Thursday 17th December 2015

[yahyah]

I'm a bit tired, so my eyes may be playing me up.

But the headline on the Telegraph front page online for a Cathy Newman piece is :
''Corbyn supporters called me a 'Zionist whore' and 'Hitler's daughter' ''

I'm not doubting that a small minority of people, some who may be Corbyn supporters as well as of other political persuasions, have potty mouth.

But Newman's article fails to provide evidence it was Corbyn supporters who abused her.
Newman's been caught out before playing fast and loose with reality, hope she's not going all Lucy Allan on us for the sake of a Telegraph pay cheque.

Newman quotes two named Twitter accounts, neither of which back up the Telegraph's front page headline that Corbyn supporters called her names.
One is: https://twitter.com/_abrarhaque" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and for a Corbynista there is a strange lack of any postings about Corbyn, Labour, or British politics.
The other Twitter account seems hard to find, and again doesn't seem to be a Corbyn, or Labour supporter.

If only there was a press complaints organisation worth complaining to....

If anyone's tweeting, please could you politely ask Ms Newman to provide evidence to back up the Telegraph headline or that she asks the Telegraph to remove the delberately anti-Corbyn headline.
She's supposed to be a journalist, and in this case the journalistic standards seem rather lacking.

[refitman]

Sell out Shirl to retire. Mission accomplished.

Still, at least she can't do any more harm.

Strange, nothing on LDV yet.

[yahyah]

Are you primed and ready to post there Dan ?

[rebeccariots2]

Ian Lucas ‏@IanCLucas 10m10 minutes ago
No fracking applications in Wales because of Labour's moratorium but Welsh Tory MPs use their votes to allow fracking in England. (1)

Ian Lucas ‏@IanCLucas 9m9 minutes ago
Is that Welsh Votes for English Laws ? (2)

[yahyah]

The Guardian has wisely not opened the Shirley Williams story for comments.

[rebeccariots2]

Too depressed to comment on today's announcement that they intend to expand badger culling ....

But here's the latest email from the Badger Trust. Says it all about the utterly brazen abandonment of science re badger culling and bTB. Killing for the sake of killing - net result more killing of cows.

BADGER TRUST BACKS MP’S CALL FOR PROOF THAT CULLS ARE WORKING AS TB RATES RISE IN CULL ZONES


The Badger Trust has backed calls from Parliament’s Environment Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee for the government to provide clear evidence that the badger culls are working as the latest figures show TB in cattle is rising in and around the cull zones.

The move follows the release of new data from DEFRA for Somerset which shows that in the 12 months to September 2014 the level of new TB incidents in cattle was 297 but in the 12 months to September 2015, this jumped to 320 a 7.75% increase, despite badger culling having now taken place in Somerset for the last 3 years.

This is in stark contrast to claims made by NFU President Meurig Raymond in his speech at their annual conference in Birmingham in February that cattle TB incidents in the Somerset cull zone had decreased from 34% to 11% between 2013 and 2015, which he claimed could only be due to the culling of badgers.

Responding to the EFRA Select Committee and the latest DEFRA bovine TB data Dominic Dyer CEO of the Badger Trust said,

“The government is attempting to bury bad news by releasing the 2015 badger cull figures on the day of the Christmas Recess in Westminster. Despite claiming all the cull contractors have met their targets for 2015, there is no evidence the killing of badgers is reducing the level of bovine TB in cattle

I am pleased to see that the EFRA Select Committee has called on DEFRA to establish a thorough evidence base for underpinning policy formulation on bovine TB and for this to be communicated in a fully transparent manner. They are also right to call for an urgent release of data on the level of bovine TB in the badger cull zones.

The claims by the NFU and pro-cull politicians that badger culling is delivering a significant reduction in bovine TB are looking increasingly bogus and the exact opposite of the truth. £20 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent killing thousands of badgers and yet cattle TB in Somerset is on the rise. To put this in context, TB rates in cattle outside of the cull zones have been dropping consistently for five years due to improved testing, bio-security and movement controls.

Chairman of the Badger Trust Peter Martin added,

“The government’s own risk assessments stated before the culls began that there was a high probability that cattle TB rates would rise following the badger culls and this was backed up by the country’s top scientists in the field. In practice the culls have been condemned by independent scientists and vets as inhumane and the sub-optimal way they are being conducted means they have mostly failed to achieve even their basic targets.

