Tuesday 27th March 2018
Posted: Tue 27 Mar, 2018 7:14 am
Morning.
hey, cool'Havering ruled by Mayor Khan!'
Each application for limited leave, successful or not, will from April 6th cost £1,033 per person. This figure does not include the proposed £1,000 NHS charge that migrants will be asked to pay from later this year. Since 2015, when the charge was introduced, it has already doubled. Once immigration fees are introduced, the Home Office tends to ratchet them up pretty regularly.
Next month's fee rise and the proposed doubling of the NHS surcharge mean each person subject to these fees will now have to pay over £10,000 before they can obtain settled status. This figure does not include the cost of paying for legal advice.
At the new proposed rates, the Home Office is asking families to pay the equivalent of a deposit on a house in fees. A family of four would end up paying at least £42,084.
I get the impression the whole Cambridge Analytica and Vote Leave/AggregateIQ stories are getting more coverage in the US press than here. Of course, they've got an actual Special Counsellor investigating and a real prospect of prosecutions. While we have the Electoral Commission and the Information Commissioner....adam wrote:The committee hearing story is not anywhere on the front page of the telegraph online.
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Boris Johnson calls Emily Thornberry "Baroness, whatever it is, of Nugee"
John Bercow slaps down Johnson in a big way: "The shadow foreign secretary has a name and it's not lady something. We know what her name is. It is inappropriate and frankly sexist to speak in those terms"
I don't think publicly outing Shahmir Sanni and suggesting he's 'confused' is going to make written and documentary evidence from 12-15 sources go away, is it?Wylie says he gradually became more uncomfortable working for Cambridge Analytica. There was not a single moment when he decided to blow the whistle, he says.
He stressed that Carole Cadwalladr, the Observer reporter who has published his revelations, has around 12 or 15 other sources too. He is not the only person speaking out, he says.
Although I suspect that even if the information commissioner established without a doubt that there was cheating, Parliament wouldn't have the balls to even pause Brexit, let alone stop it.Wylie says the ICO [information commissioner’s office] does not have much power. And it does not have many staff either.
Wylie says it would be “a shame” if, by the time it were established that the vote to leave the EU was established by cheating, the UK had already left the EU.
Not a coincidence imo.Willow904 wrote:Am really quite frustrated by this. My Twitter feed is just full of Corbyn, Corbyn, Corbyn - either attacking or defending - when it should be full of Dominic Cummings!
#Brexitgate
Funnily enough it's been followed up by a Johnson "gaffe", calling Emily Thornberry "Lady Something"gilsey wrote:Not a coincidence imo.Willow904 wrote:Am really quite frustrated by this. My Twitter feed is just full of Corbyn, Corbyn, Corbyn - either attacking or defending - when it should be full of Dominic Cummings!
#Brexitgate
Yes, that's been in my timeline quite a bit more than it really warrants, as well.PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Funnily enough it's been followed up by a Johnson "gaffe", calling Emily Thornberry "Lady Something"gilsey wrote:Not a coincidence imo.Willow904 wrote:Am really quite frustrated by this. My Twitter feed is just full of Corbyn, Corbyn, Corbyn - either attacking or defending - when it should be full of Dominic Cummings!
#Brexitgate
Yes, I think it should be looked into as well and hopefully it will be.He said there were links between SCL and the Russian oil firm Lukoil, which he said was linked to the Russian FSB security agency. He said he was aware that Lukoil had been told that Aleksandr Kogan - the Cambridge academic who developed the app allegedly used by Cambridge Analytica to gather data about Facebook users - was a regular visitor to Russia.
"I’m not saying that Alexander Nix [the SCL/Cambridge Analytica boss] or Aleksandr Kogan or anybody involved knowingly colluded with Russia to undermine the American election. I am saying there was a very significant risk that was created by notifying this company not only of the existence of this data but telling them that the person in charge of this data was operating in part out of Russia. It would make it incredibly easy for them to get access to this data. For me, that’s concerning and I think it should be looked into."
"The error happened because the Department’s process for converting people’s benefits to ESA did not reflect its own legislation, which from 2010 obliged the Department to assess people’s entitlement to both income-related ESA and contribution-based ESA on conversion. In practice it did not always do this.
It took several years for the Department to realise the significance of the error. The Department identified the issue in individual cases at least as early as 2013. However it did not recognise the issue as systemic until early 2014 when staff identified the error as a major cause of ESA underpayments in preparing its 2013-14 financial year fraud and error statistics. In June 2014, the Department issued new advice designed to prevent further errors occurring but did not take steps to assess existing cases."
“The facts of this case are that tens of thousands of people, most of whom have severely limiting disabilities and illnesses, have been underpaid by thousands of pounds each, while the Department for several years failed to get a proper grip on the problem. The Department has now committed to fixing this error by April 2019, but not everyone will be repaid all the money they have missed out on.”
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 21 March 2018
Mark Lehain denies that simultaneously holding posts at free school charity and campaign group will involve a conflict of interests
The leader of a campaign for a knowledge-rich curriculum has been named the interim replacement for Toby Young at the New Schools Network (NSN).
Mark Lehain will remain as director of the Parents and Teachers for Excellence (PTE) campaign when he takes on the role at the NSN, but dismissed suggestions that holding both roles simultaneously gave him a conflict of interest.
