Wednesday 25th January 2017

[refitman]

Morning all.

[StephenDolan]

Morning all.

If only grammars took in the same percentage of poorer students compared to comps.

[tinybgoat]

http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk ... 96254.html

Labour has threatened to wage "hand-to-hand combat" with the Government on Brexit after the Supreme Court ordered that Parliament must have the final say on triggering withdrawal from the European Union.

What constitutes "hand-to-hand combat" in parliament,
Two falls, a submission of a knockout?
I thought they had lines on the floor, to prevent this type of thing.
(Also, on a similar vein, has Corbyn denied planning an assassination yet?)

[55DegreesNorth]

Morning folks,
North-East MPs reveal how they intend to vote on triggering A50.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor ... r-12500549

[StephenDolan]

Morning folks,
North-East MPs reveal how they intend to vote on triggering A50.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor ... r-12500549

Sensible quotes provided there.

[RogerOThornhill]

Morning all.

Middle and low attainers at GCSE perform worse under a grammar school system, study finds

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/br ... mar-school

Middle and low attainers perform worse under a selective school system, rather than a comprehensive system, according to a new report which also details the extremes of the tutoring industry that has grown up around grammar schools.

The new report says that fewer middle and low attainers in the selective country of Buckinghamshire achieved good GCSEs, compared with non-selective Hampshire.

The analysis from King’s College London reveals that the 2015 average capped GCSE score of middle attainers was 298 in Hampshire, compared with 293 in Buckinghamshire. And the average score of low attainers was 188 in Hampshire, compared with 167 in Buckinghamshire.

So...grammars are lobbying for more money because, ironically enough, they don't take as many FSM pupils as comps; and now this.

Is this enough evidence for the bunch of ideologues that now inhabit No 10 and the DfE? Not sure.

[HindleA]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ssive-year" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Number of rough sleepers in England rises for sixth successive year



https://www.gov.uk/government/statistic ... utumn-2016" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[AnatolyKasparov]

I see that "fake news" is now a thing in the Stoke Central by-election. Labour Leave are a genuinely disgraceful organisation.

[HindleA]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/di ... ar_twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Disabled woman told mould flat problem is because of her 'lifestyle' and she should hang her clothes outside

[StephenDolan]

I see that "fake news" is now a thing in the Stoke Central by-election. Labour Leave are a genuinely disgraceful organisation.

What's this about, AK?

Edit. Just googled it.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Completely bogus "poll" they have promoted that has UKIP ahead.

[Willow904]

http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk ... 96254.html

Labour has threatened to wage "hand-to-hand combat" with the Government on Brexit after the Supreme Court ordered that Parliament must have the final say on triggering withdrawal from the European Union.

What constitutes "hand-to-hand combat" in parliament,
Two falls, a submission of a knockout?
I thought they had lines on the floor, to prevent this type of thing.
(Also, on a similar vein, has Corbyn denied planning an assassination yet?)

I have to say I'm not averse to a bit of fighting talk.

I'm not sure how parliament can have a final say, or "meaningful vote" as Keir Starmer put it, on the exit deal, though. If the Tories pull us out of the single market and customs union during exit talks and a parliament vote rejects that deal, the government have said they will take us out anyway. Even if article 50 is revocable, the government has to decide to revoke it. What if they don't? And article 50 might not be revocable. Why was May's timetable for invoking it so meekly accepted before these questions have been answered? Will Labour amend the article 50 bill so it can only be invoked once it's been established it's revocable? I highly doubt it.

Do we automatically leave the single market on invoking article 50 or do we negotiate leaving it (if we so desire) during the 2 year period?

That's another question I'd like an answer to.

Hard to know if Labour have a plan or are just waffle without knowing these things. Voting against article 50 may be the only opportunity those wishing to stay in the single market get to express their displeasure at May's hard Brexit.

[Willow904]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/di ... ar_twitter


Disabled woman told mould flat problem is because of her 'lifestyle' and she should hang her clothes outside

I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty certain once you have mould, 'lifestyle' changes aren't going to make much difference. Not hanging wet clothes inside and opening windows can help reduce the likelihood of getting mould, but it's not going to get rid of it, it has to be professionally dealt with. In my younger days I often lived with wet clothes hanging and little heating and I never got mould so I find it unlikely it would be a sole cause. If a bathroom has no opening window, doesn't it have to have an extractor fan by law, for instance?

