FlyTheNest

Good morning all.

Forget about the NHS winter crisis that BBC journos are now insisting isn't happening even though other BBC journos continue to report on it.

A&E performance in England 'likely to hit new low'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30679949" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The most important story of the day is the top story in the Independent.

Nazi super cows: British farmer forced to destroy half his murderous herd of bio-engineered Heck cows after they try to kill staff
http://www.independent.co.uk/environmen ... 58988.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hitler’s drive to produce the perfect Aryan race was not confined to people – it also extended to a specially bred herd of Nazi-engineered cows, which have turned out to be so aggressive that a UK farmer has been forced to turn half of them into sausages.

Morning. Labour lead at 3 points on Yougov:

Latest YouGov / The Sun results 5th January -

Con 31%,
Lab 34%,
LD 7%,
UKIP 14%,
GRN 8%;

APP -24

Theresa May defends student immigration policy
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... mentpage=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The home secretary, Theresa May, has defended her plan to expel international students from Britain after graduation, despite criticism from Sir James Dyson that the policy is a short-term vote winner that will damage the economy in the long term.

When May was pressed in the Commons by Conservative and Labour MPs on her response to Dyson, she said something had to be done about the situation in which 121,000 students from outside Europe came to study in Britain each year but only 51,000 left.

May told MPs that if nothing was done, there would be an estimated 600,000 non-EU overseas students coming to Britain each year by the 2020s.

Firstly where does the estimate that foreign student numbers will quadruple by the 2020s come from? Another SpAd assumption?

And since we already know that the current number of foreign students provide a £4bn net benefit to the economy wouldn't the net benefit grow to over £10bn?

Morning.


Michael Rosen's latest "Letter from a curious parent"


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

Although the gist of the piece is about being impartial about democracy Little Nicky also slips this in "Yes, it's my job to leave my personal views and prejudices at the door when I report on TV or radio or online" Bah.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-01- ... uldnt-vote" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Morning.

The John Humphreys that yesterday was grumpy, bitter and so full of his own agenda he hardly let Andy Burnham get a word in edgeways, had morphed into another creature entirely this morning.
He let Jeremy Hunt gently ramble on and on, a few tough questions set but not pursued with the venom he spat at Burnham.

Breaking: Clegg gets tough with Theresa on terror measures
http://www.libdemvoice.org/breaking-cle ... 44072.html

LD Towers are running their latest version of Clegg's Groundhog Day. Just change the name of the bill - a couple of adjectives to show how 'tough', 'upset on our behalf' he is .... and put out the same article which pretends outrage at what the Tories are planning and says the Lib Dems will prevent the worst from happening.

The comments are now reliably much better than any article on LDV.

From our own TE:

TechnicalEphemera 6th Jan '15 - 12:15am
So Nick Clegg is going to oppose the bill by telling Lib Dem MPs to vote for it in the commons, and to vote against the Labour amendment.

When it gets amended in the Lords (if that happens) he will probably tell Lib Dem MPs to vote to reject the changes when the bill returns to the commons.

This looks like a slow motion replay of the Judicial Review debacle.

and from David-1

David-1 6th Jan '15 - 3:47am
“The Lib Dems, who take issue with the substance of some of Cooper’s proposals, would risk the collapse of the coalition if they backed an opposition amendment to a government bill.”

And why is that a problem? Why would anybody worry about a “collapse of the coalition” when the scheduled elections are just four months away? What exactly could or would the Tories do? Demand a vote of confidence? Please.

Good morning.

NHS failing to meet targets, says health minister
Latest figures expected to show A&E waiting times have fallen to their worst level for a decade (Guardian, my emphasis)

Run that one by me again. Or am I being dim?

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... orman-lamb

Good morning.

NHS failing to meet targets, says health minister
Latest figures expected to show A&E waiting times have fallen to their worst level for a decade (Guardian, my emphasis)

Run that one by me again. Or am I being dim?

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... orman-lamb

And I'm off to a flying start again . . .

John O'Shea ‏@politicalhackuk 2h2 hours ago
£2m is now the price of a 'middle class' house according to the Telegraph/Tory spinners. It really isn't.

Apparently the Tory dossier renamed Labour's mansion tax the 'family homes' tax.

Evan Davis pointed this renaming out and said very waspishly on Newsnight - if a family home now costs that much maybe the government should be looking at their housing policy rather than Labour's spending plans - or words to that effect. Quite.

PorFavor wrote:And I'm off to a flying start again . . .

