Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th January 2015

[Eric_WLothian]

It was Panelbase that had to close its registration of Scottish-based panellists pre-referendum, due to an (alleged) co-ordinated influx of SNP sympathisers/members!

The SNP froze council tax long before the Tories thought of it - all part of the centralisation of power. (Local Authorities dependent on cash from Holyrood, single police force and fire service, state 'guardians' etc).

Free childcare to enable women to return to non-existent jobs, together with local income tax are just a couple of unfulfilled promises.

To be fair, I don't think the cost of providing free prescriptions is significant, given that most were free anyway (on the grounds of age or means-testing). Free university education has been at the expense of further education colleges.

As for buying a two-flights-a-day airport...

'chancers' is quite complimentary

Edited to add that there's something fishy about polls which cause Electoral Calculus to predict a close race between the SNP and LibDems in Orkney & Shetland.

Found a reply to a FOIA on prescription charges.

The estimated outturn for prescription charge income in England in 2007/08
is -L-421million. This does not include income from prescription charges
collected by dispensing doctors,
The total cost associated with the collection of prescription charges is
not separately identifiable and therefore no estimate of the net income to
the NHS can be made.

Probably not a particularly large amount of money for prescriptions in Scotland then, but a source of income nonetheless. I'd certainly consider it rather than cuts.

You're right about the amount of free prescriptions- getting on for 89% of them, per the same FOIA.

The FE cuts look appalling- this is were lower income people are far more likely to go that university. They also don't exactly square with the puffed up rubbish about Scotland being this upskilled, manufacturing place that's only being held back by us fools in England.

And, unlike Wales, the generosity seems to be limited to those studying in Scotland, which can't be good. Doubtless those who like the look of such places as Imperial College London are traitors of whom the Government can wash its hands.

The cost of administration - means-testing and accounting for the cash paid at the pharmacy - for the 11% probably outweighs their contributions.

My son went to an English university and, yes, I picked up the cost of the fees!

[TheGrimSqueaker]

That's way too good.

There's a Labour candidate with about the worst backstory possible for that constituency. They need a John Mann there, as Anatoly would say.

Polly Billington may not have the "back story" but she won her right to fight the seat fair & square, and she is putting in a lot of work to win it (as is Scott). Mind you, her biggest asset appears to be Jackie Doyle-Price, with her wonderful ability to put both feet, not just the one, if the proverbial it.

Fair play to her and Scott for the hard work, but she's not a good fit for the constituency and it's harder work than it should be to beat the woeful Doyle-Price.

Carl Morris was a local councillor and chairman of the CLP so, in theory, should have been the best fit for the constituency; yet he managed to lose a far from marginal seat (after Andrew Mackinlay's departure) to "the woeful Doyle-Price". So would you prefer a repeat of that? I genuinely don't get why you are being so dismissive of this poll.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I think the poll has UKIP far too low for a start- they did very well in local elections. I suppose though it's one of the few places where they're "BNP" vote might still be supporting the BNP.

I don't have any opinion on Carl Morris, but he's had his chance. Polly Billington won selection, but even Doyle-Price should be able to make something of her background. Just as whoever is opposing Amber Rudd in Hastings will make a lot of her background.

[ohsocynical]

David Cameron's family fortune: the Jersey, Panama and Geneva connection
Offshore venture in tax haven – named after family home in Aberdeenshire – valued at £25m

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... ama-geneva

Sorry if this has been posted earlier. Haven't had a chance to check properly.

[pk1]

That's way too good.

There's a Labour candidate with about the worst backstory possible for that constituency. They need a John Mann there, as Anatoly would say.

Polly Billington may not have the "back story" but she won her right to fight the seat fair & square, and she is putting in a lot of work to win it (as is Scott). Mind you, her biggest asset appears to be Jackie Doyle-Price, with her wonderful ability to put both feet, not just the one, if the proverbial it.

Fair play to her and Scott for the hard work, but she's not a good fit for the constituency and it's harder work than it should be to beat the woeful Doyle-Price.

What's the problem with her then ? What exactly do you mean when you say she has the worst backstory possible for that constituency ? Do you mean she's had a 'real job' or what ?

[Tubby Isaacs]

The cost of administration - means-testing and accounting for the cash paid at the pharmacy - for the 11% probably outweighs their contributions.

My son went to an English university and, yes, I picked up the cost of the fees!

I suppose there could be a logic that paying for prescriptions helps ration demand, in a grim way. But I'd be surprised if the admin cost outweighed them.

Wales contributes to their students who want to study in England. A cut in English fees would be very positive for Wales.

Your son is a fool. Every course he could ever conceive of is done better in Scotland just because.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Polly Billington may not have the "back story" but she won her right to fight the seat fair & square, and she is putting in a lot of work to win it (as is Scott). Mind you, her biggest asset appears to be Jackie Doyle-Price, with her wonderful ability to put both feet, not just the one, if the proverbial it.

Fair play to her and Scott for the hard work, but she's not a good fit for the constituency and it's harder work than it should be to beat the woeful Doyle-Price.

