Monday 2nd February 2015

Spacedone · Post by **Spacedone** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 6:42 am

Morning all.

It's not even 7am yet and already I've been swearing at the radio, this time over the blatant (and straight out of CCHQ) misuse of the English language by repeating Tory claims that they are pledging to "ringfence" the education budget when Nicky Morgan is being reported as saying that most of the budget will be ringfenced. The word "most" implies that some of it will be subject to cuts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31079515" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 7:30 am

And that PPB for the Greens was sponsored by Today....

DonutHingeParty · Post by **DonutHingeParty** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 8:06 am

Quote from Nick Gibb on Today. "New leadership leads to better results." Hah! (Okay he was talking about headteachers but I'll take it.)

Toby Latimer · Post by **Toby Latimer** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 8:17 am

Free bank accounts 'dead within a decade'

Free bank accounts will disappear within a decade, a report has warned after finding the switch to American-style monthly charges of up to £10 is "happening already".
Customers who refuse to pay a small fee will "gradually" face restrictions on withdrawals or a block on using branches, bank consultants said.
The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that free banking was "unsustainable" as banks were unable to make a decent profit.
Steve Davies, its author, said: "The problem is that while customers perceive their bank account to be ‘free’, it is of course not free ... they have paid for it through overdraft charges, penalty fees and uncompetitive or zero rates of interest on credit balances."

Customers who refused would be left with "very basic" current accounts with limited features.
"These are likely to have restrictions on usage such as ATM withdrawals and overdrafts, and may have focus on channels such as online or phone banking,"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... ecade.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

: ScreenShot00144.jpg (81.77 KiB) Viewed 12877 times

mbc1955 · Post by **mbc1955** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 8:50 am

Toby Latimer wrote:Free bank accounts 'dead within a decade'

Free bank accounts will disappear within a decade, a report has warned after finding the switch to American-style monthly charges of up to £10 is "happening already".
Customers who refuse to pay a small fee will "gradually" face restrictions on withdrawals or a block on using branches, bank consultants said.
The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that free banking was "unsustainable" as banks were unable to make a decent profit.
Steve Davies, its author, said: "The problem is that while customers perceive their bank account to be ‘free’, it is of course not free ... they have paid for it through overdraft charges, penalty fees and uncompetitive or zero rates of interest on credit balances."

Customers who refused would be left with "very basic" current accounts with limited features.
"These are likely to have restrictions on usage such as ATM withdrawals and overdrafts, and may have focus on channels such as online or phone banking,"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... ecade.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ScreenShot00144.jpg

Well, that's put a real downer on my day. I shall spend all my eleven hours in work fretting over the plight of our poor, destitute Bankers, unable to make a profit because I resolutely fail to exceed my (non-existent) overdraft whilst they invest my money in profit-producing ventures.

How can they possibly survive?

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 8:54 am

''Gordon Brown to promise Scots higher pensions and benefits
Former Prime Minister is to unveil a major Labour election pledge allowing Scotland to top up UK-wide state benefits and create new benefits not available to people south of the Border''

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

Eric_WLothian · Post by **Eric_WLothian** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 9:10 am

yahyah wrote:''Gordon Brown to promise Scots higher pensions and benefits
Former Prime Minister is to unveil a major Labour election pledge allowing Scotland to top up UK-wide state benefits and create new benefits not available to people south of the Border''

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

The Scotsman reports it very differently from the Telegraph headline:

Under the plan, if Labour wins the general election in May, ministers at Holyrood will be able to compensate for any cuts made by Westminster to welfare, such as unemployment and child benefit, as well as the state pension, by making up the shortfall.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/t ... -1-3676775

It is getting to the point where I am asking myself whether I should vote Labour. When I voted 'no' in the referendum, I was voting to stay an equal partner with the rest of the UK. Only the SNP are saying that 'the vow' meant transferring power (a word they are obsessed with) to Holyrood. In fact the vague promise was made far too late to sway many (if any) voters.

We seem to have the SNP, far left parties and Greens all pro-independence. Labour seem to be pro-independence by the back door. The Tories are Tory. Who does that leave?