The EFRA Select Committee is absolutely right to call on DEFRA to take greater account of the alternative TB reduction strategies of the devolved administrations. The Welsh Government's approach has been far more successful by focusing on improved testing and movement controls in cattle. New incidents of bovine TB in cattle are now down by 28% in Wales with a 45% cut in the number of cattle being slaughtered. This now leaves 94% of the Welsh heard TB free, without killing any badgers.

Unless the government can prove the culling of badgers is working in terms of lowering TB in cattle, this cruel, ineffective and hugely costly policy must be stopped immediately."


References:

DEFRA's Select Committee Recommendations can be found here

DEFRA's quarterly publication of national statistics on the incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis in cattle in Great Britain can be found here

[ohsocynical]

The Guardian has wisely not opened the Shirley Williams story for comments.

[seeingclearly]

George Osborne 'Booed' At 'Stars Wars: The Force Awakens' Premiere In London
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12 ... 1450355112" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sorry - any charitable sentiment towards him went out the window with the fracking vote so swiftly followed by the granting of 63 new licences.

This is one of the Tory favourites to be their next leader - he's proving to have a real popular touch - not. Haven't seen any tweets or photos of public insisting on having selfies taken with him ... and somehow I can't imagine a hen party begging him to pose with them.

Nothing can disguise his fundamental flakiness though. Only a glimpse at PMQs this week, but it was enough.

[ohsocynical]

Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 19 hrs19 hours ago

On the privatisation of Network Rail:

Support: 24%
Oppose: 59%

(via Survation / 02 - 08 Dec)

[ohsocynical]

George Osborne 'Booed' At 'Stars Wars: The Force Awakens' Premiere In London
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12 ... 1450355112" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sorry - any charitable sentiment towards him went out the window with the fracking vote so swiftly followed by the granting of 63 new licences.

This is one of the Tory favourites to be their next leader - he's proving to have a real popular touch - not. Haven't seen any tweets or photos of public insisting on having selfies taken with him ... and somehow I can't imagine a hen party begging him to pose with them.

Nothing can disguise his fundamental flakiness though. Only a glimpse at PMQs this week, but it was enough.

He's a weird bloke...I've tried to imagine him in a family setting with wife and kids, and although I know he has them, I can't picture it at all.

[seeingclearly]

I wonder whether the concessions gained by Ed with regard to applying for and meeting criteria for fracking still stand. If so those new licensees or whatever might find they've been sold a pig in a poke.

They have played their usual game leaving all the challengeable stuff till the last minutes and hours of this session in the hope thst they will get away with it. I hope Labour will surprise them on this in the early days of the next session.

[rebeccariots2]

The 'good news' re the badger cull announcement and information released today is ... only one of the awful proposals to relax future cull licence requirements has been adopted. Cull zones will be allowed to be reduced to 100km rather than the 150km minimum allowed at present. The virtually open ended killing season that could have happened hasn't been allowed. Thank heavens. Over 90% of respondents were against the proposals. It was worth the effort many of us put in to show how far away from science-led those proposals were. They were anti-science.

And the other poison pill for those who want to kill at all costs - is that it will now cost them more. The fee to participating landowners is to be increased and the cull participants have to pay all the money up front plus a 25% contingency.

The reports on the 3 culls that took place this year are too depressing. There was virtually no observation of the killing in both Glos and Somerset - just 7 observations in Glos, 3 in Somerset - appalling. The number of shots fired doesn't match the number of badgers killed and accounted for in any of the zones. And so on ... Even George Eustace who was wheeled out to blather about the culls didn't crow about their 'success' - he said they went 'reasonably well'.

If you count rising bovine TB rates in the cull zones as going 'reasonably well' - then those that support and participate in these culls have no right to complain about cows dying. Only cattle measures - rigorously implemented - are going to sort this.

[ohsocynical]

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

[citizenJA]

Number of homeless families living in B&Bs hits 12-year high in England
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... gland-dclg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"The number of families with children living in emergency B&Bs in England rose by 45%
in the 12 months to the end of September, the highest level in 12 years, official figures
show.

The DCLG said the main reason for the loss of a settled home was the end of a private
tenancy and that it had become an increasingly frequent cause in the past six years as
the number of tenants in private rented homes had risen."