What's the problem with her then ? What exactly do you mean when you say she has the worst backstory possible for that constituency ? Do you mean she's had a 'real job' or what ?

Essex (even the bits in London, and bits whence thousands commute to London) have a strong sense of "boo, metropolitan liberal elite".

Polly Billington's been working for Ed as a Spad and worked for the BBC before. Perfectly fine by me, but quite probably not ideal in Thurrock.

[Eric_WLothian]

It's quite amusing imagining the SNP gazing wondrously at fire engines and police cars. Wahoo, look, it's got Scotland on it. Scotland. Scotland. Because we're all Scots.

Still, I guess they can use it to show us authoritarians down here how it's done.

Per wiki.

In June 2014 a leaked Police Scotland internal email to police managers in Dunfermline ordered a substantial increase in "stop and search" activities and warned any police officers not meeting the higher targets would be subjected to a performance development review. Police Scotland has previously denied setting stop and search performance targets for individual officers.[14] The next month, it was revealed that between April and December 2013, Police Scotland's officers stopped and searched members of the Scottish public at a rate of 979.6 per 10,000 people, a rate was three times higher than that of the Metropolitan Police Service and nine times higher than that of the New York Police Department. It was also revealed that the Scottish Police Authority, the body tasked with overseeing Police Scotland, had removed criticism of Police Scotland's use of "stop and search" powers from a report it had commissioned. Also removed from the report were calls for a review of stop and search on children and for clarification of the policy's primary aim

3 times worse than our most notorious force who are overseen by Boris Johnson and Stephen Greenhalgh.

If the SNP hang on to their (very slim - 1 iirc) majority in Holyrood, it's only a matter of time before fire engines in Scotland are painted blue.

An ex-police contact told me that everybody was now targets-driven. There have also been problems with posting new recruits outwith their home areas. A significant number who complete their training quit when they're told where they're being posted.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I think the poll has UKIP far too low for a start- they did very well in local elections. I suppose though it's one of the few places where they're "BNP" vote might still be supporting the BNP.

I don't have any opinion on Carl Morris, but he's had his chance. Polly Billington won selection, but even Doyle-Price should be able to make something of her background. Just as whoever is opposing Amber Rudd in Hastings will make a lot of her background.

Sure, they gained five seats in the locals but they haven't exactly covered themselves in glory since then. The selection process for their PPC has been a veritable Whitehall farce, which won't have helped; and neither will the fact that Kerry Smith is standing as an independent.

[pk1]

Doyle-Price doesn't exactly have a non-political back story of her own !

According to wiki:

She later became Parliamentary Officer at The City of London and then Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor of the City of London.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Doyle-Price" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Stones & glass houses are not a good combination.

[citizenJA]

David Cameron's family fortune: the Jersey, Panama and Geneva connection
Offshore venture in tax haven – named after family home in Aberdeenshire – valued at £25m

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... ama-geneva

Sorry if this has been posted earlier. Haven't had a chance to check properly.

Yeah, but, but...Ed Milibandisrededmillionairejustlikethetoriesmarxistmillionaire!

<head explodes trying to accommodate the dissonance>

It's not nice to do this to a nation of people who work for a living when someone bothers to pay them. It really isn't.

[Sticky99]

Afternoon all,

David Cameron pleads with business to save his bacon by giving their workers wage rises and paying the living wage to the lowest paid.

David Cameron calls for wage increases in wake of oil price slump
Prime minister says growing profits should result in wage rises, as the Tories look to combat Ed Miliband over cost of living
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... d-miliband" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't know how long this fall in oil prices is going to last but I seriously doubt any business is going to start handing out large wage increases because of it, especially when CPI is now so low that deflation is a potential risk.

But since Cameron effectively employs about 5.5 million public sector workers I look forward to him giving us all a nice big pay rise if everything is so profitable now.

Not only public sector workers, but Call me Dave thinking that falling oil prices will counter Miliband’s cost-of-living agenda won’t wash at all for any worker.

Rising energy bills, grocery bills and soaring rents make slightly cheaper fuel prices no consolation for many people working in the private sector. If one looks at the cost of renting, particularly in urban areas like London, prices have gotten out of control. We desperately need rent control because it is abundantly clear that mass-house building won’t happen overnight, landlords can name their price because supply is so limited yet demand keeps increasing.

We’re constantly told by the right that Miliband is anti-business by dictating how they should operate, yet here is Cameron telling British business what to do in relation to pay rates. This perhaps illustrates that Miliband has been successful in his cost-of-living agenda, but a bit like when Call me Dave announced in the Commons that he was going to legislate to reduce energy bills, but with precisely no detail in how that would be achieved, Dave’s warning to British business will be tough words but no action – a summary of how Dave operates.

There are of course many factors in stagnant wages. We have seen a proliferation in lower-skilled vacancies in the last five years, just when our economy needs a focus on higher-paid, higher-skill roles that we’ll need in the future. Making our future labour force more skilled also relies on effective education policy, yet one of the saddest consequences of Mr Gove’s time as Education Secretary was a total focus on academia and theoretical learning. He was chiefly motivated to take education back to the past, the right will call that “rigor” - I call it completely ignoring the modern economy we live in.

