this was what people had long warned about state ownership

And, far from sportswashing, it has now blackened the name of the club

https://t.co/Fzs1cQRGM5

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

The other thing is that, 40 years ago, leftist media commentators (to the extent they existed) operated in a culture that was more collective; you were linked to serious organisations (esp unions) which exerted political discipline on its leaders. Thats basically all gone.

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

The relevant point about this is not about Owen, its about the structural influences on all left media commentators: touring the studios to influence viewers is important work, but it should be recognised that the studios also influences the commentator. https://t.co/FkBeB9jhr1

[The New Statesman @NewStatesman]

"I started to doubt where I was politically"

@owenjonesjourno talks to @OliDugmore about his regrets as a political commentator.

Listen to The Exchange wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

Just looking at some of the details of this scam: sponsors paid £119.5 million, whereas sponsorship income was reported as £949.94 million. The gap - £830.96 million - was covered by the owner of the club.

That's a pretty big scam...

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

These are serious crimes. Presenting fraudulent accounts to auditors & regulators isn't a small thing. People go to jail for that.

Possible geopolitics will save City Execs from criminal prosecution, but Abu Dhabi will as a minimum have to sell the club.
https://t.co/OovV24KTTc

[Martyn Ziegler @martynziegler]

BREAKING: Man City judgement published by Premier League here:
https://t.co/vfvXZN7YQL

[Ben Wray @Ben_Wray1989]

The Premier League's fit & proper owner test is already disgraced (Saudi owns a club) but it'd be ludicrous if, after this ruling, the City Execs could still pass the test.

Premier League has to take a lot of blame: they allowed states to buy clubs in the first place.