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 9:11 am

Am going to phone my local Boots and their customer services line, to give them an earful about their tax avoiding billionaire co-owner and his self-serving meddling in British politics.

Not likely to make an iota of difference but will make me feel better.

Although Lampeter is a tiny town we are fortunate to have an independent chemist owned by a pharmacist who has a couple of stores and he & his staff are brilliant.
My husband suffers from cold sores since he had shingles and they sell us Zovirax generic for only £2.99 a tube, Boots generic price is not much short of the full branded price.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 9:21 am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-31087137" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Last week the cross-party House of Commons education select committee reported that there is no clear evidence that academies had "raised standards overall"......

In particular the MPs said there was no evidence of improvement from primary academies and called on the government to commission research as a matter of urgency.
Ofsted's annual report shows that more than a third of sponsored academies, both primary and secondary, are currently rated as requiring improvement, a higher proportion than local authority schools.

The BBC, both on the radio this morning, and on their website, is unusually cynical about Tory claims that academies are superior, offering multiple viewpoints on the subject and suggesting there is a lack of evidence for the Tory assertions. What's going on? Have they tired of being Tory cheerleaders? (Doubtful). Have they become nervous of the wholesale removal of state schools from public hands?

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 9:34 am

Malcolm Carter UKIP ‏@MalcCarter 1m1 minute ago West Midlands, England
Anti Business Labour Leader Ed Miliband has the gaul to criticise the boss of High Street Giant Boots http://bbc.in/1EYRMeI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can someone tweet this Kipper and ask does he mean 'has the gall' rather than that Ed has a Celtic person who inhabited Gaul in the Iron Age ?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 9:34 am

Good morning peeps.

My day is off to a much brighter start ... and all because I cleaned my laptop screen. Those article headlines will be positively screeching at me now.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 9:37 am

yahyah wrote:Malcolm Carter UKIP ‏@MalcCarter 1m1 minute ago West Midlands, England
Anti Business Labour Leader Ed Miliband has the gaul to criticise the boss of High Street Giant Boots http://bbc.in/1EYRMeI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can someone tweet this Kipper and ask does he mean 'has the gall' rather than that Ed has a Celtic person who inhabited Gaul in the Iron Age ?

Bitter 'gaul' ... I'm sure that must be one of the essential ingredients of any UKIP cocktail.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 9:46 am

Beth Rigby ‏@BethRigby 17m17 minutes ago
more that one in three women undecided about who to vote for in #GE2015. Off to talk abt that & more on @BBCWomansHour

Cameron and Lib Dem policies have had an awful impact on a lot of women. It's been almost exclusively women that I've met on the doorstep who have talked about something that has affected them adversely in a direct way - bedroom tax, loss of EMA for children, lack of affordable childcare.

I can't see Cameron improving his already dire image with women ... or Nick Clegg his. Suggest Labour needs to work out who is the best woman MP to be a powerful spokesperson for how they will address some of the most important issues for women through their policies (it isn't or shouldn't be Harriet Harman). The Greens, SNP and Plaid all have female leaders so that sends a message right away.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 9:57 am

Patrick Wintour ‏@patrickwintour 1h1 hour ago
Citizens Income is not a policy for the next general election but a long term aspiration says Caroline Lucas, the Green MP.

Well that is clearer. Also unlikely that the problem re it making some of the poorest worse off won't have been worked through sufficiently well by the time the manifesto needs to be out ... keeping most of the means tested benefits alongside it isn't a compelling solution.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 10:19 am

Good morning, all.

Many thanks for the kind messages, both on the main blog and the PMs. I appreciate it.

Today, I am mostly liking the Syriza people.

