Re: Weekend Edition - Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th March 2016
Posted: Sun 06 Mar, 2016 12:17 am
Who is y'all ?
Bad joke,sorry.
Bad joke,sorry.
http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/po ... cial_icons" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;East Ham Conservative defects to Labour over junior doctors dispute
The deputy chairman of a Conservative association has today announced his defection to Labour over the government’s handling of the junior doctors’ strike.
Dad-of-two Adam Nowacki, whose wife is a junior doctor, said health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s imposition of a new contract on the doctors following recent strike action by members of the British Medical Association (BMA) was the “final straw”.
Doctors formed picket lines earlier this year as part of an ongoing battle over pay and working conditions. Despite industiral action, Mr Hunt chose to impose a new contract, bitterly disputed by union members, on junior NHS doctors.
At a welcoming ceremony led by Newham mayor Sir Robin Wales and East Ham MP Stephen Timms, the former East Ham Conservatives member also said he was worried his old party was failing to represent hardworking people.
“This is about principles for me,” the Polish-born 29-year-old said. “My wife is a junior doctor and so are many of my friends. They are being hurt by the government, so I can’t support the party anymore.
“The Tories are supposed to be the party for working people, but they are attacking some of the most hardworking people in the country.”
Mr Nowacki, who considers himself “socially conservative”, said the decision was not an easy one but that he had to do as his parents had done and challenge unfairness.
“Poland used to be a communist country,” he said. “It took lots of courage to fight and become a free country. What Mr Hunt has done is a move like a dictatorship, it’s like what my parents had to fight in the ‘50s and ‘60s.”
Sir Robin and Mr Timms said they were both “very pleased” to receive a new member and took the opportunity to attack the government’s health policy.
“I think it’s terrific [Mr Nowacki has joined Labour],” said Sir Robin. “It shows we’re doing something very right. It’s a principled stand about the NHS – I’m surprised there aren’t more Tories coming over to us.”
Mr Timms, like Mr Nowacki, said he too had a family insight into the dispute with junior doctors.
“My own niece is a junior doctor and she tells me many people want to leave and are looking at jobs in other countries,” he said. “A lot of people are dismayed by the government’s handling of this, which has been very bad indeed.
“I welcome Adam’s decision and I look forward to working with him.”
Junior doctors represent around a third of the NHS’s medical staff. The BMA is set to launch a judicial review into the government’s decision to impose a new contract on junior doctors and is planning further strike action.
"BEST"??????????rebeccariots2 wrote:Oh joy.
I suppose they've got to replace the Danczuk bile.
Absolutely rightly. Some of the 4.5% tendency genuinely want Labour to do exactly what it did in the Scottish referendum - they are mad.howsillyofme1 wrote:Good morning all
Back from a week in China for work
Just watching Kendall on Marr....what the hell is she doing criticising the left and the Labour Party on the EU....I thought Johnson was leading Labour's campaign....surely it is for him to make the argument and anyway it isn't that easy when the media is focused on the clear splits in the Tory Party. Labour are actually quite boring on this...and so will be ignored.
And then Jon Sopel who isn't even based in the UK but weighs in about Labour...the story is all the about the Tories...the referendum is because of splits in the Tories and the current hatred is between the Tories....
Also Kendall is the most appalling communicator....
'In the corridors of power' = always a willing ear for disgruntled Blairites who really should know better. And I suspect if he can't find one, he makes it up. Too many instances of queues of Hodges-friendly and suspiciously unnamed sources during Ed's time, which was relatively cohesive.rebeccariots2 wrote:Oh joy.
I suppose they've got to replace the Danczuk bile.
Oh, him ... As if he was some kind of great asset to the Labour Party. Great asset to the SNP, that's for sureAnatolyKasparov wrote:Though there is no doubt certain shadow ministers did whisper into his ear regularly - <cough>J*m *u*p*y<cough>
Wisely "The Cam in the Ham", combination gets no points, primarily for public decency, but also because the estate of Dr Seuss would sue.ephemerid wrote:There's a terrific little game called Pass the Pigs - my daughter and I whiled away many a rainy hour on camping holidays playing it.
For the uninitiated, it involves throwing little pigs as though they were dice, and how they land determines your score.
Each type of landing has a name, and my little game today is attributing those names to our great and glorious leaders.
Pig Out - Richard Benyon, net worth £110 Million, some of whose income derives from the £120 Million his state gets in Housing Benefit.
Razorback - Osborne post-Caligula haircut, with handy blade for cutting services, tax credits, and benefits for poor people.