What really winds me up is that the Tories are always champing at the bit to do away with building regs that try to ensure new houses and flats don't end up with these kind of problems that plague older buildings, many of which were designed with the use of fires and chimneys as part of the system to keep them warm and dry and haven't been properly updated for modern heating and airing methods.

[HindleA]

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/busi ... ign=buffer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Male receptionist sent home for not wearing codpiece

[HindleA]

"Thomas Piketty says he supports the idea of ​​a universal income, defended by Benoît Hamon. But it disallows a distribution to every individual, which is the very definition of universal income


From "La Tribune"


http://www.latribune.fr/economie/france ... 33114.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SpinningHugo]

Proof, if proof were needed, that JC is just not very bright.

PMQs.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Wow. May concedes White Paper on Brexit.

[HindleA]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... are_btn_tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Disabled people are to be ‘warehoused’. We should be livid
Mark Brown

[Willow904]

Theresa May just pointed out that Corbyn will never have a "special relationship" with Donald Trump. Oddly enough I happen to think this is one of Corbyn's stronger points.

[StephenDolan]

Theresa May just pointed out that Corbyn will never have a "special relationship" with Donald Trump. Oddly enough I happen to think this is one of Corbyn's stronger points.

Indeed,given the popularity of Trump in the UK.

[HindleA]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/eu ... 5d30854b8a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;





Dutch government wants to counter Trump with abortion funds

[AnatolyKasparov]

Wow. May concedes White Paper on Brexit.

Yes, not expected surely?

Indeed, some were pushing the line only yesterday that MPs voting for that would amount to "rejecting A50" and trigger a snap election.

[HindleA]

http://www.crisis.org.uk/pressreleases. ... lling-rate" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Crisis response to rough sleeping continued increase.

[Willow904]

Wow. May concedes White Paper on Brexit.

Yes, not expected surely?

Indeed, some were pushing the line only yesterday that MPs voting for that would amount to "rejecting A50" and trigger a snap election.

Then "some" are a bit over-excitable and need to calm down. A white paper is just sensible parliamentary procedure and has no bearing on what kind of Brexit we have. I'm not surprised she jumped on this before she was pushed as this was the one which would have got sufficient Tory rebel backing to embarrass her. After all, she has already given her ultimate aims away in her recent speech, so it's not a big concession.

She made David Davis look a bit silly though, he was still asserting a white paper had to be avoided as it would give our negotiating stance away to the other side just this morning

Edited to change David David to David Davis.....stupid predictive text......

[StephenDolan]

Wow. May concedes White Paper on Brexit.

Yes, not expected surely?

Indeed, some were pushing the line only yesterday that MPs voting for that would amount to "rejecting A50" and trigger a snap election.

Then "some" are a bit over-excitable and need to calm down. A white paper is just sensible parliamentary procedure and has no bearing on what kind of Brexit we have. I'm not surprised she jumped on this before she was pushed as this was the one which would have got sufficient Tory rebel backing to embarrass her. After all, she has already given her ultimate aims away in her recent speech, so it's not a big concession.

She made David Davis look a bit silly though, he was still asserting a white paper had to be avoided as it would give our negotiating stance away to the other side just this morning

Edited to change David David to David Davis.....stupid predictive text......

Looking forward to Starmer etc making Davis look even more of a fool over this.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Wow. May concedes White Paper on Brexit.

Yes, not expected surely?

Indeed, some were pushing the line only yesterday that MPs voting for that would amount to "rejecting A50" and trigger a snap election.

I was surprised. Soubry asked about it last week and not much of reaction. Looked to me like the line was "we didn't shoot any supreme Court judges, what more do you want?"

[RogerOThornhill]

Well, I'm shocked, shocked that yet another New Schools network bod has moved into No 10!

Exclusive: Number 10 appoints former teacher as head of education

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/br ... -education

Mike Crowhurst, who used to teach history in a school in Birmingham, has been appointed as head of education at Number 10.