While welfare contractualism suffuses contemporary political discussions of welfare, more attention needs to be given to questioning how far the posited contract is a lopsided and unequal one, and one that is underpinned by high levels of tacit coercion. The state can indeed demand the fulfilment of an individual’s responsibilities, with robust and harsh sanctions at its disposal for non-compliance, but there is often little an individual can do where it feels that the state is not keeping its side of the bargain. Compare the three year sanction an individual can receive where they three times fail to comply with demands made of them by the state, with the bureaucratic and slow benefits appeals system.
Processes for challenging benefit decisions with which a claimant does not agree are opaque and limited, while the 2013 removal of Legal Aid support to fund benefit cases further undermines citizens’ capacity to claim their rights under any so-called welfare contract. Government figures show a 99.5% reduction in the number of people receiving help from the state with benefit cases, with just 440 claimants supported in 2016-17, down from 83,000 in 2012-13.
Blimey.Q: But Ukip has no money.
Wylie says Cambridge Analytica does not need to make money. Robert Mercer can afford for it not to. And he says the figure on an invoice does not necessarily reflect the value of the work. He says Mercer puts money into the company, and the firm might then work for a political campaign. He says this allows campaign spending rules to be evaded.
Q: So you would call it a fraud?
Wylie does not use that word.
But he says if Mercer puts $1om into political campaigns, that has to be declared. If he invests in a company, and it provides services for firms at below cost, that does not have to be declared. He is just putting money in as an investor.
I hope you're bearing up okay. I struggle with funerals. People you barely know always seem to want to talk to you, when you'd really rather not talk to anyone.AnatolyKasparov wrote:My dad had his send-off today.
Best wishes, AK. My father in law went a few weeks ago, and I was surprised how much little gestures mattered. Whatever else, your contributions here are valued and welcomed. Keep yourself going, but be prepared for the ‘after the Lord Mayors feast’ when all the dust has settled and everyone else returns to normal.AnatolyKasparov wrote:My dad had his send-off today.
May hinted that the government has now realised that setting up new customs arrangements after Brexit could take longer than expected. This is what she said in response to a question from the Conservative Nicky Morgan, who said HM Revenue and Customs told her Treasury committee that a new customs partnership with the EU could take five years to set up.
We are looking at different potential customs arrangements for the future in order to deliver on the commitments that we have made. We are now the point at being able to look in more detail with the European commission at some of those proposals. And I think it is fair to say that, as we get into the detail and as we look at these arrangements, then what becomes clear is that sometimes the timetables that have originally been set are not the timetables that are necessary when you actually start to look at the detail and when you delve into what it really is that you want to be able to achieve.
From the uncorrected transcript of the Liaison Committee meeting todayNeil Parish:
Thank you, Prime Minister. Finally, on fish...fishermen expect to get our fishing rights back. As you said, they felt those were carved up back in the ’70s. I think they don’t altogether mind waiting, as long as the rights are not going to be negotiated away again when it comes to a final deal with Europe. We must become an independent coastal state and be ready to run our own fish. Can we have those absolute reassurances?
The Prime Minister:
We will be an independent coastal state.
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All those wasted syllables.
We are lookingat different potential customs arrangements for the future in order to deliver on the commitments that we have made. We are now the point at being able to look in more detailwith the European commission at some of those proposals.And I think it is fair to say that, as we get into the detail and as we look at these arrangements, thenwhat becomes clear is thatsometimesthe timetablesthat haveoriginallybeenset are not the timetables that are necessarywhen you actually start to look at the detail and when you delve into what it really is that you want to be able to achieve.
I've been having a read of the uncorrected transcript of that meeting todaygilsey wrote:Shouldn't you have delved into this before you triggered A50?May hinted that the government has now realised that setting up new customs arrangements after Brexit could take longer than expected. This is what she said in response to a question from the Conservative Nicky Morgan, who said HM Revenue and Customs told her Treasury committee that a new customs partnership with the EU could take five years to set up.
We are looking at different potential customs arrangements for the future in order to deliver on the commitments that we have made. We are now the point at being able to look in more detail with the European commission at some of those proposals. And I think it is fair to say that, as we get into the detail and as we look at these arrangements, then what becomes clear is that sometimes the timetables that have originally been set are not the timetables that are necessary when you actually start to look at the detail and when you delve into what it really is that you want to be able to achieve.
It's not Russia May is worried about then, just localsNicky Morgan:
Just to pick up on questions from Damian and Yvette first, in answer to them you talked about overseas states undermining elections through disinformation. I wonder what your views are about Twitter accounts being set up by overseas states, most likely Russia, to intimidate Members of Parliament in their duties in this House by threatening them, intimidating them and potentially even asking for them to be killed.
The Prime Minister:
There is a wider issue for us to consider in relation to the intimidation, harassment and bullying of Members of Parliament—and, indeed, it goes beyond Members of Parliament to candidates who stand in elections. A viciousness and vitriol has come into our public debate around these issues, particularly at election time, that, in my view, has no place in our parliamentary debate or in our democracy. People should be able to put their views forward and have proper arguments—proper debates—about those views. We hear and see from time to time threats of personal attack on individuals, or just constant bullying and harassment of some Members of Parliament. Some Members of Parliament have been able to take people to court successfully for what they have been doing.
Nicky Morgan:
I will move on, but there is a particular concern when it is not just robust debate, which I think we are all used to, or robust debate within our own parties, but deliberate orchestration by an overseas state as an attempt to undermine our democracy. I am assuming that that would be of great concern to you.
The Prime Minister:
Of course it would be of great concern, but also of concern are some of the actions we have seen taken by people in relation to either side of the referendum debate.
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