The relentless focus in increasing apprenticeship positions, no matter the quality was another mistake. Yes we have many more apprentices, but that increase has come from lower-skilled level 2 vacancies that pay far less than the minimum wage, and the vacancies commonly consist of young people shadowing people in what would be low-paying roles e.g. hotel assistant, admin assistant etc. I fear that if we think stagnant wages are a problem now, the problem will get worse because a generation of children will have gone through education with no decent vocational options to choose from. Miliband is right on this – we need to complete on skills to have higher-pay – not Cameron’s race to the bottom where “any job is better than no job” (as Soubry gleefully pointed out on QT last week).

At the moment employers have no reason to increase wages for lower-paid employees. There is still a large deficit between jobs available and the demand for labour in the UK, indeed the deficit will only grow higher as the EU expands and people come to the UK for higher wages. Employers will only pay their workers more if something like a living wage became mandatory; at the moment they are enjoying increasingly fierce competition amongst job-seekers with no need to increase wages with such labour demand.

Some people call reducing migration as scapegoating, I call it fundamental population control – this doesn’t have to resort to a UKIP-style approach. Labour’s pledges around recruitment agency practices are very good, but it doesn’t matter what the government is, any EU nation is powerless to reduce the rate of migration.

[ohsocynical]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

I was always led to understand that Dragon did the best software, albeit not the cheapest; a couple of my friends use it (one semi-professionally) and swear by it. Have you asked this question over on Twitter, I think you could get some good feedback from some of the Tweeps.

[ohsocynical]

Afternoon all,

David Cameron pleads with business to save his bacon by giving their workers wage rises and paying the living wage to the lowest paid.

David Cameron calls for wage increases in wake of oil price slump
Prime minister says growing profits should result in wage rises, as the Tories look to combat Ed Miliband over cost of living
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... d-miliband" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't know how long this fall in oil prices is going to last but I seriously doubt any business is going to start handing out large wage increases because of it, especially when CPI is now so low that deflation is a potential risk.

But since Cameron effectively employs about 5.5 million public sector workers I look forward to him giving us all a nice big pay rise if everything is so profitable now.

Not only public sector workers, but Call me Dave thinking that falling oil prices will counter Miliband’s cost-of-living agenda won’t wash at all for any worker.

Rising energy bills, grocery bills and soaring rents make slightly cheaper fuel prices no consolation for many people working in the private sector. If one looks at the cost of renting, particularly in urban areas like London, prices have gotten out of control. We desperately need rent control because it is abundantly clear that mass-house building won’t happen overnight, landlords can name their price because supply is so limited yet demand keeps increasing.

We’re constantly told by the right that Miliband is anti-business by dictating how they should operate, yet here is Cameron telling British business what to do in relation to pay rates. This perhaps illustrates that Miliband has been successful in his cost-of-living agenda, but a bit like when Call me Dave announced in the Commons that he was going to legislate to reduce energy bills, but with precisely no detail in how that would be achieved, Dave’s warning to British business will be tough words but no action – a summary of how Dave operates.

There are of course many factors in stagnant wages. We have seen a proliferation in lower-skilled vacancies in the last five years, just when our economy needs a focus on higher-paid, higher-skill roles that we’ll need in the future. Making our future labour force more skilled also relies on effective education policy, yet one of the saddest consequences of Mr Gove’s time as Education Secretary was a total focus on academia and theoretical learning. He was chiefly motivated to take education back to the past, the right will call that “rigor” - I call it completely ignoring the modern economy we live in.

The relentless focus in increasing apprenticeship positions, no matter the quality was another mistake. Yes we have many more apprentices, but that increase has come from lower-skilled level 2 vacancies that pay far less than the minimum wage, and the vacancies commonly consist of young people shadowing people in what would be low-paying roles e.g. hotel assistant, admin assistant etc. I fear that if we think stagnant wages are a problem now, the problem will get worse because a generation of children will have gone through education with no decent vocational options to choose from. Miliband is right on this – we need to complete on skills to have higher-pay – not Cameron’s race to the bottom where “any job is better than no job” (as Soubry gleefully pointed out on QT last week).

At the moment employers have no reason to increase wages for lower-paid employees. There is still a large deficit between jobs available and the demand for labour in the UK, indeed the deficit will only grow higher as the EU expands and people come to the UK for higher wages. Employers will only pay their workers more if something like a living wage became mandatory; at the moment they are enjoying increasingly fierce competition amongst job-seekers with no need to increase wages with such labour demand.

Some people call reducing migration as scapegoating, I call it fundamental population control – this doesn’t have to resort to a UKIP-style approach. Labour’s pledges around recruitment agency practices are very good, but it doesn’t matter what the government is, any EU nation is powerless to reduce the rate of migration.

Apprenticeships are being cynically used by companies like Morrisons. And we know Osborne likes Morrisons. Older workers are taken on for regular shop work, paid low wages and the business gets a nice backhander.

A large proportion of older people are now apprentices. Nearly as many as the young.