Tsipiras refusing to wear a tie when inspecting troops and smiling a lot; Varoufakis refusing to talk to the Troika but visiting all the Eurozone and ECB countries in person - and best of all, the new government has decided to flog off all the Mercs and limos and go to work in their own cars or on their own bikes, just like everyone else. Take note, Pickles.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 11:11 am

Morning.
http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1098679 ... olution-of" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Labour sets out plans for biggest devolution of economic power and funding for generations"

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 11:11 am

mbc1955 wrote:
Toby Latimer wrote:Free bank accounts 'dead within a decade'

Free bank accounts will disappear within a decade, a report has warned after finding the switch to American-style monthly charges of up to £10 is "happening already".
Customers who refuse to pay a small fee will "gradually" face restrictions on withdrawals or a block on using branches, bank consultants said.
The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that free banking was "unsustainable" as banks were unable to make a decent profit.
Steve Davies, its author, said: "The problem is that while customers perceive their bank account to be ‘free’, it is of course not free ... they have paid for it through overdraft charges, penalty fees and uncompetitive or zero rates of interest on credit balances."

Customers who refused would be left with "very basic" current accounts with limited features.
"These are likely to have restrictions on usage such as ATM withdrawals and overdrafts, and may have focus on channels such as online or phone banking,"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... ecade.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ScreenShot00144.jpg
Well, that's put a real downer on my day. I shall spend all my eleven hours in work fretting over the plight of our poor, destitute Bankers, unable to make a profit because I resolutely fail to exceed my (non-existent) overdraft whilst they invest my money in profit-producing ventures.

How can they possibly survive?

I'll resort to a tin box under the bed before they get a penny out of me. It's not as if there's any interest to speak of.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 11:18 am

Today's Populus online poll, now prompting for UKIP, sees LAB lead up to 3%
CON 31
LAB 34
LD 8
UKIP 14
GRN 5

Mike Smithson

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 11:22 am

yahyah wrote:Am going to phone my local Boots and their customer services line, to give them an earful about their tax avoiding billionaire co-owner and his self-serving meddling in British politics.

Not likely to make an iota of difference but will make me feel better.

Although Lampeter is a tiny town we are fortunate to have an independent chemist owned by a pharmacist who has a couple of stores and he & his staff are brilliant.
My husband suffers from cold sores since he had shingles and they sell us Zovirax generic for only £2.99 a tube, Boots generic price is not much short of the full branded price.

Slightly off topic, but has your husband tried Sudocream on his cold sores? I suffer from them occasionally and of all the remedies it's my favourite. If you slather it on just before you sleep they're a lot less 'weepy' overnight. It seems to hold back the blisters too if you use it straight away.

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 11:52 am

So, Natalie Bennett claims she has been a feminist from the age of five, when she was told she couldn't have a bike because she was a girl. Will the longest temper tantrum in history gift the election to the Tories?

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 11:59 am

More Greek stuff - on the Sparrow blog, jamted has posted a letter from a friend who lives in Greece.

Apparently, the new government has put the electricity back on for all the unemployed people sitting in the cold and dark, have removed the bars and barriers outside the Parliament buildings (put up by the last govt to protect them from ant-austerity protesters), given immediate Greek citizenship to children born in Greece of immigrants (who until now were stateless), got rid of all publicly-funded ministers' transport and security.

Looks like they mean business. Varoufakis is travelling everywhere in ordinary tourist class as he trails around the EU. Good for him.

Meanwhile, here in the UK, Our Glorious Ronsealed Fishpointer General has let it be known that the only reason why he didn't join the Sky "Ask the leaders" thing is because there were "concerns about his security" which, if resolved, may not be a problem and he might just do it after all.

Compare and contrast......

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:08 pm

In case anyone has forgotten. Ed live on Sky

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:17 pm

I'm watching Ed right now. A young audience. I've been watching his body language. He's beautifully relaxed.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:19 pm

AndrewSparrow ‏@AndrewSparrow 41m41 minutes ago
Burning rubber alert - Natalie Bennett U-turns over whether supporting al-Qaida should be a crime - http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blo ... 4dcb0d8264" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:19 pm

I'm enjoying listening to Ed Miliband's answers on Ask the Leader, but I'm actually enjoying the questions even more. They're good questions, things people want to hear discussed and debated, with no presumption that only one side or one party has the right answers, as we get in tv interviews.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:21 pm

ephemerid wrote:More Greek stuff - on the Sparrow blog, jamted has posted a letter from a friend who lives in Greece.