Makin' Bacon or Oinker - Boris Johnson, whose greed and adulterous liaisons more than qualify him for this naughty score.
Snouter - Nadhim Zahawi, for his snouting at the trough of public money (he has lots of pals who do the same)
Piggyback - anyone who joins in when the government benches are guffawing heartily at reports of extreme poverty.
Double Leaning Jowler - who else but Slimy Dave, who gets fatter and more pompous by the day.
Of course, should we vote for Brexit, the piggies will all be fine and dandy - that's because George Eustice has informed us that all the money we pay the EU will go to farmers so that they can afford to be nice to their animals.
The really bad thing about modern politicians is the way they punish people for trying to be good. When a marriage is in trouble, the state takes the side of the spouse who wants to break it up. When a young student is starting out in life, he or she is forced to go deep into debt.
All around us we see dishonesty and crime flourish, cynical loan-sharks and gambling joints allowed to prey on the weak and foolish, as the greedy and selfish push to the front of the queue and the kind and considerate are left till last.
But until last week I didn’t realise what a horrible thing the Government has done to those on the verge of qualifying for their pensions after saving carefully all their lives. A reader, let us call her Kathy, wrote to me to explain exactly how this has affected her.
Kathy is now 61 and has paid full National Insurance contributions for 39 years. Five years ago, she was made redundant. At first she went self-employed and held several contract or freelance posts, and one apparently permanent job which did not last. In fact, there are few of these around for anyone, old or young, these days.
As she says: ‘I should have been able to draw on my state pension at age 60 but due to government changes I won’t get a state pension for another five and a half years. I am therefore expected to work until this age, which I don’t have a problem doing – except that I can’t find a new job.’
No wonder. Far too many employers simply won’t look at job applicants in their 50s or 60s, leaving many thousands of men and women in a horrible limbo. To begin with, Kathy was able to get a small payment in the form of Jobseeker’s Allowance (not unjustly, as she has never ceased to seek work).
Kathy has always done what she was brought up to do. She thought she had looked after her future. She lived frugally to buy her own home, while saving carefully for her retirement. But as soon as she took money out of her (very modest) pension pot to make ends meet, the Jobseeker’s Allowance stopped. When she protested, she was advised by an official to sell her home. As she says: ‘Why should I have to when I’ve now worked for more than 40 years, paid 39 years’ full National Insurance but am not able to draw on my state pension?
‘If the Government had not been under-handed in advising this group of women who fall within this age category then I would not be looking for any benefit help as I would have drawn my state pension at age 60.
‘It’s disgraceful that women caught up in this very unfair change to their state pension should end up in the stressful situation that I now find myself in. I have no husband or partner to support me and have never expected any help until now.’
I asked the Government about this, and they said blandly: ‘We have to take income and capital into account when calculating someone’s entitlement to means-tested benefits.
‘For those below state pension age, any funds held in a pension pot are disregarded, but if funds are withdrawn they will be taken into account.’ Well, yes, I can see that. But the nation owes Kathy the pension she paid for, and it’s dodging its duty.
Why pretend there is such a thing as ‘National Insurance’ if it can simply be postponed for years to suit the Treasury which, as we all know, wastes money all over the place elsewhere? What would happen to a private company that promised a pension and then failed to deliver it on the promised date?
I’m all in favour of a welfare state, for those who genuinely cannot cope and also for those who contribute. Is it so hard to design it in such a way that it cares for the truly needy, rewards the provident and is tough on the feckless and the cynical? It seems so.
Good-afternoon!HindleA wrote:Who is y'all ?
Bad joke,sorry.
Wonders never do quite ceasenickyinnorfolk wrote:East Ham Conservative defects to Labour over junior doctors dispute
Outrage over charity chief’s ‘complicity’ in bid to limit voluntary sector lobbying
Chairman of Charity Commission urged trustee to meet head of a free market thinktank that receives funding from tobacco industry
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016 ... ing-clause" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
... IEA research was used by the government to justify a new “anti-advocacy clause” that will be inserted into all government grants for charities, prohibiting the money from being spent on lobbying.
Leaders of charities and voluntary organisations say Shawcross has been “active and complicit” in creating the clause, which they claim will allow corporations to influence public debate without opposition.
Emails shared with the Observer show that Shawcross asked a commission trustee, Professor Gwythian Prins, a climate change sceptic, to approach Snowdon to discuss the issue of charities lobbying the government.