Someone the other day commented that the saving on fuel means he's better off by a fiver per tankful, and energy companies must be coining it in. After the surge in prices last year some of us are being given around 3% reduction?

We're all going to get rich on that aren't we.

[ohsocynical]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

I was always led to understand that Dragon did the best software, albeit not the cheapest; a couple of my friends use it (one semi-professionally) and swear by it. Have you asked this question over on Twitter, I think you could get some good feedback from some of the Tweeps.

Thanks. I only use direct debit now. I checked out Dragon on Google, but the price was $139 and I don't have a credit card which is normally used for overseas transactions.
It's a bit pricey, but I don't mind if it's efficient. The last voice recognition I used some years ago couldn't cope if you had a cold or sinus infection. I ended up with gobbledygook some days.

[refitman]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

I was always led to understand that Dragon did the best software, albeit not the cheapest; a couple of my friends use it (one semi-professionally) and swear by it. Have you asked this question over on Twitter, I think you could get some good feedback from some of the Tweeps.

Thanks. I only use direct debit now. I checked out Dragon on Google, but the price was $139 and I don't have a credit card which is normally used for overseas transactions.
It's a bit pricey, but I don't mind if it's efficient. The last voice recognition I used some years ago couldn't cope if you had a cold or sinus infection. I ended up with gobbledygook some days.

Dragon's about £80 from Insight: http://www.uk.insight.com/en-gb/product ... 4-00000001" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[pk1]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

Couldn't you just get her another memory stick to keep & take your one back ?

[diGriz]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

You may be better off scanning all of the pages (newer scanner/copiers can do multiple pages at a time) to your email as attachments and then convert them with software that recognises text into Word documents. You may have some editing and spelling to correct but it should be quicker in the long run.

Here's a webpage you could test it on. http://www.onlineocr.net/

[edit] "OCR to Word" would be the type of software needed.

[ohsocynical]

I was always led to understand that Dragon did the best software, albeit not the cheapest; a couple of my friends use it (one semi-professionally) and swear by it. Have you asked this question over on Twitter, I think you could get some good feedback from some of the Tweeps.

Thanks. I only use direct debit now. I checked out Dragon on Google, but the price was $139 and I don't have a credit card which is normally used for overseas transactions.
It's a bit pricey, but I don't mind if it's efficient. The last voice recognition I used some years ago couldn't cope if you had a cold or sinus infection. I ended up with gobbledygook some days.

Dragon's about £80 from Insight: http://www.uk.insight.com/en-gb/product ... 4-00000001" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fantastic. The exchange rate is good isn't it. Thanks.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Thanks. I only use direct debit now. I checked out Dragon on Google, but the price was $139 and I don't have a credit card which is normally used for overseas transactions.
It's a bit pricey, but I don't mind if it's efficient. The last voice recognition I used some years ago couldn't cope if you had a cold or sinus infection. I ended up with gobbledygook some days.

Dragon's about £80 from Insight: http://www.uk.insight.com/en-gb/product ... 4-00000001" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fantastic. The exchange rate is good isn't it. Thanks.

50 quid at Staples. Always worth checking these things on Google Shopping to see what deals are around.

http://www.staples.co.uk/creative-softw ... tAodblkAbw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ohsocynical]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

You may be better off scanning all of the pages (newer scanner/copiers can do multiple pages at a time) to your email as attachments and then convert them with software that recognises text into Word documents. You may have some editing and spelling to correct but it should be quicker in the long run.

Here's a webpage you could test it on. http://www.onlineocr.net/

That's good advice but I lent/gave my copier scanner to my granddaughter. She uses it a lot more than I did, so I don't miss it too much.
At present I don't have a decent Word processing app.
My computer is Win8, which meant I had to re-purchase MS Word/Office after buying it a few years ago, and I refuse to pay for it all over again.
Libra do a free app, which I was using before my computer crashed, but I really couldn't get on with it.
Need to hunt around and see if there's something basic, easy and free I can use if I get the Dragon voiceware.

I don't have the patience to go back over things that are done and dusted but at Christmas was prompted by my sons garbled recollections of some of the family stories and history...He definitely needs re-programming

[ohsocynical]

Dragon's about £80 from Insight: http://www.uk.insight.com/en-gb/product ... 4-00000001" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fantastic. The exchange rate is good isn't it. Thanks.

50 quid at Staples. Always worth checking these things on Google Shopping to see what deals are around.

http://www.staples.co.uk/creative-softw ... tAodblkAbw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ooh. That's brilliant. There's a Staples in Reading.

[diGriz]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

You may be better off scanning all of the pages (newer scanner/copiers can do multiple pages at a time) to your email as attachments and then convert them with software that recognises text into Word documents. You may have some editing and spelling to correct but it should be quicker in the long run.

Here's a webpage you could test it on. http://www.onlineocr.net/

That's good advice but I lent/gave my copier scanner to my granddaughter. She uses it a lot more than I did, so I don't miss it too much.
At present I don't have a decent Word processing app.
My computer is Win8, which meant I had to re-purchase MS Word/Office after buying it a few years ago, and I refuse to pay for it all over again.
Libra do a free app, which I was using before my computer crashed, but I really couldn't get on with it.
Need to hunt around and see if there's something basic, easy and free I can use if I get the Dragon voiceware.