Royston Vasey PF, Royston Vasey.

Morning all

Hat-tip to Laura McInereney...marvellous question, not so marvellous answer.

Department for EducationChristmas Cards218993
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) individuals, (b) companies and (c) other organisations receive Christmas cards from her Department.

A Answered by: Mr Nick Gibb Answered on: 05 January 2015
This information is not collected by the Department for Education and can only be compiled at disproportionate costs.

The answer might have been quite illuminating as to who their current favourites are.

I find it hard to believe that they don't have a centralised list - do they simply sit round a table and go "Oh yes...him...mustn't forget her...and him"

PorFavor wrote:Good morning.

NHS failing to meet targets, says health minister
Latest figures expected to show A&E waiting times have fallen to their worst level for a decade (Guardian, my emphasis)

Run that one by me again. Or am I being dim?

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... orman-lamb

BBC Breakfast News reported this morning that the 95% A & E waiting time target has been missed only once since 2010; proof, at last, that alternate universes do exist!

Morning all.

Morning all...long time no post - an unfortunate tragedy in the Wolfie family over the festive period has left us all very sad...I don't wish to dwell on it or provide details but suffice to say we endured some of the Condemnation NHS A & E chaos...which I may well dwell on at some point.

As ever, though, life goes on - and in that vein, I'm not sure whether this has been linked before - it provides a succinct precis of the Trials Of Murkydochia so far (I'm still mystified by NewCorpse being allowed to investigate their own wrongdoing and then passing the (heavily redacted?) evidence to the police)...

https://fothom.wordpress.com/2014/12/29 ... ls-so-far/

...and another one started yesterday...

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... CMP=twt_gu

...and I really don't want to mention this so early, but I may not have time later so apologies in advance...ConDem Britain covering itself in glory yet again...

'Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) admits it made an “erroneous” report to the UN when it denied that child abuse was rife in the British overseas territory of St Helena.

The FCO has been accused of lying to the United Nations over “endemic” child sex abuse in the remote South Atlantic island to cover up allegations'


http://rt.com/uk/219915-child-abuse-st-helena/

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:

PorFavor wrote:Good morning.

NHS failing to meet targets, says health minister
Latest figures expected to show A&E waiting times have fallen to their worst level for a decade (Guardian, my emphasis)

Run that one by me again. Or am I being dim?

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... orman-lamb

BBC Breakfast News reported this morning that the 95% A & E waiting time target has been missed only once since 2010; proof, at last, that alternate universes do exist!

Morning all.

Remind me again why so many A&E depts are surplus to requirements and need to be closed?!

May I offer a hug Wolfie ? Sorry to hear about sad events for you and your family.

I thought Jeremy Hunt was looking a bit wobbly in his little speech on BBC news this morning but I didn't realise quite how out of his depth he was until I read this :

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/de ... al-4925287

Panicking Jeremy Hunt today begged hospital chiefs to tell him the answer to the NHS crisis – and gave them four hours to do it.

As overburdened hospitals raised the alarm about full-to-bursting A&E wards, the Health Secretary emailed bosses at midday asking them to come up with “three or four ideas” by 4pm.

It's a bit much to ignore all the warnings given by medical experts about pushing ahead with the Health and Social Care Bill, to cut local council grants til the pips squeak, close A&Es and reduce carer allowances and then, when all your measures lead to an inevitable crisis, turn around and ask the people who told you not to do any of these things how to plaster over the ruddy gaps in the short term to help you get into power again so you can carry on with the same, destructive, policies. Bloody cheek is what it is. Argh!!!

Lonewolfie wrote: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... CMP=twt_gu

...and I really don't want to mention this so early, but I may not have time later so apologies in advance...ConDem Britain covering itself in glory yet again...

'Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) admits it made an “erroneous” report to the UN when it denied that child abuse was rife in the British overseas territory of St Helena.

The FCO has been accused of lying to the United Nations over “endemic” child sex abuse in the remote South Atlantic island to cover up allegations'


http://rt.com/uk/219915-child-abuse-st-helena/

The same St Helena that the Coalition stumped up £250 million for an airstrip for [one of the first things they did after taking power, despite austerity threats for us here in Blighty].
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... croft.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That news must have gladdened the heart of any US paedophile billionaire with a private jet and a penchant for trafficking underage girls. The report says there is “persistent” culture of abusing teenage girls and a “cultural acceptance of the premature sexualization of children” on the island. Girls subjected to “violent and brutal” attacks. Making easy pickings for any predator with a private jet.

yahyah wrote:May I offer a hug Wolfie ? Sorry to hear about sad events for you and your family.