(my bold)

[citizenJA]

'Cameron supporter hacked dead teenager's phone'

'Cameron supporter convicted of child porn offences'

Funny how emphasis can totally change a story...

Well said, RobertSnozers!
Six years of mendacious irresponsibility from Tory government and Tory media.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Welfare Weekly ‏@Welfare_Weekly 2h2 hours ago
Nine In Ten Universal Credit Claimants In Rent Arrears http://www.welfareweekly.com/nine-ten-u ... t-arrears/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … via @Welfare_Weekly RT

And these are, presumably, still the simpler cases that were the first (only) ones that UC systems could cope with.

It's not really the complexity of the claim that matters here, but the vulnerability of the individual. A claim for a non-working single person receiving housing benefit is relatively simple, with no tax credits. But, if they have mental health issues, they're the last people you might want handling a large amount of money coming to them all at once.

Even if they manage the money efficiently and stretch it out over a month, they could be vulnerable to people tapping them for money. My sister worked in a council and said there was already a problem with nasty relatives and "friends" getting hold of personal social care budgets.

I'd guess this issue was flagged up when Alistair Darling was in the DWP. He didn't go ahead with Universal Credit because of advice he received. I saw him pressing IDS once about what had changed. IDS gave no answer.

[refitman]

David Cameron successfully negotiates free Little Chef lollipop

Prime Minister David Cameron has sharpened his negotiation skills ahead of a meeting with EU leaders, by successfully arguing that he should have a free lollipop.

After just an hour and 45 minutes, Cameron won the concession in a Little Chef on the outskirts of Ashford.

In return, the PM agreed to ’empty his plate’, and spend seven hours doing the washing up.

It’s not yet clear whether he managed to secure a 2013 road atlas.

“This is a great building block for my talks with fellow Europeans”, said Cameron.

“I’ve asked for something I was going to get anyway, and only had to give away some back-breaking labour in return.”

Buoyed by his success, Cameron later secured a free coffee top-up at a McDonald’s, after agreeing to pour the first cupful down his trousers.

“It was painful, but we got there”, he soothed.

“My genitals felt like they were clutched in agony. It was the perfect preparation for meeting Angela Merkel this evening.”

http://newsthump.com/2015/12/15/david-c ... -lollipop/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

/satire

[rebeccariots2]

Welfare Weekly ‏@Welfare_Weekly 2h2 hours ago
Nine In Ten Universal Credit Claimants In Rent Arrears http://www.welfareweekly.com/nine-ten-u ... t-arrears/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … via @Welfare_Weekly RT

And these are, presumably, still the simpler cases that were the first (only) ones that UC systems could cope with.

It's not really the complexity of the claim that matters here, but the vulnerability of the individual. A claim for a non-working single person receiving housing benefit is relatively simple, with no tax credits. But, if they have mental health issues, they're the last people you might want handling a large amount of money coming to them all at once.

Even if they manage the money efficiently and stretch it out over a month, they could be vulnerable to people tapping them for money. My sister worked in a council and said there was already a problem with nasty relatives and "friends" getting hold of personal social care budgets.

I'd guess this issue was flagged up when Alistair Darling was in the DWP. He didn't go ahead with Universal Credit because of advice he received. I saw him pressing IDS once about what had changed. IDS gave no answer.

This issue / risk was exactly what was flagged up in advance to the DWP / IDS of UC implementation with a recommendation by several organisations and committees that housing benefit was kept out of it - and, if not, not to pay direct to the claimant. IDS ignored them all.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 19 hrs19 hours ago

On the privatisation of Network Rail:

Support: 24%
Oppose: 59%

(via Survation / 02 - 08 Dec)

Might happen just to get its debt off the government's books. It's got a lot, not least under Osborne and "Blairite" Andrew Adonis. Funny old game.

As things stand, Network Rail is supposed to raise £1.8bn in asset sales. As Christian Wolmar points out, if there are all these "non-core" assets sitting about, why didn't anyone think of selling them before?

[citizenJA]

Illegal air pollution will blight many UK cities for at least five years

Government plan to improve air quality will still leave people in dozens of cities,
including London, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Cardiff and Edinburgh, breathing
toxic air until at least 2020

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

What are we supposed to do?
UK Supreme Court rules government has failed, can and must do something about pollution.
Government are the only ones who can do something about pollution.
Government says F*** ya'.
Die, suffer, what ever, government doesn't care.

