Easter Weekend - 25th-28th March 2016

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 6:40 pm

Don't know if we've had this...

Ian Lavery has now published his rebuttal of some nasty allegations made about him.

I've always liked him, and I'm inclined to believe him.

http://www.ianlavery.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 6:41 pm

ohsocynical wrote:In a statement the charity, which is run by and for disabled people said: “Richmond AID recently wrote to Zac Goldsmith with regard to his recent decision to vote for cuts to ESA and can confirm [he] has now stepped down as a patron.”

Lucy Byrne, the charity’s Chief Executive, said: “We are shocked and disappointed to find that both our local MPs here in the borough of Richmond voted for this cut, one of whom is patron of our organisation.

Having voted for this brutal cut we believe that Zac Goldsmiths’ position as patron is no longer tenable.”

North West Hampshire MP Kit Malthouse, has already been forced out as patron of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

There's a few of them now, OhSo.

Good. Feckin' hypocrites.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 6:48 pm

Housing development at the bottom of my sisters road in west London was recently finished. Some pretty ugly townhouses facing directly onto a very busy main road - 5 bedrooms - no outside space at all. They don't seem to be selling that fast according to my sis - who reckons the overseas investment has peaked and is in decline now. I asked how much they were on the market for - '2.85 million'. You would have to pay me to live in them ... Around the back are the affordable 3 flats and 4 small houses for key workers that the developers were obliged to offer in order to get this prime site approved by the council. (It was Tory led at the time). I reckon the key workers got the better deal - at least they aren't right on the Uxbridge Road.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 6:50 pm

There's going to be a demonstration against the cuts for disabled people outside Crabb's office in Haverfordwest on April 2. It's being organised by a constituent via 38 Degrees. He's going to have far more scrutiny and local press from now on. Good.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:01 pm

Harry Leslie Smith ‏@Harryslaststand 6m6 minutes ago
My dad was a miner who stood on the pickets during the 1926 General Strike my solidarity will always be with the NUM http://www.ianlavery.org.uk/the_real_story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I haven't read the allegations against Lavery but I gather they've come from Hopi Sen. I've never *got* him. Don't know what he really is, what his Labour history is, what he stands for. Not sure that he's actually in the UK - is he? He just seems to pump out a fair amount of disparaging stuff re Labour on a regular basis - so I'm already not inclined to view him that favourably.

Ian Lavery says he's consulting legal counsel over some of the allegations. Wonder if anything will come of that.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:07 pm

ephemerid wrote:Don't know if we've had this...

Ian Lavery has now published his rebuttal of some nasty allegations made about him.

I've always liked him, and I'm inclined to believe him.

http://www.ianlavery.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As somebody who mentioned this business the other day, I only hope he is being straight here.

I can confirm that Hopi Sen is at least UK based - lives in London with his partner. I used to like his blogging but he is one of those turned very bitter by Corbyn.

Rebecca · Post by **Rebecca** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:16 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
ephemerid wrote:Don't know if we've had this...

Ian Lavery has now published his rebuttal of some nasty allegations made about him.

I've always liked him, and I'm inclined to believe him.

http://www.ianlavery.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As somebody who mentioned this business the other day, I only hope he is being straight here.

I can confirm that Hopi Sen is at least UK based - lives in London with his partner. I used to like his blogging but he is one of those turned very bitter by Corbyn.

Hate to disagree with you Anatoly,but,Corbyn hasn't turned anyone bitter,the bitterness is in themselves,and manifesting because Corbyn is representing the more left wing,traditional Labour Party.

Anyway,are you all enjoying the Easter wknd ?I've nearly finished scoffing my Easter Egg,it's pouring with rain,daughter in a foul mood because it is Easter,and enjoying a glass of wine.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:24 pm

Jon Snow ‏@jonsnowC4 23m23 minutes ago
Jon Snow Retweeted HuffPost UK
What possible improvement to animal welfare can handing it over to the industry itself achieve: their record speaks!

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:25 pm

Rebecca wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:
ephemerid wrote:Don't know if we've had this...

Ian Lavery has now published his rebuttal of some nasty allegations made about him.

I've always liked him, and I'm inclined to believe him.

http://www.ianlavery.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As somebody who mentioned this business the other day, I only hope he is being straight here.

I can confirm that Hopi Sen is at least UK based - lives in London with his partner. I used to like his blogging but he is one of those turned very bitter by Corbyn.
Hate to disagree with you Anatoly,but,Corbyn hasn't turned anyone bitter,the bitterness is in themselves,and manifesting because Corbyn is representing the more left wing,traditional Labour Party.

Anyway,are you all enjoying the Easter wknd ?I've nearly finished scoffing my Easter Egg,it's pouring with rain,daughter in a foul mood because it is Easter,and enjoying a glass of wine.