Thanks Yah Yah - cyberhugs always welcome, but as I said, I really don't want to dwell on it or bring anyone else down with the negativity. I still live in Hope, but it is tinged with sadness at the moment.

92%

Jesus Christ!

Willow904 wrote:92%

Jesus Christ!

And the first "nothing to see here" comes from...

NicholasB 4m ago

0
1
Arbitrary targets are not important. What is important is that the A&E units are treating 20,000 people a week more than they were last year. This shows that the NHS is becoming more efficient.

Good-morning.

RogerOThornhill wrote:

Willow904 wrote:92%

Jesus Christ!

And the first "nothing to see here" comes from...

NicholasB 4m ago

0
1
Arbitrary targets are not important. What is important is that the A&E units are treating 20,000 people a week more than they were last year. This shows that the NHS is becoming more efficient.

I hope somebody has pointed out to the fool that it has less to do with efficiency and more to do with the Tories binning all the alternatives.

RogerOThornhill wrote:

Willow904 wrote:92%

Jesus Christ!

And the first "nothing to see here" comes from...

NicholasB 4m ago

0
1
Arbitrary targets are not important. What is important is that the A&E units are treating 20,000 people a week more than they were last year. This shows that the NHS is becoming more efficient.

Yes, a piss poor effort even by his standards. TE's response was perfect.

This "political football" description for the NHS, do we expect it to work?

yahyah wrote:

Lonewolfie wrote: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... CMP=twt_gu

...and I really don't want to mention this so early, but I may not have time later so apologies in advance...ConDem Britain covering itself in glory yet again...

'Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) admits it made an “erroneous” report to the UN when it denied that child abuse was rife in the British overseas territory of St Helena.

The FCO has been accused of lying to the United Nations over “endemic” child sex abuse in the remote South Atlantic island to cover up allegations'


http://rt.com/uk/219915-child-abuse-st-helena/

The same St Helena that the Coalition stumped up £250 million for an airstrip for [one of the first things they did after taking power, despite austerity threats for us here in Blighty].
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... croft.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That news must have gladdened the heart of any US paedophile billionaire with a private jet and a penchant for trafficking underage girls. The report says there is “persistent” culture of abusing teenage girls and a “cultural acceptance of the premature sexualization of children” on the island. Girls subjected to “violent and brutal” attacks. Making easy pickings for any predator with a private jet.

There are rumours (unsubstantiated, natch) that the airstrip would be the gateway for the island to promote a particular type of tourism

...and is the name of the school in the latest press release irony? (Or am I actually American and it's another form of humour?)

http://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/press-releases/

rebeccariots2 wrote:

John O'Shea ‏@politicalhackuk 2h2 hours ago
£2m is now the price of a 'middle class' house according to the Telegraph/Tory spinners. It really isn't.

Apparently the Tory dossier renamed Labour's mansion tax the 'family homes' tax.

Evan Davis pointed this renaming out and said very waspishly on Newsnight - if a family home now costs that much maybe the government should be looking at their housing policy rather than Labour's spending plans - or words to that effect. Quite.

This is an utterly preposterous figure for anyone living outside the more expensive bits of london and the south-east - it's from the same kind of nonsense you hear from people who complain that a salary pushing into the higher tax band leaves them poor.

I will offer you this link to some property in my town where even some of the most prestigious addresses, and really quite lovely 5 bedroom houses, top out at around half a million.

Edited to add - my mum lives in one of the most expensive locations in the country and even here £2million is beyond the highest reaches of what seems to be available...

Lonewolfie wrote:

yahyah wrote:May I offer a hug Wolfie ? Sorry to hear about sad events for you and your family.

Thanks Yah Yah - cyberhugs always welcome, but as I said, I really don't want to dwell on it or bring anyone else down with the negativity. I still live in Hope, but it is tinged with sadness at the moment.

Accept my wishes for your family's health, harmony, prosperity.

love
JA

We happen to have fancied an occasional trip out to A and E over the years ,usually in the middle of the night because of the company,the resuscitation room was particularly friendly,we must have an impression and got six weeks holiday ,although they did keep changing the room.I don't how they calculate "waiting times"but the last time we entered on a Tuesday morning we were dealt with promptly then put into a storage room to wait,I wondered why until a parade of trollies lined up every available space for some time until we were seen.As I have said before,I don't why the GP referred us to A and E,rather than the assessment unit as was done previously as it wasn't an emergency as such and if it was an unnecessary visit it had bugger all to do with us.