I don't have the patience to go back over things that are done and dusted but at Christmas was prompted by my sons garbled recollections of some of the family stories and history...He definitely needs re-programming

I'm not a huge Microsoft fan so I use Open Office instead. https://www.openoffice.org/

[Tubby Isaacs]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... ism-threat" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Someone explain this to me. Police have operation independence.

Here's Theresa May ordering them to do more patrols round Jewish areas.

How does that work?

[ohsocynical]

You may be better off scanning all of the pages (newer scanner/copiers can do multiple pages at a time) to your email as attachments and then convert them with software that recognises text into Word documents. You may have some editing and spelling to correct but it should be quicker in the long run.

Here's a webpage you could test it on. http://www.onlineocr.net/

That's good advice but I lent/gave my copier scanner to my granddaughter. She uses it a lot more than I did, so I don't miss it too much.
At present I don't have a decent Word processing app.
My computer is Win8, which meant I had to re-purchase MS Word/Office after buying it a few years ago, and I refuse to pay for it all over again.
Libra do a free app, which I was using before my computer crashed, but I really couldn't get on with it.
Need to hunt around and see if there's something basic, easy and free I can use if I get the Dragon voiceware.

I don't have the patience to go back over things that are done and dusted but at Christmas was prompted by my sons garbled recollections of some of the family stories and history...He definitely needs re-programming

I'm not a huge Microsoft fan so I use Open Office instead. https://www.openoffice.org/

I've just checked it out and downloaded Open Office. That's more like it. Thank you.

[rebeccariots2]

Green party outlines plan for basic citizen’s income for all adults
Natalie Bennett says payment to replace unemployment benefit would ensure no one lived in fear of losing their home
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... tt-benefit
The Green party would spend billions to give every adult – in and out of work – a citizen’s income worth more than £72.40 a week, the current value of jobseeker’s allowance.

Natalie Bennett, the Green leader, said the policy would ensure no one lived in fear of losing their home or being unable to feed themselves. She said some of the cost would be recovered by the payment being withdrawn when an individual income reached a certain level...

Excuse my stupidity ... but surely it's going to have to be an awful lot more than JSA to ensure no one loses their home? Either soaring rents and house prices have to be sorted and brought down ... or the amount paid has to be pretty high to keep some people in their homes in most areas. And I say this as someone that likes the feel of a citizens income approach ... just need a lot more detail to see how feasible it is, or not.

[seeingclearly]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

A friend with Parkinson's just got Dragon 13 the other day and says its marvellous, had to do very little training compared with previous versions, and reckons it's voice recognition engine is far superior. Hope this helps.

[ohsocynical]

Green party outlines plan for basic citizen’s income for all adults
Natalie Bennett says payment to replace unemployment benefit would ensure no one lived in fear of losing their home
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... tt-benefit
The Green party would spend billions to give every adult – in and out of work – a citizen’s income worth more than £72.40 a week, the current value of jobseeker’s allowance.

Natalie Bennett, the Green leader, said the policy would ensure no one lived in fear of losing their home or being unable to feed themselves. She said some of the cost would be recovered by the payment being withdrawn when an individual income reached a certain level...

Excuse my stupidity ... but surely it's going to have to be an awful lot more than JSA to ensure no one loses their home? Either soaring rents and house prices have to be sorted and brought down ... or the amount paid has to be pretty high to keep some people in their homes in most areas. And I say this as someone that likes the feel of a citizens income approach ... just need a lot more detail to see how feasible it is, or not.

My elder granddaughter is going to look at a one bedroom flat to rent on Monday. £775 month! And that's about as cheap as you'll get in my area. Even studio flats you couldn't swing a cat in with bed/living room combined are in the £600- 700 price range.

Nice thought, but the cost without some sort of rent control in force would be phenomenal I should think.

[tinyclanger2]

Green party outlines plan for basic citizen’s income for all adults
Natalie Bennett says payment to replace unemployment benefit would ensure no one lived in fear of losing their home
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... tt-benefit
The Green party would spend billions to give every adult – in and out of work – a citizen’s income worth more than £72.40 a week, the current value of jobseeker’s allowance.

Natalie Bennett, the Green leader, said the policy would ensure no one lived in fear of losing their home or being unable to feed themselves. She said some of the cost would be recovered by the payment being withdrawn when an individual income reached a certain level...

Excuse my stupidity ... but surely it's going to have to be an awful lot more than JSA to ensure no one loses their home? Either soaring rents and house prices have to be sorted and brought down ... or the amount paid has to be pretty high to keep some people in their homes in most areas. And I say this as someone that likes the feel of a citizens income approach ... just need a lot more detail to see how feasible it is, or not.

