What's the betting that we'll hear next that it was a very selective sample from the overall data?rebeccariots2 wrote:Paul Waugh @paulwaugh 3m3 minutes ago
I'm no statistician but...key DWP stat seems pretty elastic. Between 37% and 45%?
Good proposal.Andrew Gwynne MP @GwynneMP 5m5 minutes ago
MOVE 100,000 CIVIL SERVICE JOBS to the regions – Gwynne http://andrewgwynne.co.uk/2015/11/10/mo ... ons-gwynne" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
TUC Press Office @TUCnews 42m42 minutes ago
MPs just voted in their workplace to prevent other people from voting in their workplace. Huh. #TUBill
Cambridge, England — IN January, researchers at King’s College London announced that pollution levels on Oxford Street, in central London, had exceeded limits set for the entire year in just the first four days of 2015. Similarly alarming numbers have been recorded for other streets in the city — and yet the mayor, Boris Johnson, has delayed implementation of stricter air-quality measures until 2020.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/opini ... share&_r=0
Tim Montgomerie ن @montie 1h1 hour ago
I agree with @OwenSmith_MP http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk ... not-be-cut" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … (excepting the digs against IDS)
... I have written to Iain Duncan Smith today, calling on him to provide a public, cast-iron guarantee to the millions of working families who are worried about cuts to their incomes that no further money will be taken out of the Universal Credit budget.
The Tories think they might be able to get away with it because Universal Credit is a bit of a black box - a complicated new system that many people don’t yet fully understand. So I commissioned analysis from the House of Commons Library to model a real example of the impact further cuts would create, to give the government a much needed dose of reality.
Under current plans for Universal Credit, for every extra £1 low and some middle paid workers earn over a certain threshold they lose 65p of support from the government. If the plans that have been rumoured come to pass, the Tories would increase this "taper rate" to 75p in the pound. That equates to some low paid people effectively paying a tax rate of well over 80 per cent.
The upshot of all this is that a single parent of two children, working full time on the minimum wage, who is already set to lose more than £2,400 next year, as a result of the government’s plans, would see those losses rise to over £3,100 a year. The evidence is clear and damning, cutting Universal Credit in the way that’s been rumoured will mean huge losses for millions of working families...
yahyah wrote:Telegraph PoliticsVerified account @TelePolitics 4m4 minutes ago
Labour MP pulls out of China trip 'because flights were economy class' http://bit.ly/1MydMmF" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Torygraph tweet seems shy in telling us that it is their usual darling, Simon Danczuk, involved.
I've been desperately trying not to post that here cos I so hate giving that man any further oxygen. But he really is something else ... Jim Pickard @PickardJE 5m5 minutes ago
Number 10 will cater for all different types of security: National. Economic. Personal. Financial. Cyber. Emotional?Security. Security.
ResolutionFoundation @resfoundation 40m40 minutes ago
The impact of the Budget on household incomes http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/med ... x-credits/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
To repeat myself / Tim Montgomerie from earlier.Owen Smith @OwenSmith_MP 9m9 minutes ago
Cutting Universal Credit no way out of tax credit mess for Tories, it rebadges the same cuts. IDS must rule it out http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk ... not-be-cut" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
Don't have a problem with this. China is a long way, especially in cramped economy. Plus, he would be able to work in business class+.yahyah wrote:Telegraph PoliticsVerified account @TelePolitics 4m4 minutes ago
Labour MP pulls out of China trip 'because flights were economy class' http://bit.ly/1MydMmF" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Torygraph tweet seems shy in telling us that it is their usual darling, Simon Danczuk, involved.
Kind of says it all doesn't it...Teresa Crawford Retweeted
Paul Waugh @paulwaugh 2 hrs2 hours ago
The endorsement he didn't want? French FN's Marine Le Pen: "I am so happy to see David Cameron doing in the UK what I want to do for France"
refitman wrote:Don't have a problem with this. China is a long way, especially in cramped economy. Plus, he would be able to work in business class+.yahyah wrote:Telegraph PoliticsVerified account @TelePolitics 4m4 minutes ago
Labour MP pulls out of China trip 'because flights were economy class' http://bit.ly/1MydMmF" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Torygraph tweet seems shy in telling us that it is their usual darling, Simon Danczuk, involved.
