Friday 20th February 2015
Posted: Fri 20 Feb, 2015 7:22 am
Morning all.
My bold and italics. This ties in with the discussions we've been having about the competence of Mr. Duncan Smith and his department to handle the commissioning of a new benefit with new rules, new computer systems and the programmes/applications necessary to run on them, and the competence of GDS itself (Government Digital Services, I think.) Although there might be an 'I' missing from that acronym and it's really just George Iain Duncan Smith wreaking havoc on the entire .gov.uk website. Wouldn't surprise me.The next action point promised was Mr Duncan Smith’s personal passion – the universal credit. His faith-based claims that he could iron out every perversity of social security were never believed by the experts, who cautioned that he would achieve a modest rationalisation at best, and even that only if he could overcome the thorny technical problems involved in processing the 1.6 million relevant changes in family circumstances that take place every month. These problems haven’t been mastered, and the department has all but conceded to the National Audit Office that this week’s so-called accelerated roll-out would not help with getting on top of them. The programme continues to duck all but the most straightforward cases, and the election day caseload will be 95% down on what had been hoped for.
MRNAMELESS
I went to see Neil Kinnock in Sheffield tonight (he insists nobody ever brought up the rally until eight days after the election). I would never have thought a 73 year old man could retain such a level of energy while doing public speaking.
Probably his best line of the night was “We’re in the last two minutes of the football match, with no extra time, and we’re ahead. We’re just ahead despite the referee and most of the linesmen being crooked, and a couple of team members who’ve forgotten what jersey they’re wearing”.
He also opened with quite a bit on the Green Party (the event being in Sheffield Central), which was surprisingly not as combative as the rest of the speech, and more on the lines of a plea for unity. He spoke of the way that both Labour and Green hearts go out to the same degree and in the same way for the very poor in Britain, that they both feel the same about climate change, and drew a comparison with the 2002 French election where a badly split left led to the runoff between Chirac and Le Pen.
Interesting speech whatever your view, and he can still get them laughing and crying in the space of two minutes. Packed house, and I won a book in the raffle too.
We have asked PF that many times.john spellar @spellar 3m3 minutes ago
Orgy Lib Dem Cllr to be Deputy Mayor,what is it with Portsmouth Lib Dems http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... Mayor.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
Got to love that LTEP. What's another 10-20bn in pre election budget bribes.HindleA wrote:Morning
Latest ONS stats: Jan 2015, public sector net debt: £1,464bn (79.6% of GDP); an increase of £86bn compared with Jan 2014.
THE COST of implementing Nick Clegg’s flagship universal free meals policy has resulted in Sheffield Council being forced to find nearly half-a-million pounds from its budget.
The Yorkshire Post can reveal that four schools in the Deputy Prime Minister’s constituency city which applied for £330,000 in the second round of additional funding announced by the Department of Education earlier this year were all rejected.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31537381" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Patients with life-long conditions are being fined up to £100 for collecting their free prescriptions, the BBC has discovered.
They say they were not told of a rule change that meant their exemption certificates had to be updated.
Not only was he an early music specialist he also played on one of my all time favourites - the Albion Band's Rise Up Like The Sun.A former teacher at the renowned Guildhall School of Music has been jailed for raping two pupils more that 30 years after the mother of one victim first reported him.
Philip Pickett, a prominent figure in London's early music scene, used his fame and influence to attack three victims in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The real question is why didn't Cameron move IDS from DWP in 2012 and dump it before it became an albatross around his neck. We all know he wanted to do. What stopped him, what is IDS holding over him?http://www.economist.com/news/britain/2 ... re-its-due
This week’s limited rollout will mean that 250 job centres—roughly one in three—will offer UC. But these numbers refer to a system used for single recipients with no dependents. The bigger “digital” system, covering complex claimants with children, has not yet been tested. “The reason this week’s announcement means nothing is that we still don’t know if the system works for most people,” says Jonathan Portes of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. “They’re rolling out a system they are not going to use.” The government hoped that 1m people would be using UC by April 2014, but only 64,000 have used it so far.
Fraser Nelson is a huge IDS fan too. How can they not see his obvious faults?AnatolyKasparov wrote:Wasn't just the BBC saying that - ironically enough Peter Oborne's last significant contribution to the Torygraph was a piece extolling the "genius" of IBS
@ rebeccariots2George Osborne has broken his silence over HSBC Switzerland, reports Rowena Mason.