That's quite a picture you draw there! We had a proper family bank holiday yesterday, lazing around watching "Paddington: the Movie" and will again on Monday (laze around, that is, not watch Paddington) but my husband is at work tomorrow and today was all running around buying hay for the guinea pigs through sheets of wind tossed rain - classic British bank holiday weather, isn't it? Anyone had any snow?

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:26 pm

Britain Elects ‏@britainelects Mar 24
Dalton (Allerdale) result:
IND: 31.7% (+31.7)
LAB: 28.2% (+28.2)
CON: 22.2% (-26.1)
UKIP: 12.6% (-1.8)
GRN: 5.3% (-10.6)

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:32 pm

James Lyons ‏@STJamesl 8m8 minutes ago
Labour types pointing out that @jreedmp didnt actually call for Corbyn to go yesterday - what he said has been slightly twisted/misconstrued

'Labour types'?

Anyway not sure what this is getting at. Is it meant to tell us Jamie Reed is slightly rowing back from what he's been reported to say?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:34 pm

Tories propose end of retirement, scrapping pensions and volunteers to replace NHS doctors
https://tompride.wordpress.com/2016/03/ ... /#comments" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And it's not satire. They really have.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:37 pm

It's just occurred to me to wonder (what with it being Easter which has caused the song to be stuck, very annoyingly, in my head) -

Is this the first recorded example of "Buy One Get One Free"?

Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny
Hot cross buns!

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:50 pm

Eye Spy MP ‏@eyespymp 4m4 minutes ago
Jeremy Corbyn with Sainsburys bag at WHSmith Paddington self-service till buying Modern Railways magazine and chocolate.

Tubby should approve of that choice of reading matter. I approve of the snack - as long as it's dark chocolate.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:55 pm

Nic Dakin Retweeted
TES ‏@tes Mar 16
I will be the last person in England dragged kicking and screaming to be an academy head, vows @RealGeoffBarton http://ow.ly/ZwXKC" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 7:56 pm

On the theme of stepping down, the Oleaginous Crustacean is said to have single-handedly cured Parkinsons, MS, and Motor Neurone disease. We would like to see him produce this cure, some of us have been waiting for it for years, and many of us did not make it. Could he please allow us access to this cure so we too can be liberated through work. If he cannot produce it perhaps he should step down now, before running the risk of being seen as a purveyor of reptilian extract. We note his previous interest in cures was not noted for any successes, can he give assurances that we will not be disappointed.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 8:12 pm

http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2016/03/2 ... derground/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Let’s celebrate what happened to DPAC’s Paula Peters on the London Underground

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 8:15 pm

I can no longer avoid comment on the photograph of Nicky Morgan pouting (Guardian front page).

Ugh.

On closer examination, I realised she was carrying a cup of what was probably coffee - although, at first glance, I thought that it was a pint of Guinness.

Edited to add an "n"

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 8:17 pm

The sick and disabled fight for decades to participate beyond you are blind therefore at best a piano tuning life for you and be grateful.The State appropriates and turns against.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 8:21 pm

Absolutely, HindleA. I read about that earlier and also Ms Peters account of the action last week, and I think there is cautious reason for celebration. It says a lot that her first feelings were of apprehension though, and I am glad that they were in this instance unfounded. She and all the others in DPAC who have steadfastly spoken truth to power, and to the nation deserve this, it has taken a long while to get this far and there are miles to go before we sleep....

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 8:24 pm

http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... CMP=twt_gu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

National Union of Teachers backs ballot on strike action

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 8:53 pm

Iain Macwhirter: Shame on the SNP for choosing to park its conscience
http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/1 ... ?ref=fbshr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 9:06 pm

It is absolutely true that people with degenerative disorders are within the WRAG, But for a few years I would be too. One lady of my acquaintance is unable to stand walk or manage the normal functions od daily living without her medication, which do give her an outward appearance of normaility, though she still needs. cane. She is relatively young, and has a young family, her partner is her carer. What most people would not know or even understand is that the medication that makes her function has dreadful side effects, and she is limited in how much she can take. Another person once described it as the physical equivalent of a blind person having sight for a couple of hours three times a day. So she turned up for assessment and even with all the great documentation her medical team helped her put together she found herself in the WRAG. So she gets to be reassesed annually, whereas she was once on an indefinite award. She and everyone around her know that she will never be able to work again. So what good is the pretence that she will? We have a government that is waging war on established medical fact, and at the other end of the spectrum there is the picture that HindleA expresses so well, that those who would like to work and have the potential to achieve are slapped back down into the disability box on the basis of their needs being seen as a burden too great for society to bear, how dare you want accommodations for your needs, thats special treatment, you want equality get back down there and scrabble for it like everybody else. I am afraid my ire is up after being exhorted to "see the ability not the disability' and let people workk please? Would that the ones who wish to could, and the ones who cannot were left in peace, life is tough enough without all that. How about people don't buy into the crap in the first place, the workplace still cannot get to grips with dyslexia, let alone the rest, and relies on token people with visible disabilities to prove just how egalitarian it is. I say this in the sure knowledge that many people do not disclose their life altering conditions to their employers these days for fear of being shown the door. Forgive me for stating what to some of you must be the obvious, it is of course for those who cannot see the elephont even when it whacks them across the face with its trunk.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 9:43 pm