People I work with make regular trips to China, for business, and they always book business class.
Farmers, vets and landowners fear impact of potential 30% Defra budget cuts
http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Far ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I'm sure they are fearful ... and what a surprise that they think the Environment Agency should be scrapped ....... The detail of how much each minister will have to save from their day to day spending comes on November 25 in the Chancellor's autumn statement
But NFU President Meurig Raymond said cuts should be made to Defra’s back office functions - not front line services. “Our priority is for farming businesses to be productive and profitable and we are concerned that cuts of up to 30 per cent could damage front line delivery services that underpin this aim,” he said.
He is seeking an urgent meeting with ministers to discuss where the axe might fall and how farmers could be hit. And he went on: “The NFU also have concerns about cost recovery – if this simply means paying for the continuation of services that could be delivered more effectively and efficiently. We believe that there is scope for some services, including some provided by agencies such as the Environment Agency, to be delivered more cost-effectively by other providers.
And vets are warning against reductions in payments for disease control – particularly with the bovine TB crisis still causing huge problems for the livestock industry...
I'm hoping you mean Ian Duncan Smith - and not Owen Smith who I think is doing exactly as he should in pointing out how hard the poorest will be hit by both tax credit cuts and / or UC cuts.seeingclearly wrote:These two, Smith snd Osbourne, are playing some betting game with peoples livelihoods, it is very unprincipled to do this, mind you when did that ever stop them. (glum)
You don't think they'd get an extremely good deal out of the UK Government?rebeccariots2 wrote:Farmers, vets and landowners fear impact of potential 30% Defra budget cuts
http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Far ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;I'm sure they are fearful ... and what a surprise that they think the Environment Agency should be scrapped ....... The detail of how much each minister will have to save from their day to day spending comes on November 25 in the Chancellor's autumn statement
But NFU President Meurig Raymond said cuts should be made to Defra’s back office functions - not front line services. “Our priority is for farming businesses to be productive and profitable and we are concerned that cuts of up to 30 per cent could damage front line delivery services that underpin this aim,” he said.
He is seeking an urgent meeting with ministers to discuss where the axe might fall and how farmers could be hit. And he went on: “The NFU also have concerns about cost recovery – if this simply means paying for the continuation of services that could be delivered more effectively and efficiently. We believe that there is scope for some services, including some provided by agencies such as the Environment Agency, to be delivered more cost-effectively by other providers.
And vets are warning against reductions in payments for disease control – particularly with the bovine TB crisis still causing huge problems for the livestock industry...
Oooh I could dream of voting to leave the EU just to spite these receivers of EU 'welfare'. (But in reality I couldn't base my vote just on that sentiment).
And then there's this. Completely wrong.Campaigners call for land reform as Scottish farmer faces eviction
Andrew Stoddart and his family must leave farm they have tended for 22 years by end of the month, with minimal compensation
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... and-reform" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I don't know what they'd get from this government Tubby. But 30% cuts to Defra - and an EU exit - would make a huge hole for whichever government crony to fill - on top of the rock bottom commodity prices.Tubby Isaacs wrote:You don't think they'd get an extremely good deal out of the UK Government?rebeccariots2 wrote:Farmers, vets and landowners fear impact of potential 30% Defra budget cuts
http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Far ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;I'm sure they are fearful ... and what a surprise that they think the Environment Agency should be scrapped ....... The detail of how much each minister will have to save from their day to day spending comes on November 25 in the Chancellor's autumn statement
But NFU President Meurig Raymond said cuts should be made to Defra’s back office functions - not front line services. “Our priority is for farming businesses to be productive and profitable and we are concerned that cuts of up to 30 per cent could damage front line delivery services that underpin this aim,” he said.