In an email dated Tuesday, 7 May 2013, which carries the subject heading “Political campaigning”, Prins writes: “Dear Mr Snowdon, the chairman of the Charity Commission, upon whose board I shall shortly start to serve, has asked me to talk to you about matters of mutual interest. I shall be happy to do so … this issue is no flash in the pan.”
In subsequent emails the pair agree to meet. Snowdon shared some of his thoughts with Prins, saying that there were “some things the Charity Commission could do but I think most of the responsibility lies with the government. If you think the commission could do more, I would genuinely love to hear your suggestions.”...
The really bad thing about political journalists is the way the conflate separate issues.nickyinnorfolk wrote:Hitchens today on the increase in women's retirement age:
The really bad thing about modern politicians is the way they punish people for trying to be good. When a marriage is in trouble, the state takes the side of the spouse who wants to break it up. When a young student is starting out in life, he or she is forced to go deep into debt.
All around us we see dishonesty and crime flourish, cynical loan-sharks and gambling joints allowed to prey on the weak and foolish, as the greedy and selfish push to the front of the queue and the kind and considerate are left till last.
But until last week I didn’t realise what a horrible thing the Government has done to those on the verge of qualifying for their pensions after saving carefully all their lives. A reader, let us call her Kathy, wrote to me to explain exactly how this has affected her.
Kathy is now 61 and has paid full National Insurance contributions for 39 years. Five years ago, she was made redundant. At first she went self-employed and held several contract or freelance posts, and one apparently permanent job which did not last. In fact, there are few of these around for anyone, old or young, these days.
As she says: ‘I should have been able to draw on my state pension at age 60 but due to government changes I won’t get a state pension for another five and a half years. I am therefore expected to work until this age, which I don’t have a problem doing – except that I can’t find a new job.’
No wonder. Far too many employers simply won’t look at job applicants in their 50s or 60s, leaving many thousands of men and women in a horrible limbo. .......
Tbf I don't think anyone is claiming any different though gilsey.gilsey wrote:The really bad thing about political journalists is the way the conflate separate issues.nickyinnorfolk wrote:Hitchens today on the increase in women's retirement age:
The really bad thing about modern politicians is the way they punish people for trying to be good. When a marriage is in trouble, the state takes the side of the spouse who wants to break it up. When a young student is starting out in life, he or she is forced to go deep into debt.
All around us we see dishonesty and crime flourish, cynical loan-sharks and gambling joints allowed to prey on the weak and foolish, as the greedy and selfish push to the front of the queue and the kind and considerate are left till last.
But until last week I didn’t realise what a horrible thing the Government has done to those on the verge of qualifying for their pensions after saving carefully all their lives. A reader, let us call her Kathy, wrote to me to explain exactly how this has affected her.
Kathy is now 61 and has paid full National Insurance contributions for 39 years. Five years ago, she was made redundant. At first she went self-employed and held several contract or freelance posts, and one apparently permanent job which did not last. In fact, there are few of these around for anyone, old or young, these days.
As she says: ‘I should have been able to draw on my state pension at age 60 but due to government changes I won’t get a state pension for another five and a half years. I am therefore expected to work until this age, which I don’t have a problem doing – except that I can’t find a new job.’
No wonder. Far too many employers simply won’t look at job applicants in their 50s or 60s, leaving many thousands of men and women in a horrible limbo. .......
"Kathy's" problem is that she was made redundant at 56 and can't find another job, the same happened to me. Ageism and the poor state of the economy, assuming she lives outside London, are the problem. Exactly the same can happen to a man and they have to find a way to get to 65 for their state pension too.
The 2011 change in state pension age for women was indefensible but so was the status quo pre-1995.
Brilliant stuff.Guardian Business @BusinessDesk 1m1 minute ago
The innovators: portable solar panels that can be unrolled like a carpet http://gu.com/p/4hb23" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
ITV News @itvnews 6m6 minutes ago
Npower set to axe 2500 jobs http://www.itv.com/news/update/2016-03- ... 2500-jobs/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
How the hell are we supposed to make up our minds about important matters, when there is so much graft?Trident’s profit trail leads right to the heart of Westminster
http://linkis.com/www.thecanary.co/201/lgPJT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Did you ever watch the TV series "The Secret Life of Machines" (Tim Hinchin?)? Absolutely wonderful.tinyclanger2 wrote:
as off-topic as ever, but almost guaranteed to cheer
I'm not sure about that, men in their late 50s and 60s may face different challenges but I don't think that it's easier for them overall, men made redundant from heavy industry for instance. Nor is it easier if you're well qualified, if you don't live in a prosperous city you're over-qualified for almost everything.rebeccariots2 wrote:there are a lot of women in this age group who won't have had the kind of training, opportunities and experience that might have equipped them to be as well suited to getting employment in their late 50s and 60s. We have a government that seems to communicate and base policy on very contradictory messages and circumstances. They must know that the employment chances are not equal for this age group ... they must also know many women will have had broken career records and / or be in low pay jobs so don't have the means to support themselves when they can't find work.