He is set to move from his role of director of education at free-schools charity the New Schools Network (NSN). Nick Timothy, Ms May’s joint chief of staff, also came from NSN as a director.

Mr Crowhurst taught history at Kingsbury School and Sports College, a comprehensive school in Birmingham, as part of the Teach First programme, before joining the charity in 2011.

It was understood that Ms May would not have a dedicated adviser on education policy after founding director of NSN, Rachel Wolf, stepped down from the adviser role last summer.

But Mr Crowhurst, who used to work for Conservative MP Mike Penning, has now been given the role of head of education in Downing Street.

Tristram Hunt had the right idea about this bunch of Tories - stop their funding.

[RogerOThornhill]

Interesting possible side-story about another academy trust in financial trouble.

Debts of £4.5m threaten future of academy trust sponsored by grammar school

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/br ... mar-school

The future of a troubled academy trust that runs nine schools in north-west England could be in jeopardy if it cannot defer the payment of million of pounds it owes the government.

The latest financial accounts for the Bright Futures Educational Trust (BFET) warn that there are “material uncertainties” about its future and also reveal that the trust was a victim of a £16,000 fraud.

The accounts say that failure to agree a new action plan with the government's Education Funding Agency (EFA) would “cast doubt on the ability to proceed on a going concern basis”.

and

John Stephens, who took over as BFET chief executive from Dame Dana Ross-Wawrzynski on 1 January, said working with the EFA “to reach a satisfactory conclusion on all of the points raised” was his priority.

So where did he come from?

Bright Futures Educational Trust (BFET) is delighted to announce the appointment of its new Chief Executive Officer, Dr John Stephens CBE. John joins the Trust from his role as a senior civil servant in the Department for Education, leading on teaching schools and system leaders in the National College for Teaching and Leadership

I doubt that's a coincidence...academy trust in trouble, DfE gets in a panic, insists on a change at the top, and sticks its own man in there.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Yes, not expected surely?

Indeed, some were pushing the line only yesterday that MPs voting for that would amount to "rejecting A50" and trigger a snap election.

Then "some" are a bit over-excitable and need to calm down. A white paper is just sensible parliamentary procedure and has no bearing on what kind of Brexit we have. I'm not surprised she jumped on this before she was pushed as this was the one which would have got sufficient Tory rebel backing to embarrass her. After all, she has already given her ultimate aims away in her recent speech, so it's not a big concession.

She made David Davis look a bit silly though, he was still asserting a white paper had to be avoided as it would give our negotiating stance away to the other side just this morning

Edited to change David David to David Davis.....stupid predictive text......

Looking forward to Starmer etc making Davis look even more of a fool over this.

That won't be too hard tbf

[Willow904]

On a similar theme to HindleA's post above:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ro ... rs-9675246" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Private landlords letting sub-standard homes trouser £2.3billion in housing benefit annually, according to an analysis by Labour

I didn't spend very long in the private rented market before buying my first home but I generally had very positive experiences. There are plenty of good landlords out there. I make this point to underline the fact that there are no excuses for not being a good landlord. It's perfectly doable and profitable and the better the landlord you are, the longer you hang on to the best tenants. Both tenants and landlords need better rights and protections and stronger regulation all round really. It's a complex relationship, with some tenants being anti-social and causing damage on the one hand and greedy landlords breaking the rules and renting unsafe homes on the other. Given how much taxpayer money is spent on private rented homes in the form of housing benefit, I think the government should be much more involved in ensuring those homes are fit for purpose.

[yahyah]

No flyby attacks visits from another place yet ? Don't forget to bring cakes this time, particularly the 'back up' man who flies in to help his failing comrade. Ta. Only polite to bring gifts.

[Temulkar]

No flyby attacks visits from another place yet ? Don't forget to bring cakes this time, particularly the 'back up' man who flies in to help his failing comrade. Ta. Only polite to bring gifts.

Perhaps they cant be arsed with snide passive aggressive bullshit poisoning their discourse. I often wonder why I bother reading here anymore.

[tinybgoat]

[youtube]lAqAmLSIGU8[/youtube]
Nick Lowe,What's so funny about peace,love & understanding.