He is seeking an urgent meeting with ministers to discuss where the axe might fall and how farmers could be hit. And he went on: “The NFU also have concerns about cost recovery – if this simply means paying for the continuation of services that could be delivered more effectively and efficiently. We believe that there is scope for some services, including some provided by agencies such as the Environment Agency, to be delivered more cost-effectively by other providers.
And vets are warning against reductions in payments for disease control – particularly with the bovine TB crisis still causing huge problems for the livestock industry...
Oooh I could dream of voting to leave the EU just to spite these receivers of EU 'welfare'. (But in reality I couldn't base my vote just on that sentiment).
Graham Allen MP @GrahamAllenMP 6m6 minutes ago
Tories have just pushed Anti Trades Union bill through Parliament against Labour opposition
Farmers do well for subsidies everywhere but New Zealand.rebeccariots2 wrote:
I don't know what they'd get from this government Tubby. But 30% cuts to Defra - and an EU exit - would make a huge hole for whichever government crony to fill - on top of the rock bottom commodity prices.
Yes, I understood the equation you were referring to ... but I still don't want to guess at what farmers (perhaps we should say 'landowners' here) would get in that situation. There are farmers ... and then there are 'farmers'. More worrying might be the impact of certain EU regulations and programmes such as TB eradication ... I wouldn't like to hazard a guess as to where this particular govt and the NFU / Countryside Alliance might go with that and what that might ultimately cost - in every sense.Tubby Isaacs wrote:Farmers do well for subsidies everywhere but New Zealand.rebeccariots2 wrote:
I don't know what they'd get from this government Tubby. But 30% cuts to Defra - and an EU exit - would make a huge hole for whichever government crony to fill - on top of the rock bottom commodity prices.
The EU payments would go down if we were no longer a member, because the EU pays the CAP. The UK would get that money to pay direct to farmers.
Valuable evidence and documentation for the misconduct in public office trials.ohsocynical wrote:rebeccariots2 wrote:David Cameron reported to statistics watchdog over questionable EU migrant benefit statistics
Statisticians have questioned the validity of the figures
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 28646.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
But various members of HM Government have been reported to the statistics watchdog at various times for questionable figures, and nothing ever happens.
God damn it to hell.rebeccariots2 wrote:Graham Allen MP @GrahamAllenMP 6m6 minutes ago
Tories have just pushed Anti Trades Union bill through Parliament against Labour opposition
He still wouldn't understand if you couched them in terms suitable for a five year old...Tubby Isaacs wrote:Not seen anyone in the mainstream media point out the nonsense of Cameron wanting "national parliaments" to block stuff, but also "more competitiveness" across the EU.
The EU works by funny compromises and fudges, but these are supposed to be starting principles. Shouldn't someone point out the contradictions?
Both are possible, I work with a marathon runner who suffers if he has to sit in cramped positions for a long period. Danczuk could do with losing a few pounds and he isn't young. Perfectly reasonable to drop a trip to China because it is a stupid distance in economy.ohsocynical wrote:refitman wrote:Don't have a problem with this. China is a long way, especially in cramped economy. Plus, he would be able to work in business class+.yahyah wrote:Telegraph PoliticsVerified account @TelePolitics 4m4 minutes ago
Labour MP pulls out of China trip 'because flights were economy class' http://bit.ly/1MydMmF" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Torygraph tweet seems shy in telling us that it is their usual darling, Simon Danczuk, involved.
People I work with make regular trips to China, for business, and they always book business class.
One Tweet I read quoted Danczuk as implying he had a medical problem which meant he couldn't do long flights...
Another Tweet said he ran a race around a week ago, and made a good time...
Whatever. Once again he is in the spotlight.
Or the people who witter on about Common Purpose...Tubby Isaacs wrote:Where's Sir Robin Butler? Surely he's worried about the takeover of government by Policy Exchange?