Apparently, the new government has put the electricity back on for all the unemployed people sitting in the cold and dark, have removed the bars and barriers outside the Parliament buildings (put up by the last govt to protect them from ant-austerity protesters), given immediate Greek citizenship to children born in Greece of immigrants (who until now were stateless), got rid of all publicly-funded ministers' transport and security.

Looks like they mean business. Varoufakis is travelling everywhere in ordinary tourist class as he trails around the EU. Good for him.

Meanwhile, here in the UK, Our Glorious Ronsealed Fishpointer General has let it be known that the only reason why he didn't join the Sky "Ask the leaders" thing is because there were "concerns about his security" which, if resolved, may not be a problem and he might just do it after all.

Compare and contrast......

He's not going to do it. He's going to stick on with issuing all sorts of stupid excuses ... anything to avoid the 2 way debate with Ed Miliband. Once he appears on any of these other debates ... he'll have to cave on that one ... and he won't.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:22 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:So, Natalie Bennett claims she has been a feminist from the age of five, when she was told she couldn't have a bike because she was a girl. Will the longest temper tantrum in history gift the election to the Tories?

If she implodes completely it is more likely to help Labour, tbh

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:25 pm

ephemerid wrote:Good morning, all.

Many thanks for the kind messages, both on the main blog and the PMs. I appreciate it.

Today, I am mostly liking the Syriza people.

Tsipiras refusing to wear a tie when inspecting troops and smiling a lot; Varoufakis refusing to talk to the Troika but visiting all the Eurozone and ECB countries in person - and best of all, the new government has decided to flog off all the Mercs and limos and go to work in their own cars or on their own bikes, just like everyone else. Take note, Pickles.

I read somewhere that Tsipiras won't wear a tie until they get a deal with the Troika.

Pickles on a bike, there's an image.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:25 pm

Ian Dunt retweeted
Danny Shaw ‏@DannyShawBBC 2h2 hours ago
Chief Inspector of Probation Paul McDowell resigns over conflict of interest with his wife who's managing probation contracts at Sodexho

Ian Dunt ‏@IanDunt 2h2 hours ago
Was inevitable that Paul Mcdowell would have to go. What was not inevitable was that this conflict of interest happened in the first place.

Ian Dunt ‏@IanDunt 2h2 hours ago
Grayling's absurd excuses about husband and wife teams in public life were never going to wash.

Ian Dunt ‏@IanDunt 2h2 hours ago
I was having to preface the inspector's comments with a sentence explaining what his wife did. You can't make that work.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:30 pm

Oooh Looks as if Cameron's appearing later. I'll be out

Post by **refitman** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:31 pm

ephemerid wrote:More Greek stuff - on the Sparrow blog, jamted has posted a letter from a friend who lives in Greece.

Apparently, the new government has put the electricity back on for all the unemployed people sitting in the cold and dark, have removed the bars and barriers outside the Parliament buildings (put up by the last govt to protect them from ant-austerity protesters), given immediate Greek citizenship to children born in Greece of immigrants (who until now were stateless), got rid of all publicly-funded ministers' transport and security.

Looks like they mean business. Varoufakis is travelling everywhere in ordinary tourist class as he trails around the EU. Good for him.

Meanwhile, here in the UK, Our Glorious Ronsealed Fishpointer General has let it be known that the only reason why he didn't join the Sky "Ask the leaders" thing is because there were "concerns about his security" which, if resolved, may not be a problem and he might just do it after all.

Compare and contrast......

Truly, Varoufakis and Osborne (who are in No.11 today) is a meeting of minds:

Yanis Varoufakis Dr of economics, Fellow at the University of Cambridge, Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Department of Economics of the University of Sydney, Professor of Economic Theory at the University of Athens.

George Osborne - history degree and towel folding expert.

Courtesy of Wryape over at Sparrow's blog. http://discussion.theguardian.com/comme ... k/46975066" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:32 pm

ohsocynical wrote:Oooh Looks as if Cameron's appearing later. I'll be out

Yes - just seen that. I'll have to eat my words then ... straightaway.