The plan is a response to a supreme court ruling in April on the government’s failure to meet
European limits of harmful NOx gases, which are mostly caused by diesel traffic and blamed for nearly
9,500 premature deaths each year in London alone.

But the blueprint for cutting NOx lets privately-owned passenger cars off the hook by making them
exempt, and only includes so-called clean air zones for five cities, in addition to one already planned
in London.

[citizenJA]

"However, privately-owned passenger cars, which make up 88% of the UK’s motor fleet,
will also be exempt from paying a charge. In pollution hotspots, vehicles are responsible
for around 80% of NOx emissions."

Comprehensive, affordable, reliable, easy to use and safe public transportation would
solve this problem. It requires national level governmental coordination and funding
to make it happen. If there are any Tories reading this, I beg you to make UK public
transportation the best in the world.

[citizenJA]

Goodnight, everyone.
I'm begging Tories for affordable transportation.
It's a sad day.
I love you all.
cJA

[ohsocynical]

CWc3EmrW4AAOwZ8.jpg (55.62 KiB) Viewed 7267 times

"I forgot pigs have teeth".

[AngryAsWell]

I'm a bit tired, so my eyes may be playing me up.

But the headline on the Telegraph front page online for a Cathy Newman piece is :
''Corbyn supporters called me a 'Zionist whore' and 'Hitler's daughter' ''

I'm not doubting that a small minority of people, some who may be Corbyn supporters as well as of other political persuasions, have potty mouth.

But Newman's article fails to provide evidence it was Corbyn supporters who abused her.
Newman's been caught out before playing fast and loose with reality, hope she's not going all Lucy Allan on us for the sake of a Telegraph pay cheque.

Newman quotes two named Twitter accounts, neither of which back up the Telegraph's front page headline that Corbyn supporters called her names.
One is: https://twitter.com/_abrarhaque" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and for a Corbynista there is a strange lack of any postings about Corbyn, Labour, or British politics.
The other Twitter account seems hard to find, and again doesn't seem to be a Corbyn, or Labour supporter.

If only there was a press complaints organisation worth complaining to....

If anyone's tweeting, please could you politely ask Ms Newman to provide evidence to back up the Telegraph headline or that she asks the Telegraph to remove the delberately anti-Corbyn headline.
She's supposed to be a journalist, and in this case the journalistic standards seem rather lacking.

They must have changed the head line - it now says
"This year I've been called a 'Zionist whore' and 'Hitler's daughter'. It's time women reclaimed the internet".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politi ... aughter-i/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ohsocynical]

http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2015/12/ ... ity-agenda" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting.

[AngryAsWell]

This has got to be the most despicable Christmas card - ever.
British National Party Christmas Card Says 'David Cameron Is Crucifying White British Children'

Who ever allowed their little girl to pose for it need social services investigation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12 ... 30252.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rebeccariots2]

Paul Waugh Retweeted
John Stevens ‏@johnestevens 16m16 minutes ago
EU source says written conclusions after dinner on British renegotiation will basically be 'we met, we talked, we'll meet again in February'

[Tubby Isaacs]

Claire Perry in a bit of trouble the other day.

Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con): As my hon. Friend is aware, the largest investment in the railway since the Victorians on the great western main line will have a huge impact on the Bath and west of England economy. What progress is she making on the four miles of track that will link the electrified great western main line with Heathrow?

Claire Perry: Again, this is part of the overall proposals. As my hon. Friend knows, the western rail link is absolutely vital. It has been set out, and work is going on to make sure exactly how it is delivered. We understand how important it is. My hon. Friend represents a fine city. He and I went through Box tunnel together on a little people mover—[Interruption] That sounds worse than it is—with others to see at first hand the transformational effect that electrification work is having on his city.

She's generally on top of her brief.

Reckon Cameron's dithering re Heathrow Expansion dropped her in it?

[rebeccariots2]

Compare and contrast.

Gareth Thomas ‏@GarethThomasMP 6m6 minutes ago
Osborne gives political adviser 42% rise amid public sector pay freeze http://gu.com/p/4f6qm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Gareth Thomas ‏@GarethThomasMP 2m2 minutes ago
Foreign Office cleaners threatened over living wage pay dispute http://gu.com/p/4f7a2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rebeccariots2]

The precise number of EU migrants currently claiming benefits in the UK is also a matter of dispute after HMRC rejected a freedom of information request to give up-to-date figures of EU migrants claiming benefits, saying it would interfere with government policymaking and not be helpful to the UK’s negotiations with its EU partners.