Some of the comments below the line were worthwhile reading, other posts abusive, nothing more.The Tories’ assault on further education will cost Britain dearly
Colleges have been battered by cuts already – another round could destroy them. It is time we made David Cameron talk about it
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... t-63116690
Respiratory wards were full of people with breathing difficulty.Airpocalypse now: China pollution reaching record levels
In some areas level of harmful particles in the air were 56 times the levels considered safe by the World Health Organisation
Residents of north-eastern China donned gas masks and locked themselves indoors on Sunday after their homes were enveloped by some of the worst levels of smog on record. Levels of PM2.5, a tiny airborne particulate linked to cancer and heart disease, soared in Liaoning province as northern China began burning coal to heat homes at the start of the winter.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/n ... ord-levels
And it's good.My tax credits are a lifeline. Osborne is wrong to slash them
Gordon Brown
Instead of escaping poverty, millions of working parents and their children will struggle – even if the minimum wage is raised
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... s-children" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
... Some argue that personal tax allowances, a citizen’s income and a negative income tax offer better solutions. But if it is family poverty we want to relieve, nothing is as targeted or cost effective as tax credits.
And there’s another fiction here. Tax credits did not cost £1.5bn in their first full year of operation, as the chancellor claimed, but £10.5bn at today’s prices. And they successively absorbed existing benefits – from family credit to the child payments in jobseeker’s allowance.
It was because child, work and pension tax credits rose that 2 million children and 2 million pensioners escaped poverty – and because they were cost-effective: the biggest increases in social spending from 1999 were not on tax credits but on the NHS (up £65bn), followed by pensions (up £35bn). What’s more, tax credits helped workers stay in jobs when forced on to fewer hours during the recession; and they ensured that while income inequality rose almost everywhere, including Scandinavia, our redistributive taxes stemmed the tide.
So by hitting tax credit twice over – by cutting the income threshold, and changing the “tapers” to weaken work incentives – Conservative ministers are doing the opposite of what they should be doing. Their analysis – that the problem is worklessness – is wrong; their assumptions – that the poor are feckless – are wrong. And their prescription – that incentives to work should be cut – is wrong...
I don't understand this person or the Tory government she's part of. If renewable energy projects are stopped and fossil fuel projects encouraged, meeting international obligations aren't possible. Tory government violate their own voluntarily agreed upon obligations.Amber Rudd has admitted the UK does not have the right policies in place to meet its EU target of sourcing 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020, and challenged transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin to help make up the shortfall.
...making up the shortfall by increasing the amount of renewable electricity from sources such as windfarms, which the Tory party has hit with subsidy cuts, was not an option, she said. “I think it would be a mistake to abandon heat and transport, they need to make their contribution on the renewable targets.”
Buying renewable energy from other European countries was on the table as an option, she said, but would not be desirable. “The desirable option is to deliver it ourselves,” she said, while declining to name which countries the UK would consider buying green energy from. She also rejected claims that the government’s subsidy cuts to renewable electricity over the summer had harmed the UK’s ability to meet the EU target.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... les-target
Yes it would be very interesting, but you would need to get it fact checked very carefully.RogerOThornhill wrote:Thinking about it, I wonder if I ought to do a piece on the revolving door between PX/NSN/DfE/No 10 etc.
Oh don't worry, I'm very careful with sources...TechnicalEphemera wrote:Yes it would be very interesting, but you would need to get it fact checked very carefully.RogerOThornhill wrote:Thinking about it, I wonder if I ought to do a piece on the revolving door between PX/NSN/DfE/No 10 etc.
Quite, it doesn't do to confuse the red source, the brown source and the mustard.RogerOThornhill wrote:Oh don't worry, I'm very careful with sources...TechnicalEphemera wrote:Yes it would be very interesting, but you would need to get it fact checked very carefully.RogerOThornhill wrote:Thinking about it, I wonder if I ought to do a piece on the revolving door between PX/NSN/DfE/No 10 etc.