[HindleA]

Because of the excellent overnight tennis coverage?

[AnatolyKasparov]

Because of the excellent overnight tennis coverage?

Good point well made

I was delighted to see Robert S here last night btw. Please return on a more regular basis, you know you want to.......

[StephenDolan]

This political correspondent is not for turning. "Theresa MayHoC
It was only yesterday that the Brexit Secretary, David Davis, told MPs it just might all be a bit tricky to have a White Paper, a formal document outlining the government's plans for Brexit, and stick to the timetable they want to pursue.

Rebel Remainers though were "delighted"’, that, stealing Jeremy Corbyn’s thunder, a planted question from a loyal Tory MP at PMQs today produced in fact a promise from the Prime Minister that (after all) there WILL be a White Paper.

It is a climbdown, no question, a last minute change of heart.

Late last night Brexiteers were being assured there would be no bending, no delay to the government’s plans and no giving in to the Remainers.

Even early this morning, government sources were privately suggesting that they were quite happy to have the White Paper option up their sleeve, but there were no immediate plans to make that promise.

Then voila, at 12:05 GMT, the pledge of a White Paper suddenly emerged. As one senior Tory joked, "welcome to the vaccilation of the next two years".

For her critics this is evidence of weakness, that Theresa May's been pushed into changing her mind.

It is what was described as a "massive, unplanned" concession. But it doesn’t seriously hurt the government.

First off, it shows goodwill to the rebel Tory Remainers, many of who feel their Eurosceptic rivals have had the upper hand of late.

Schmoozing matters round these parts. It takes one of the potential arguments during the debates in the next couple of weeks that could have gathered pace off the table, before the Bill is even published.

And, rightly or wrongly, no one expects a White Paper will contain anything new that the Prime Minister has not yet already said.

It’s largely a victory for the Remainers about process, rather than substance.

It doesn’t’ need to change the government’s timetable, and today’s embarrassment of a climbdown might be worth the goodwill that Number 10 will get in return."

[yahyah]

[Temulkar]

Because of the excellent overnight tennis coverage?

It's more like smoking - a dirty habit I haven't quite kicked yet

[AnatolyKasparov]

Strange how none of these repeated concessions "really matter" - if so, why do they invariably have to be literally dragged out of HMG??

(who wrote that btw, though I can hazard a few guesses)

[StephenDolan]

Strange how none of these repeated concessions "really matter" - if so, why do they invariably have to be literally dragged out of HMG??

(who wrote that btw, though I can hazard a few guesses)

Kuenssberg. Brave woman that she is, staying impervious to the leftie BBC indoctrination program.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Dear O Lord.

Quote:
Tracey Magee
@Tracey_utv

Oh dear Jeremy Corbyn gets it badly wrong. Expresses condolences to police officer who "lost his life" in Belfast

[Tubby Isaacs]

He should get a job with RTE News. They once started a programme reporting the death of David Ervine, and ended up with Ervine restored to being "seriously ill".

Between them, they might get it right.

[tinybgoat]

http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk ... 96254.html

Labour has threatened to wage "hand-to-hand combat" with the Government on Brexit after the Supreme Court ordered that Parliament must have the final say on triggering withdrawal from the European Union.

What constitutes "hand-to-hand combat" in parliament,
Two falls, a submission of a knockout?
I thought they had lines on the floor, to prevent this type of thing.
(Also, on a similar vein, has Corbyn denied planning an assassination yet?)

I have to say I'm not averse to a bit of fighting talk.

I'm not sure how parliament can have a final say, or "meaningful vote" as Keir Starmer put it, on the exit deal, though. If the Tories pull us out of the single market and customs union during exit talks and a parliament vote rejects that deal, the government have said they will take us out anyway. Even if article 50 is revocable, the government has to decide to revoke it. What if they don't? And article 50 might not be revocable. Why was May's timetable for invoking it so meekly accepted before these questions have been answered? Will Labour amend the article 50 bill so it can only be invoked once it's been established it's revocable? I highly doubt it.

Do we automatically leave the single market on invoking article 50 or do we negotiate leaving it (if we so desire) during the 2 year period?