They did, my pension age was to change by 23 months and they brought it back to 18. It's a common mistake among journalists to suggest that nobody noticed in 2010/11, lots of women did and complained vociferously. We were thrown some crumbs. We might have got a crust if a few more had been awake and joined us.They could make some fairly minor transitional arrangements for some women most badly affected
I don't think anyone is disagreeing with the fairness / equality argument you are making re men and women - including job prospects in late 50s and 60s. Transitional arrangements for those who were given very very short notice of the additional increase to their state pension age could include some kind of reduced pension for the interim period IMO. It's a relatively small time period and a limited no of people. And that short notice was definitely unfair as evidenced by the subsequent government commitment to give no less than 10 years notice of such an increase.gilsey wrote:I'm not sure about that, men in their late 50s and 60s may face different challenges but I don't think that it's easier for them overall, men made redundant from heavy industry for instance. Nor is it easier if you're well qualified, if you don't live in a prosperous city you're over-qualified for almost everything.rebeccariots2 wrote:there are a lot of women in this age group who won't have had the kind of training, opportunities and experience that might have equipped them to be as well suited to getting employment in their late 50s and 60s. We have a government that seems to communicate and base policy on very contradictory messages and circumstances. They must know that the employment chances are not equal for this age group ... they must also know many women will have had broken career records and / or be in low pay jobs so don't have the means to support themselves when they can't find work.
I agree with the second part though, women, on average, will have had less opportunities to earn private pensions and will have been lower paid through their working lives.
They did, my pension age was to change by 23 months and they brought it back to 18. It's a common mistake among journalists to suggest that nobody noticed in 2010/11, lots of women did and complained vociferously. We were thrown some crumbs. We might have got a crust if a few more had been awake and joined us.They could make some fairly minor transitional arrangements for some women most badly affected
Government to review £500m-worth of Atos contracts after IT failure
Cabinet Office to examine Whitehall contracts worth £10m in move suggesting lack of confidence in outsourcing company
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016 ... it-failure" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
F***ing sickening.... The decision to launch the review follows severe criticism by the National Audit Office of Atos’s role in the development of an IT system designed to allow the extraction of data from GP practice systems.
MPs on the public accounts committee examined the auditors’ report and found that Atos, the supplier contracted for a key part of the system, “did not show an appropriate duty of care to the taxpayer” and “appears to have acted solely with its own short-term best interests in mind”.
They suggested that although Atos may have complied with the letter of its contractual obligations, it took advantage of a weak client by taking the client’s money while knowing that the system had not been properly tested.
The expected cost of the system rose from £14m to £40m during the planning and procurement phase, and has since risen further....
They're frightened - they'd have to acknowledge it could happen to them otherwise.seeingclearly wrote:![]()
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under view on homeless comment which refers to homeless people as defective....
I do actually wonder whether the tide is turning on outsourcing. Having smaller budgets does concentrate the mind somewhat.rebeccariots2 wrote:Government to review £500m-worth of Atos contracts after IT failure
Cabinet Office to examine Whitehall contracts worth £10m in move suggesting lack of confidence in outsourcing company
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016 ... it-failure" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I'm not cleaning for the fucking Queen!
Jonathan Pie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6rmGx4 ... e=youtu.be
If you survive on benefits it is likely you have better money managment skills than most, and if you fall into debt it is likely because the amount the government says you need to live on has been arbitarily removed and/or eroded by various cuts sanctions and other punitive means while having to live alongside people who somehow think you are living in the lap of luxury because you still have a roof overcyour head.“I think one thing that was a mistake is this idea that you want to treat people who are benefit claimants as the same as anybody else, to be given more and more responsibility for money management."
Over yonder in the other place, right-wingers dreadfully offended by facts and reality.HindleA wrote:Non acceptance of you are not better can be the death of people.
Is anybody, apart from Michael Gove?ohsocynical wrote:I'm not cleaning for the fucking Queen!
Jonathan Pie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6rmGx4 ... e=youtu.be