Sky News has just announced that David Cameron will be taking part in its Ask the Leaders event.

We won't be able to see it ... someone will have to give us the 'highlights' here.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:38 pm

Andrew Sparrow ...

Ed Miliband on Ask the Leaders

Ed Miliband is about to be questioned at the Ask the Leaders event.

I’ll be covering it in detail until we get a clash with David Cameron.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:45 pm

Patrick Wintour @patrickwintour · 4h 4 hours ago
Liberal Democrats dropped Citizens Income in 1994 saying policy needed to be sent back to Utopia where it came from. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/li ... 50315.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:47 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:Oooh Looks as if Cameron's appearing later. I'll be out
Yes - just seen that. I'll have to eat my words then ... straightaway.

Sky News has just announced that David Cameron will be taking part in its Ask the Leaders event.
We won't be able to see it ... someone will have to give us the 'highlights' here.

The security line they were trotting out is utter BS. Ed was originally supposed to be on at 2, they've had to reshuffle the schedule as CCHQ finally realised that Cameron could not duck this one without looking like the chicken he is. But part of the problem he faces is that while Bennett was less than impressive Ed has just played an absolute blinder and Clegg, while irrelevant, will undoubtedly put in a good performance; so OGRFPG will simply come across as the shiny & soulless sociopath he undoubtedly is - Ed answered & engaged, Dave will pontificate. Should be fun.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:49 pm

Isabel Hardman ‏@IsabelHardman 3m3 minutes ago
Two U-turns in one morning from the Greens… and an uninspiring but solid performance from Bennett on #AskTheLeaders http://specc.ie/1AivgPd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:52 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:Oooh Looks as if Cameron's appearing later. I'll be out
Yes - just seen that. I'll have to eat my words then ... straightaway.

Sky News has just announced that David Cameron will be taking part in its Ask the Leaders event.
We won't be able to see it ... someone will have to give us the 'highlights' here.
The security line they were trotting out is utter BS. Ed was originally supposed to be on at 2, they've had to reshuffle the schedule as CCHQ finally realised that Cameron could not duck this one without looking like the chicken he is. But part of the problem he faces is that while Bennett was less than impressive Ed has just played an absolute blinder and Clegg, while irrelevant, will undoubtedly put in a good performance; so OGRFPG will simply come across as the shiny & soulless sociopath he undoubtedly is - Ed answered & engaged, Dave will pontificate. Should be fun.

The audience are the real stars. Where did they find all these confident and intelligent people and why can they never find any of them for Question Time?

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:54 pm

Jeez...Cameron's come out with the lies about free schools being better.

Helen Warrell ✔ @helenwarrell
Follow
Cameron says the evidence is that free schools "work" & that they're "more likely to be good or outstanding than other schools"

Even the DfE admit that it's not possible to say that given (i) low sample size and (ii) non-regular inspection of already Good and Outstanding schools.

Lying tosser.

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 12:56 pm

Willow904 wrote:
TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote: Yes - just seen that. I'll have to eat my words then ... straightaway.
We won't be able to see it ... someone will have to give us the 'highlights' here.
The security line they were trotting out is utter BS. Ed was originally supposed to be on at 2, they've had to reshuffle the schedule as CCHQ finally realised that Cameron could not duck this one without looking like the chicken he is. But part of the problem he faces is that while Bennett was less than impressive Ed has just played an absolute blinder and Clegg, while irrelevant, will undoubtedly put in a good performance; so OGRFPG will simply come across as the shiny & soulless sociopath he undoubtedly is - Ed answered & engaged, Dave will pontificate. Should be fun.
The audience are the real stars. Where did they find all these confident and intelligent people and why can they never find any of them for Question Time?

Absolutely. Some really perceptive questions, including the follow ups. What was nice was that Ed's answers seemed to be hitting the spot in the main.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:01 pm

David Hughes ‏@DavidHughesPA 8m8 minutes ago
PM acknowledges Tory plan amounts to real terms cut. "Amount of cash per child is not going up by inflation".