@Lonewolfie

Echoing others best wishes.

With thanks to Paul Cowick a Labour Councillor in Exeter ;one of the "opposition's costings"outlined by the Treasury is the introduction of a timelimit on dealing with claims for PIP,no actual figure but of course a clear indication that current delays are a cost save.

HindleA wrote:With thanks to Paul Cowick a Labour Councillor in Exeter ;one of the "opposition's costings"outlined by the Treasury is the introduction of a timelimit on dealing with claims for PIP,no actual figure but of course a clear indication that current delays are a cost save.

Would that be Councillor Paul Bull Labour Councillor in Exeter, Cowick ward ? Have I misunderstood your post?

citizenJA wrote:

HindleA wrote:With thanks to Paul Cowick a Labour Councillor in Exeter ;one of the "opposition's costings"outlined by the Treasury is the introduction of a timelimit on dealing with claims for PIP,no actual figure but of course a clear indication that current delays are a cost save.

Would that be Councillor Paul Bull Labour Councillor in Exeter, Cowick ward ? Have I misunderstood your post?

Yes,apologies.

"Frazzledbrain Syndrome" they were almost the right words,just in the order wrong.

So here we have it, Tories refuse to rule out cuts to education in the next parliament, chucking money, and peerages at your mates is so much easier I suppose.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general ... veals.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HindleA wrote:"Frazzledbrain Syndrome" they were almost the right words,just in the order wrong.

No worries - I needed that information & your post led me right to it. Thank you.

Morning all.
Little Willie H being a bit careless at yesterday's "Crappest ever Kraftwerk gig".

http://labourlist.org/2015/01/hague-acc ... r-schools/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general ... veals.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 wrote:

Breaking: Clegg gets tough with Theresa on terror measures
http://www.libdemvoice.org/breaking-cle ... 44072.html

LD Towers are running their latest version of Clegg's Groundhog Day. Just change the name of the bill - a couple of adjectives to show how 'tough', 'upset on our behalf' he is .... and put out the same article which pretends outrage at what the Tories are planning and says the Lib Dems will prevent the worst from happening.

The comments are now reliably much better than any article on LDV.

From our own TE:

TechnicalEphemera 6th Jan '15 - 12:15am
So Nick Clegg is going to oppose the bill by telling Lib Dem MPs to vote for it in the commons, and to vote against the Labour amendment.

When it gets amended in the Lords (if that happens) he will probably tell Lib Dem MPs to vote to reject the changes when the bill returns to the commons.

This looks like a slow motion replay of the Judicial Review debacle.

and from David-1

David-1 6th Jan '15 - 3:47am
“The Lib Dems, who take issue with the substance of some of Cooper’s proposals, would risk the collapse of the coalition if they backed an opposition amendment to a government bill.”

And why is that a problem? Why would anybody worry about a “collapse of the coalition” when the scheduled elections are just four months away? What exactly could or would the Tories do? Demand a vote of confidence? Please.

Not just that, but the Graun this morning was bigging up yet another Clegg "vow"

Ephie of course,has pointed this out,but a possible retort,since the Tories inclusion of it is to ask if the delays/non timelimit are a cost saving measure.

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:

PorFavor wrote:Good morning.

NHS failing to meet targets, says health minister
Latest figures expected to show A&E waiting times have fallen to their worst level for a decade (Guardian, my emphasis)

Run that one by me again. Or am I being dim?

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... orman-lamb

BBC Breakfast News reported this morning that the 95% A & E waiting time target has been missed only once since 2010; proof, at last, that alternate universes do exist!

Morning all.

Don't forget that they lowered the target from 98% which Labour reached more often than not, to the current 95%. Keep lowering the target & it makes it easier to reach but lowers the standard of care !

Look at this exclusive:

GPs were asked to open on New Year’s Day help clear the backlog of patients as hospitals fared badly under pressure in some parts of England during the Christmas and New Year period, Pulse has learned.

Essex local area team offered practices a one-off £80 per GP per hour payment to open on New Year’s Day as local A&Es declared a ‘black alert’.

http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/commissioni ... KvFpCusVR4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

£80 per hour for NYD opening - what a fucking insult ! How could any GP pay the receptionist & other staff yet still pay themselves out of £80ph on New Years Day ?!