HMRC later admitted it had withheld the numbers but said it had been wrong to suggest this was linked to the EU negotiations. Downing Street said the figures will be collated in time for a referendum.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... its-summit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So now they're saying the reason they gave Portes wasn't true .... sheesh .... it's all so disgustingly blatant evasion of accountability and manipulation of both the information and the timing of its release to benefit the desired political agenda.

[rebeccariots2]

http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2015/12/ ... ity-agenda

Interesting.

Thank you for that link Ohso. I'll take any little crumbs of optimism right now.

[RogerOThornhill]

Yeah but...but Jeremy Corbyn! Momentum! Lefty bullies!

[rebeccariots2]

Yeah but...but Jeremy Corbyn! Momentum! Lefty bullies!

The Guardian has come to this story very late it seems. The voicemails (which are pretty shocking) have just gone up. The more I see and hear of this MP the more she seems very unhinged to me - or is this now completely normal behaviour and attitude for the Tory parliamentary party? Given the stories we heard about Heidi Allen (I have got the right Allen there) being boycotted and insulted by other Tory MPs after she criticised the tax credit cuts - maybe bullying is just considered the norm.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

This evening was spent in one of our village pubs watching DIY SOS, which featured some good friends who have had a tremendously difficult time dealing with Richard's sudden disability.

Walking back home, my son commented on the jarring juxtaposition with the shots of Cameron at the EU meeting. He should come here, he said, and find out what it's really like to live here.

I'm not pretending my son has a deep understanding of the issues, but he can sure as hell tell Cameron lives in another world!

[RogerOThornhill]

I recall that Jonathan Portes and Dan Hannan had a little spat about the funding for NIESR and had to post this rather humiliating apology...



I assume this is part of the reason why the usual right wing frothers - including Hannan - have yet to post anything about the suppressed migration figures - can't give Portes any credit can we now?

[RogerOThornhill]

From the DT article...



Hmm...yes, a tad awkward since you published an article accusing his organisation of being in the pay of the EU...

[Tubby Isaacs]

Looking at Alan Milburn's ideas.

http://schoolsweek.co.uk/increase-pay-f ... n-demands/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Increase probation period for teachers from the current one year to three as “quid pro quo” for increased entry-level wages.

I'm not sure they're in a position to do quid pro quo, are they? 3 year probation period would put me off. Lord Harris and pals would really exploit that.

Trial writing-off a proportion of teachers’ student loans for each year that they teach at a particularly challenging school.

Wouldn't it make more sense to level out the intakes of schools? Or would that be "making excuses"?

[rebeccariots2]

Richard Burden MP ‏@RichardBurdenMP 28s28 seconds ago
David Cameron's descriptions of his EU talks make me wonder if there should be Graham Norton-style red chair at these press conferences

Yes please.

[TR'sGhost]

With regards Lucy Allan, what's the gut feeling, blow over or pressure to resign?

She's a majority of 730 votes in a constituency that's a two party race and was previously Labour for decades. She's now plastered across large chunks of the media, both social and "professional" and none of it makes her look exactly likable.

However.

Sacked? I doubt it, at least not until it's time to select a Tory candidate for the next election. Remember, if she's denied the Tory whip she still gets to sit as the duly elected MP for the constituency. Take the Chiltern Hundreds? Cameron will personally superglue her to the Commons bench rather than allow her to resign, he's enough problems without risking his majority going down by one and Labour's ranks going up by one.

OK, she appears a rather unpleasant person but so's Katie Hopkins and she's turned pushing the bounds of nastiness into a well paying occupation. Hopkins doesn't need to get elected to get attention of course, but the entire politicial "debate/discussion" coming from the right has been getting steadily more and more like Fox News since 2008.

So who knows, I could be wrong and being a loudmouthed angry right wing git with both feet in your mouth might even be a vote-winning tactic. Allan had a substantial management career in the financial sector before becoming an MP, which makes me wonder if she acted like this when she was at PriceWaterhouse, De La Rue and UBS Warburg. Or when she was an employment law advisor who represented and advised employees and was an employment tribunal member.