Chris Ship ‏@chrisshipitv 8m8 minutes ago
Cameron admits to @bbcnickrobinson that 'flat-cash' means that the 'amount of cash per child is not going up'.

Rowena Mason ‏@rowenamason 8m8 minutes ago
Cameron admits Tories will make real terms cut in schools budget - frozen in cash terms. At least that seems to be what he's saying.

So he sneakily used the term 'ringfence' when it doesn't actually apply to the whole education budget .... and then he invented a new term 'flat cash' per pupil to make it look even more down to earth, honest, smack the money on the counter in front of you ..... to provide pathetically poor cover for a real terms cut.

I actually believe Shapps might have thought 'flat cash' was a wonderful phrase to use because it would have resonance with 'flat cap' ... very down to earth. Just like bingo and beer, eh.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:02 pm

And the BBC have just announced Cameron's pledge to protect schools funding for the next decade .... that was the headline ... no mention so far of it actually meaning a real terms cut. Oh - and the assertion that academies have improved schools performance was in there too.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:04 pm

Between now and the GE, the Beeb will just be reciting Tory handouts verbatim. Don't watch or listen to them.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:05 pm

Lord Ashcroft ‏@LordAshcroft 2m2 minutes ago
The Ashcroft National Poll will be released here at 4pm with a commentary at @ConHome

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:07 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Isabel Hardman ‏@IsabelHardman 3m3 minutes ago
Two U-turns in one morning from the Greens… and an uninspiring but solid performance from Bennett on #AskTheLeaders http://specc.ie/1AivgPd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Did I hear the Greens have backed away from the Citizens income thingy for the time being?

Rednorth · Post by **Rednorth** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:08 pm

All Governments spin, but this one really is the Government of All the Liars.

No lie is too big or outrageous. They lie first and think later.

It's instinctive.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:14 pm

ohsocynical wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Isabel Hardman ‏@IsabelHardman 3m3 minutes ago
Two U-turns in one morning from the Greens… and an uninspiring but solid performance from Bennett on #AskTheLeaders http://specc.ie/1AivgPd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Did I hear the Greens have backed away from the Citizens income thingy for the time being?

Yes - they've said it isn't a priority for the coming election / govt - more a long term aspiration.

I was thinking earlier on that what I would like them to do ... given that they are not dropping it but saying it needs to be worked towards ... is set out the plan for creating the right conditions and structures that would make introducing it more feasible. How will they get there? Do we need - for example - to seriously concentrate on housing policy and provision - to ensure that there is enough of the right kind of housing which is truly 'affordable' and secure - so that there is no longer an over reliance on housing benefit and people's utility bills aren't sky high?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:20 pm

Sam Freedman @Samfr · 24m 24 minutes ago
PM confims Tory school spending plans for next Parliament - flat cash per pupil. Combined with NI/pension changes = at least 10% cut.

Hmmm. And his profile says he is an 'ex advisor to Michael Gove'.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:25 pm

Rafael Behr @rafaelbehr · 5h 5 hours ago
'War' on mediocre schools, eh? Sounds a bit like PM trying to 'weaponise' education policy this morning.

Several commentators noting that PM seems quite happy to declare war on particular issues ... and places like Wales of course.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:28 pm

Tory treasurer siphons off £131K from Dunscar Conservative Club
Barbara Hare faces sentence after siphoning off cash for herself from Dunscar Conservative Club in Bolton, Greater Manchester
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... -Club.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Toby Latimer · Post by **Toby Latimer** » Mon 02 Feb, 2015 1:32 pm

So it appears that Cameron getting hot under the collar in the ITV interview the other night has now been edited out of the clip, good job I took a few screenshots then to remind him how flustered he looked.

: ScreenShot00150.jpg (32.03 KiB) Viewed 12453 times

: ScreenShot00151.jpg (25.76 KiB) Viewed 12453 times

Link to the screen grabs here http://flythenest.org/viewtopic.php?p=28541#p28541" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;