That's another question I'd like an answer to.

Hard to know if Labour have a plan or are just waffle without knowing these things. Voting against article 50 may be the only opportunity those wishing to stay in the single market get to express their displeasure at May's hard Brexit.

I was wondering the same about whether we automatically leave the single market. It looks like membership of it is incompatible with wanting to negotiate trade deals outside the EU, so leaving it was always likely to happen, but the actual process seems a mystery.
Presumably it's not like changing a tv/phone package, we keep the bits we want & change some others - but that's kind of how it was sold in brexit. (I.e. would sir/madam like to consider the Norwegian options)
Or is it it automatically a renegotiation from scratch, ie; degree of access to single market has to be negotiated along with everything else.?

[StephenDolan]

No mention of May and the white paper, Tubby?

[RogerOThornhill]

There's a problem with this sort of stat that gets bandied around...

Martin George ‏@geomr 25m25 minutes ago

10m people in the UK do not have the basic digital skills required by modern jobs - @halfon4harlowMP

...and that is that it depends on the age profile as to whether it is a real problem or not.

[Tubby Isaacs]

No mention of May and the white paper, Tubby?

I did earlier. I was very surprised though others here weren't.

It'll be rubbish, no doubt.

[PorFavor]

Dear O Lord.

Quote:
Tracey Magee
@Tracey_utv

Oh dear Jeremy Corbyn gets it badly wrong. Expresses condolences to police officer who "lost his life" in Belfast

Yes, I know. I really had to stop listening at that point. And so early on in the proceedings, too . . .

[Willow904]

http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk ... 96254.html What constitutes "hand-to-hand combat" in parliament,
Two falls, a submission of a knockout?
I thought they had lines on the floor, to prevent this type of thing.
(Also, on a similar vein, has Corbyn denied planning an assassination yet?)

I have to say I'm not averse to a bit of fighting talk.

I'm not sure how parliament can have a final say, or "meaningful vote" as Keir Starmer put it, on the exit deal, though. If the Tories pull us out of the single market and customs union during exit talks and a parliament vote rejects that deal, the government have said they will take us out anyway. Even if article 50 is revocable, the government has to decide to revoke it. What if they don't? And article 50 might not be revocable. Why was May's timetable for invoking it so meekly accepted before these questions have been answered? Will Labour amend the article 50 bill so it can only be invoked once it's been established it's revocable? I highly doubt it.

Do we automatically leave the single market on invoking article 50 or do we negotiate leaving it (if we so desire) during the 2 year period?

That's another question I'd like an answer to.

Hard to know if Labour have a plan or are just waffle without knowing these things. Voting against article 50 may be the only opportunity those wishing to stay in the single market get to express their displeasure at May's hard Brexit.

I was wondering the same about whether we automatically leave the single market. It looks like membership of it is incompatible with wanting to negotiate trade deals outside the EU, so leaving it was always likely to happen, but the actual process seems a mystery.
Presumably it's not like changing a tv/phone package, we keep the bits we want & change some others - but that's kind of how it was sold in brexit. (I.e. would sir/madam like to consider the Norwegian options)
Or is it it automatically a renegotiation from scratch, ie; degree of access to single market has to be negotiated along with everything else.?

I know it might seem a bit pedantic, but there is surely a difference between actively negotiating our way out of the single market alongside negotiating exit terms from the EU, and being automatically flung out of the EEA no matter what happens in exit negotiations and always facing having to join anew. The reason it's important is that the first, to my mind, is a choice that is open to the government in charge of exit negotiations, whereas if the latter, May isn't really in the position to offer to take us out of the single market as such. There will have to be a GE before she can complete that process. Though I guess the nature of the exit deal could create conditions favourable to one type of Brexit over another.

[Willow904]

https://politicalscrapbook.net/2017/01/ ... ns-future/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Will the Prime Minister tell President Trump that she is not prepared to lower our food and safety standards, or to open our health systems to privatisation, or does she believe this is a price worth paying for a UK-US trade deal."

[HindleA]

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?i ... #g60655.q0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Estimated 10,000 effected by removal of housing element for 18-21 yr.olds under UC.


(DWP estimate klaxon)