Due to government cuts, the benefits system is currently a hot topic. In this timely book, a Citizen’s Income (sometimes called a Basic Income) is defined as an unconditional, non-withdrawable income for every individual as a right of citizenship.

http://www.citizensincome.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Tubby Isaacs]

Green party outlines plan for basic citizen’s income for all adults
Natalie Bennett says payment to replace unemployment benefit would ensure no one lived in fear of losing their home
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... tt-benefit
The Green party would spend billions to give every adult – in and out of work – a citizen’s income worth more than £72.40 a week, the current value of jobseeker’s allowance.

Natalie Bennett, the Green leader, said the policy would ensure no one lived in fear of losing their home or being unable to feed themselves. She said some of the cost would be recovered by the payment being withdrawn when an individual income reached a certain level...

Excuse my stupidity ... but surely it's going to have to be an awful lot more than JSA to ensure no one loses their home? Either soaring rents and house prices have to be sorted and brought down ... or the amount paid has to be pretty high to keep some people in their homes in most areas. And I say this as someone that likes the feel of a citizens income approach ... just need a lot more detail to see how feasible it is, or not.

My elder granddaughter is going to look at a one bedroom flat to rent on Monday. £775 month! And that's about as cheap as you'll get in my area. Even studio flats you couldn't swing a cat in with bed/living room combined are in the £600- 700 price range.

Nice thought, but the cost without some sort of rent control in force would be phenomenal I should think.

I think housing and disability benefits are separate from the citizens' income.

It's an interesting idea, but notable that it's not set very high at all. Someone's been tightening up on the sums, which is encouraging.

[TechnicalEphemera]

Green party outlines plan for basic citizen’s income for all adults
Natalie Bennett says payment to replace unemployment benefit would ensure no one lived in fear of losing their home
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... tt-benefit
The Green party would spend billions to give every adult – in and out of work – a citizen’s income worth more than £72.40 a week, the current value of jobseeker’s allowance.

Natalie Bennett, the Green leader, said the policy would ensure no one lived in fear of losing their home or being unable to feed themselves. She said some of the cost would be recovered by the payment being withdrawn when an individual income reached a certain level...

Excuse my stupidity ... but surely it's going to have to be an awful lot more than JSA to ensure no one loses their home? Either soaring rents and house prices have to be sorted and brought down ... or the amount paid has to be pretty high to keep some people in their homes in most areas. And I say this as someone that likes the feel of a citizens income approach ... just need a lot more detail to see how feasible it is, or not.

You are correct, the figures do not add up. A citizens income would need to be about 3 times the figure they quote, assuming two adults living somewhere cheap.

Of course some of the older people I work with would find it brilliant.

Assets of at least 100K plus large house paid for.

5-10 years from retirement.

Decent pension in the future.

Take redundancy payoff and live on the citizens income for 5-10 years before retiring.

Basically unless you own your house outright I don't see how this works.

While ending our current punitive sanctions regime is welcome, this policy will have some interesting impacts at the bottom end (we will need loads of immigrants to do minimum wage jobs), do little in the middle and benefit the older rich.

[ohsocynical]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

A friend with Parkinson's just got Dragon 13 the other day and says its marvellous, had to do very little training compared with previous versions, and reckons it's voice recognition engine is far superior. Hope this helps.

Yes. I'm going to get it. I've just downloaded Open Office on good advice so am all set. Ran it past Mr Ohso and he waved me on

It's pathetic my lack of patience these days. I thought as you grow older you become more relaxed.

[TechnicalEphemera]

Excuse my stupidity ... but surely it's going to have to be an awful lot more than JSA to ensure no one loses their home? Either soaring rents and house prices have to be sorted and brought down ... or the amount paid has to be pretty high to keep some people in their homes in most areas. And I say this as someone that likes the feel of a citizens income approach ... just need a lot more detail to see how feasible it is, or not.

My elder granddaughter is going to look at a one bedroom flat to rent on Monday. £775 month! And that's about as cheap as you'll get in my area. Even studio flats you couldn't swing a cat in with bed/living room combined are in the £600- 700 price range.

Nice thought, but the cost without some sort of rent control in force would be phenomenal I should think.

I think housing and disability benefits are separate from the citizens' income.

It's an interesting idea, but notable that it's not set very high at all. Someone's been tightening up on the sums, which is encouraging.

Disability is separate, housing benefit can't be.

[rebeccariots2]

Excuse my stupidity ... but surely it's going to have to be an awful lot more than JSA to ensure no one loses their home? Either soaring rents and house prices have to be sorted and brought down ... or the amount paid has to be pretty high to keep some people in their homes in most areas. And I say this as someone that likes the feel of a citizens income approach ... just need a lot more detail to see how feasible it is, or not.

My elder granddaughter is going to look at a one bedroom flat to rent on Monday. £775 month! And that's about as cheap as you'll get in my area. Even studio flats you couldn't swing a cat in with bed/living room combined are in the £600- 700 price range.

Nice thought, but the cost without some sort of rent control in force would be phenomenal I should think.

I think housing and disability benefits are separate from the citizens' income.

It's an interesting idea, but notable that it's not set very high at all. Someone's been tightening up on the sums, which is encouraging.