Football related-bloody hell.

mbc1955 · Post by **mbc1955** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 9:46 pm

HindleA wrote:Football related-bloody hell.

Never forget - it's the hope that kills you.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 9:47 pm

It was "only" a friendly I know, but few could have been predicting that with Germany 2 up

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 10:22 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:It was "only" a friendly I know, but few could have been predicting that with Germany 2 up

'Twas a pleasure to watch...

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 11:00 pm

Just noting that Sanders took Alaska and Washington, and Trump allegedly had no clue that the US had a trade embargo on Iran! Where has he been all of his life?

The big question being did the small bird really bring Sanders luck or is there less enthusiasm about Clinton than one might expect?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 11:09 pm

Cross-party move against England's academy schools plan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-359 ... um=twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Leaders of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat groups in the Local Government Association have combined to oppose plans to force all English schools to become academies.
In a joint letter to the Observer, they urge ministers to reconsider the plans.
The LGA says the plan to remove all schools from council control has caused "enormous concern" .
But, on Saturday, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan insisted there was "no reverse gear" on the changes...

If it hadn't been Osborne himself who used the forced academisation plan as a budget headline ... (still no idea why it was part of the Budget) ... I'd have said he'd planted a very unpopular and doomed policy on Nicky Morgan to ruin her chances in a leadership contest. They don't seem to have taken any soundings amongst their own shire supporters and leaders before pitching in. Idiots.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 11:17 pm

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i ... rs-clinton" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

US election delegate tracker: chart the candidates' path to the nomination

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 11:22 pm

Mirror Politics ‏@MirrorPolitics 1h1 hour ago
Tory cuts victim accuses benefits bosses of pushing her to brink of suicide
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/to ... ts-7636067" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 11:35 pm

Remove support to participate and then castigate for non participation.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 11:36 pm

Laura McInerney ‏@miss_mcinerney 9m9 minutes ago
Just did another Radio 5 slot on academies. So far I've heard no one defend mass forced academisation (except ministers).

Laura McInerney ‏@miss_mcinerney 8m8 minutes ago
Lots of people willing to defend academies, but every time a radio presenter asks "why force everyone to do it" there's a resounding silence

Laura McInerney ‏@miss_mcinerney 7m7 minutes ago
If the government wants to convince people forced academisation is correct it must come up with a reason that isn't illusionary 'freedom'.

I wonder if they really are stupid enough to have thought this would be 'popular'. Have they been duped by their own hype?

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 11:37 pm

Support =investment.They throw money like confetti to others of course.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 11:38 pm

HindleA wrote:Remove support to participate and then castigate for non participation.

Quite.

And elsewhere I see tweets that IDS is being 'emotional' about his old job. Some Telegraph story about a documentary he's made. Sick bag territory.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 11:42 pm

Scottish Tories advocating LA control of DLA/PIP ie.abolishment I noted in Scottish Leadership Debate

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 12:02 am

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/east ... ns-message" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Easter 2016: David Cameron's message

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 12:06 am

HindleA wrote:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/east ... ns-message

Easter 2016: David Cameron's message

"The Prime Minister sends an Easter message of hope for millions of Christians in our country and all around the world."

Whereupon millions of Christians worldwide say "Who the fuck are you?"

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 12:06 am

Values of responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion and pride in working for the common good and honouring the social obligations we have to one another, to our families and our communities.

0/6

No improvement Dynorod

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 12:07 am

It proves that withdrawing support is detrimental, and in truth if support is not available when needed then you actually become what they falsely accuse people of being, there is no social mobility no opportunity what you get to the rock bottom they designed for you. I got two brown envelopes last week, neither were toxic, but it was not just me who was hovering over the bloody things in utter anxiety, we are that close to a kind of chaos I went thru in 1982 and vowed would never happen again. What I don't understand is how clueless any of these people in government and sadly on our side as well as to what bloody hard work it is to live with disability, and that fighting the system as an individual who is doubted and seen as some kind of social burden is wearying to the point of having little fight left for ones self, that is what that young woman is saying, they have taken everything she fought for and trashed it, and she still somehow has to find the strength not to give in to the negative state they want her to be in, i.e. to see herself as the thing that they have cast her to be. As someone battling the same, not because I have lost anything yet but because I can no longer access for myself or my family what we need, I really empathise with her, without that support to have a life what do we have? It is not exactly a place with open doors this country of ours. That the picture she draws is repeated thousands of times over and things have got this far doesn't help. The victories are hard because we know they will be back for more. And at some point they will sell something else off or more likely a lot else off, and they will point to us and say we had to do it because of the cost of you. A d thats what people will remember, because thats what they've been told is true.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 12:28 am