Sooner these fucking idiots are out of No 10, the better it will be for the rest of us !

adam wrote:

rebeccariots2 wrote:

John O'Shea ‏@politicalhackuk 2h2 hours ago
£2m is now the price of a 'middle class' house according to the Telegraph/Tory spinners. It really isn't.

Apparently the Tory dossier renamed Labour's mansion tax the 'family homes' tax.

Evan Davis pointed this renaming out and said very waspishly on Newsnight - if a family home now costs that much maybe the government should be looking at their housing policy rather than Labour's spending plans - or words to that effect. Quite.

This is an utterly preposterous figure for anyone living outside the more expensive bits of london and the south-east - it's from the same kind of nonsense you hear from people who complain that a salary pushing into the higher tax band leaves them poor.

I will offer you this link to some property in my town where even some of the most prestigious addresses, and really quite lovely 5 bedroom houses, top out at around half a million.

Edited to add - my mum lives in one of the most expensive locations in the country and even here £2million is beyond the highest reaches of what seems to be available...

Indeed. They could always "get on their bikes" and look for cheaper properties elsewhere?

I was alerted to this over at the Guardian -

UKIP is investigating after its official website disappeared - with the UKIP.org address linking through to a domain hosting page.

The problems were reported by political blogger Guido Fawkes who speculated that UKIP had "forgotten to renew the domain name of their official website".

A UKIP source told the BBC the problems were being investigated by the party's IT experts. (BBC News website)

Of course, when I say "I was alerted to this", I obviously knew about the problem already - glued as I always am to Ukip's website. Still, I'm confident that their "experts" will soon have it sorted out. Meanwhile, there's a gaping hole in my life.


Edited to add

I know nothing about these matters but is there an opening here for someone to nip in quickly and nick Ukip's website identity?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30695618

Edited (again)

Far too many commas

PorFavor wrote:I was alerted to this over at the Guardian -

UKIP is investigating after its official website disappeared - with the UKIP.org address linking through to a domain hosting page.

The problems were reported by political blogger Guido Fawkes who speculated that UKIP had "forgotten to renew the domain name of their official website".

A UKIP source told the BBC the problems were being investigated by the party's IT experts. (BBC News website)

Of course, when I say "I was alerted to this", I obviously knew about the problem already - glued as I always am to Ukip's website. Still, I'm confident that their "experts" will soon have it sorted out. Meanwhile, there's a gaping hole in my life.


Edited to add

I know nothing about these matters but is there an opening here for someone to nip in quickly and nick Ukip's website identity?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30695618

Edited (again)

Far too many commas

Everyone can breath easily again as ukip.org is back up.

A simple question.
If the next election is on the 7th of May and today is the 6th of Jan shouldn't the countdown at the top say 4 months and 1 day?

Ah, so I'm not the only person who had that thought

PorFavor wrote:I was alerted to this over at the Guardian -

UKIP is investigating after its official website disappeared - with the UKIP.org address linking through to a domain hosting page.

The problems were reported by political blogger Guido Fawkes who speculated that UKIP had "forgotten to renew the domain name of their official website".

A UKIP source told the BBC the problems were being investigated by the party's IT experts. (BBC News website)

Of course, when I say "I was alerted to this", I obviously knew about the problem already - glued as I always am to Ukip's website. Still, I'm confident that their "experts" will soon have it sorted out. Meanwhile, there's a gaping hole in my life.


Edited to add

I know nothing about these matters but is there an opening here for someone to nip in quickly and nick Ukip's website identity?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30695618

Edited (again)

Far too many commas

Guido's speculation is cobblers, they have the domain renewed until mid-2016.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/06 ... te_broken/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

minch wrote:A simple question.
If the next election is on the 7th of May and today is the 6th of Jan shouldn't the countdown at the top say 4 months and 1 day?

I'll have a look after work.

Just had a little look over at Lib Dem Voice for any "only Lib Dems can save the NHS" articles, haven't appeared yet but still waiting for one to.

Playing with the widget to find out %age of patients seen in 4 hours.

My local A & E figures are appalling !

Worthing Hospital
Data for Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

82.5%
Patients seen in 4 hours

(my bold)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25055444" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

pk1 wrote:Playing with the widget to find out %age of patients seen in 4 hours.

My local A & E figures are appalling !

Worthing Hospital
Data for Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

82.5%
Patients seen in 4 hours

(my bold)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25055444" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

71.8% here!