Why does Natalie Bennett say it will stop people worrying about losing their homes then Tubby? Sorry - I know I can be dense - but where's the connection if housing benefits aren't related / included?

[Tizme1]

Hello all,

Sorry can't hang around at the moment - its my eldest son's birthday. I'll try and answer questions [to best of my knowledge/understanding] re Brighton, and Citizens Income later on.

[rebeccariots2]

Councils rely on local 'street champions' to pick up litter, prune hedges and grit minor roads as funds run out
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 85738.html
... In Oxfordshire, subsidised transport for the elderly and disabled will be cut back. Village halls and sports clubs are threatened, as council support for community services is chopped. Ian Hudspeth, the county council leader, said statutory care services would account for three-quarters of the authority’s budget by 2020. “Unless we get additional funding, the county council will struggle to do anything but provide a safety net for the most vulnerable people in Oxfordshire,” he said.
... A report from the New Local Government Network (NLGN) published last year predicted that the situation would get so serious that “the future may be one of private affluence and public squalor”. It said: “Councils and their residents will have to accept more litter on the streets, fewer libraries and theatres and parks that are left to turn into wild meadows.”

Has the leader of Oxfordshire County Council let Dave know how critical things are in his own back yard? I wonder if Dave is going to be minded to dip into his fortune to finance some vital services for his community? Knowing him he will probably prefer to do an annual fun run to raise a few quid and get some more desperately craved publicity for himself. It will all be down to the largesse of the Chipping Norton set, feudalism openly returned as the way things work, or don't, around here.

[diGriz]

Councils rely on local 'street champions' to pick up litter, prune hedges and grit minor roads as funds run out
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 85738.html
... In Oxfordshire, subsidised transport for the elderly and disabled will be cut back. Village halls and sports clubs are threatened, as council support for community services is chopped. Ian Hudspeth, the county council leader, said statutory care services would account for three-quarters of the authority’s budget by 2020. “Unless we get additional funding, the county council will struggle to do anything but provide a safety net for the most vulnerable people in Oxfordshire,” he said.
... A report from the New Local Government Network (NLGN) published last year predicted that the situation would get so serious that “the future may be one of private affluence and public squalor”. It said: “Councils and their residents will have to accept more litter on the streets, fewer libraries and theatres and parks that are left to turn into wild meadows.”

Has the leader of Oxfordshire County Council let Dave know how critical things are in his own back yard? I wonder if Dave is going to be minded to dip into his fortune to finance some vital services for his community? Knowing him he will probably prefer to do an annual fun run to raise a few quid and get some more desperately craved publicity for himself. It will all be down to the largesse of the Chipping Norton set, feudalism openly returned as the way things work, or don't, around here.

Good point, what happened to philanthropy?

[ohsocynical]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

A friend with Parkinson's just got Dragon 13 the other day and says its marvellous, had to do very little training compared with previous versions, and reckons it's voice recognition engine is far superior. Hope this helps.

Just purchased it online from Staples. £49.99 Free delivery for tomorrow. Nice one. Thank you.

[Toby Latimer]

Councils rely on local 'street champions' to pick up litter, prune hedges and grit minor roads as funds run out
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 85738.html
... In Oxfordshire, subsidised transport for the elderly and disabled will be cut back. Village halls and sports clubs are threatened, as council support for community services is chopped. Ian Hudspeth, the county council leader, said statutory care services would account for three-quarters of the authority’s budget by 2020. “Unless we get additional funding, the county council will struggle to do anything but provide a safety net for the most vulnerable people in Oxfordshire,” he said.
... A report from the New Local Government Network (NLGN) published last year predicted that the situation would get so serious that “the future may be one of private affluence and public squalor”. It said: “Councils and their residents will have to accept more litter on the streets, fewer libraries and theatres and parks that are left to turn into wild meadows.”

Has the leader of Oxfordshire County Council let Dave know how critical things are in his own back yard? I wonder if Dave is going to be minded to dip into his fortune to finance some vital services for his community? Knowing him he will probably prefer to do an annual fun run to raise a few quid and get some more desperately craved publicity for himself. It will all be down to the largesse of the Chipping Norton set, feudalism openly returned as the way things work, or don't, around here.

Good point, what happened to philanthropy?

I'm all for these good for nothing workshites being made to pick up litter

ScreenShot00062.jpg (115.8 KiB) Viewed 13623 times

[seeingclearly]

Off topic but I'm toying with buying voice recognition software. I think it needs to be an English system, having had problems with a US based app in the past

I loaned my memory stick with all my writing on it to my granddaugher as she was 'desperate' for one for a piece of homework, and I'm not likely to get it back. Have lots of print outs, but just don't have to time to re-type everything back in...

So - any recommends from you good folk?

A friend with Parkinson's just got Dragon 13 the other day and says its marvellous, had to do very little training compared with previous versions, and reckons it's voice recognition engine is far superior. Hope this helps.

Yes. I'm going to get it. I've just downloaded Open Office on good advice so am all set. Ran it past Mr Ohso and he waved me on

It's pathetic my lack of patience these days. I thought as you grow older you become more relaxed.