HindleA wrote:Scottish Tories advocating LA control of DLA/PIP ie.abolishment I noted in Scottish Leadership Debate

And then it becomes discretionary and dependent on where you are in the country, and then council tax payers become resentful. The people who designed the welfare state to have universal provision on the basis of need understood this they had been living with minimal discretionary provision and saw how hard it was for people. When you go back and look at some of the legal testimony alone for sick workers, injured worker, and their families you can see that universal provision was no idealistic notion it was born out of the appalling conditions that existed.

And some of the real damage that poverty brought in so many different ways. A close relative by marriage had all her teeth removed by a dentist who surmised she was too poor to ever treat again, he made sure she would never ask. To him she was a ne'er do well. It scarred her life, she was 22 and pregnant with her first child, and a husband away abroad in the army. And she wasn't asked, the dentist just did it, and charged her for the privilege. She was as old as I am now when she told me, and she still cried about it. But then again thats nothing to the hoops some of the mining people had to jump through to get compensation so they could survive, but its the personal stories that stick, it was a terribly hard place to be, and then we started to see something better, but forgot why.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 12:41 am

My message of hope this easter is to wish that by this time next year we will be tory free. And that the weather is better, sometimes 'proper England' lives up to its reputation.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 2:18 am

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -gays.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Crabb's claws out for quitter IDS: New cabinet minister blasts him for resigning in 'heated moment' and peddling 'myth' of wealthy pensioners with 'life of Riley – and says 'it's c***' he called for a 'cure' for gays

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 4:09 am

@seeingcleary it will.portrayed as localism and sensible amalgamation of budgets,as you say subsumed,controlled and discretionary-the very opposite of its purpose;as the recent deliberate attempt to falsely claim the pip changes were to stop double accounting for need and even denial of that need and for particularities rather than what they were a proxy for.I trust no party on this,both periodically state such things.

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 6:50 am

ephemerid wrote:Don't know if we've had this...

Ian Lavery has now published his rebuttal of some nasty allegations made about him.

I've always liked him, and I'm inclined to believe him.

http://www.ianlavery.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here are the allegations made against Ian Lavery, with documentation, in accessible storify form

https://storify.com/hopisen/defending-g ... cting-bad-" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Read that, then read Lavery's response

http://www.ianlavery.org.uk/the_real_story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(or in the other order if you prefer, but read alongside one another)

Reflect on which facts you think Lavery has said are in fact untrue.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 8:35 am

http://www.parliament.uk/business/commi ... hed-15-16/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Communication failings leave new state pensioners uncertain

Only 13% get flat rate in first year
Only 13% of those reaching state pension age in the first year of the New State Pension will receive the flat rate of £155.65 a week.*

The report sets out a series of case studies that exemplify the confusion over the timing and amounts of the New State Pension, and describes the different groups that stand to gain, and lose, versus what they might have expected to receive under the current system.

The losses are largely products of the simplification of an outdated and extraordinarily complex system, but that complexity makes it imperative to explain the impacts directly to those affected.

*13% of those reaching state pension age in the first year of the new state pension will receive the flat rate of £155.65. 32% will receive more and 55% will receive less.

The committee warned that claimants with fewer than 10 years of qualifying contributions, people who derive rights to a pension based on their spouse's contributions, and those who built up large guaranteed minimum pensions between 1978 and 1988 face receiving less than they would under current rules.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/m ... on-changes" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

“Over time, more and more pensioners will receive a single flat rate. During transition however, the majority will not

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 9:12 am

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... uptcy.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A £100m floating gin palace and the pension scandal that could scupper Sir Topshop: Philip Green faces calls to be stripped of his knighthood as he buys another yacht... while BHS teeters on brink of bankruptcy
Tycoon Philip Green has bought his third luxury yacht, named Lionheart
It couldn't come at a worse time for BHS workers facing pension disaster
If BHS goes bankrupt it won't meet pension commitments to 20,000 people
Scandal has led to calls for Sir Green's knighthood to be stripped from him

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 9:25 am

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... -democracy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Two tribes go to war and neither the red nor the blue chief is safe
Andrew Rawnsley

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 9:32 am

Happy Patronising Sunday

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 27 Mar, 2016 9:47 am

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... -editorial" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Observer view on the expansion of academies