I might well be getting it myself quite soon, after touch typing fairly well for forty + years my fingers seem to have 'forgotten' where the keys are meant to be, and it's beyond frustrating. One finger just isn't where it's at. The previous versions demanded so much training time and never recognised my early morning voice, so shall be interested to hear how you go. I also want to convince my son that this time it really might be worth it. A tip from my friend was if at all possible upgrade the headset, it makes a lot of difference.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Disability is separate, housing benefit can't be.

I haven't looked at these proposals, but other ones I saw did have housing separate.

It can't really not be because costs vary so much.

One thing I notice is that it starts with the level of JSA. I'm pretty sure the Greens have made a fair bit about that being too low. So someone unemployed, or on long term sick is going to be as poor as they are under the Coalition now.

[rebeccariots2]

Disability is separate, housing benefit can't be.

I haven't looked at these proposals, but other ones I saw did have housing separate.

It can't really not be because costs vary so much.

One thing I notice is that it starts with the level of JSA. I'm pretty sure the Greens have made a fair bit about that being too low. So someone unemployed, or on long term sick is going to be as poor as they are under the Coalition now.

But shouldn't have to put up with the 'scrounger doing nothing but getting more than me' shit. That's the theory I imagine ... whether it would actually play out like that remains to be seen. Some people seem to really really resent the very little that the poorest get ... while seemingly unconcerned about the massive subsidies to employers paying measly wages via in work benefits, free labour from work programmes, buy to let and multiple landlords raking in housing benefit on a grand scale, and all those companies and individuals doing all they can to avoid paying tax.

[Spacedone]

Here's one for those of you with an interest in education and all things academy.

Academy schools stockpile £2.5bn of education funding
http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... ng-england" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Academy schools in England are sitting on a cash stockpile of nearly £2.5bn worth of surpluses – more than £550,000 per school – draining the education sector in England of funds that could be spent on teaching and learning.

Figures released by the Department for Education under parliamentary questions show that the 4,400 academies in England held cash reserves of £2.47bn at the end of the last financial year – more than the remaining 18,700 maintained schools put together, which held a combined £2.18bn.

[seeingclearly]

Disability is separate, housing benefit can't be.

I haven't looked at these proposals, but other ones I saw did have housing separate.

It can't really not be because costs vary so much.

One thing I notice is that it starts with the level of JSA. I'm pretty sure the Greens have made a fair bit about that being too low. So someone unemployed, or on long term sick is going to be as poor as they are under the Coalition now.

According to the website there would be top-ups for disability and housing. Some people would be distinctly better off, couples for instance would both get the same amount. Tax allowances at the bottom end would go. There are a few blog links on the home page that tell you more. I'm very unsure about how the green version is even the same thing if it can be withdrawn from higher earners, it seems to break the basic principle and from there any amount of changes could be extrapolated. If it's going to be a citizen right then it should absolutely belong to everyone in the same way as universal healthcare.

[ohsocynical]

SERVICES at a Bracknell medical centre are being stretched to the limit, with health bosses concerned that it is being misused.
Dr Mehta believes the centre is being treated as a GP practice, with doctors also referring their patients there when they shouldn’t be.
The centre is designed to relieve pressure from accident and emergency services, enabling serious, but not life-threatening, injuries to be treated more effectively

- See more at: http://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/bra ... twvoR.dpuf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TechnicalEphemera]

Disability is separate, housing benefit can't be.

I haven't looked at these proposals, but other ones I saw did have housing separate.

It can't really not be because costs vary so much.

One thing I notice is that it starts with the level of JSA. I'm pretty sure the Greens have made a fair bit about that being too low. So someone unemployed, or on long term sick is going to be as poor as they are under the Coalition now.

So is the Green policy a citizens income and whatever your mortgage/rent is per month? Because if it isn't then you haven't got a citizens income.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Zelo Street on the MoS story "The Two Evil Eds Eat Babies" (or something like that). The words 'nail' and 'head' seem applicable.

http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/ ... avels.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Toby Latimer]

Breaking news ... Norman Lamont's special advisor hid the truth about Black Wednesday. Knew it was about to happen but kept it a secret

ScreenShot00061.jpg (77.59 KiB) Viewed 12464 times

[Tubby Isaacs]

Disability is separate, housing benefit can't be.

I haven't looked at these proposals, but other ones I saw did have housing separate.

It can't really not be because costs vary so much.

One thing I notice is that it starts with the level of JSA. I'm pretty sure the Greens have made a fair bit about that being too low. So someone unemployed, or on long term sick is going to be as poor as they are under the Coalition now.

So is the Green policy a citizens income and whatever your mortgage/rent is per month? Because if it isn't then you haven't got a citizens income.

I'm talking about a non-Green version I saw, to be clear. But don't see how it can be different.

The Citizens Income is the bit to "live on". Housing Benefit is presumably run along the lines it is now.

Aside from the cost of giving everybody £72 a week, it has something to be said for it as simpler, avoids benefit sanctions etc. But hardly a bullwark against poverty.