George Osborne has washed his hands of responsibility for prosecutions against people who evaded tax through HSBC Switzerland after more than a week of silence on the issue. (Politics blog, Guardian).
IDS's faults are actually his greatest strengths for getting the job done. Don't forget that Epiphany. Strong stuff.StephenDolan wrote:Fraser Nelson is a huge IDS fan too. How can they not see his obvious faults?AnatolyKasparov wrote:Wasn't just the BBC saying that - ironically enough Peter Oborne's last significant contribution to the Torygraph was a piece extolling the "genius" of IBS
Because it's thick plebs blindly giving money to Red McCluskey so he decide the Labour leader and policies that suit him personally. Or something.RobertSnozers wrote:Moreover, why is it not seen as legitimate that bodies representing the interests of thousands of working people might have some influence on policy?WelshIan wrote:It's not a blindness to do with funding, they always make the link between union backing and Labour policies. I don't know why the link is not made between the Tory party and their backers, as they seem to have more influence than the unions do with Labour.
Hit. Nail. Head.Losing the British sense of fair play
THERE is a sense of genuine mystification in the heart of the Establishment of this country. The puzzle is: why are we [Tories] so utterly discredited in the eyes of the people? The answer is staring them in the face. Apart from the very small proportion who spend their whole lives whingeing and complaining about the slightest thing that goes wrong, the British actually ask for very little.
But there is one word that is dye-stamped into the British mass psyche. That word is “fair,” or its larger cousin “fair play”. Now there’s an oddity here. That single phrase is understood by the British with total and immediate clarity.
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/column ... SBC-search
So why is there no public outcry about Iain Smith and all that comes with him? Ill-informed "fairplay"?ohsocynical wrote:Hit. Nail. Head.Losing the British sense of fair play
THERE is a sense of genuine mystification in the heart of the Establishment of this country. The puzzle is: why are we [Tories] so utterly discredited in the eyes of the people? The answer is staring them in the face. Apart from the very small proportion who spend their whole lives whingeing and complaining about the slightest thing that goes wrong, the British actually ask for very little.
But there is one word that is dye-stamped into the British mass psyche. That word is “fair,” or its larger cousin “fair play”. Now there’s an oddity here. That single phrase is understood by the British with total and immediate clarity.
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/column ... SBC-search
I've been struggling with why I suddenly hate them so much. I don't envy them their money or their life style. In seventy years I never have and I always understood that their idea of fair play and ours was always unequal, but it was the status quo and we all seemed to bumble along fairly well. Now I would stand by and cheerfully watch them being hurt. It would make me very happy.PorFavor wrote:So why is there no public outcry about Iain Smith and all that comes with him? Ill-informed "fairplay"?ohsocynical wrote:Hit. Nail. Head.Losing the British sense of fair play
THERE is a sense of genuine mystification in the heart of the Establishment of this country. The puzzle is: why are we [Tories] so utterly discredited in the eyes of the people? The answer is staring them in the face. Apart from the very small proportion who spend their whole lives whingeing and complaining about the slightest thing that goes wrong, the British actually ask for very little.
But there is one word that is dye-stamped into the British mass psyche. That word is “fair,” or its larger cousin “fair play”. Now there’s an oddity here. That single phrase is understood by the British with total and immediate clarity.
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/column ... SBC-search
And the French (or Germans) don't have a sense of fair play because a literal translation doesn't mean exactly the same thing in French or German? So they wo'n't understand bullshit, either...mikems wrote:More cognitive dissonance on the (far)right. That hack works for a rag that promotes intolerance and unfairness in many areas of life. It supports a party that wants to institutionalise injustice on the basis of nationality, race and religion.
You've got to admire his style.Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis 15h15 hours ago
Two nights ago I saw S, Beckett's Happy Days (Greek National Theatre). Splendid performance(s). Such a relief from you know what...
Thank you for that LadyC. We used to be right by Newgale but are now up the coast a fair bit. Yes, we've had the spring tides this week but they haven't been nearly as high / fierce as people thought they might be. Was out canvassing with someone whose house in lower Fishguard floods every year ... but they've been OK so far. Touch wood, cross fingers and all that.LadyCentauria wrote:For the Welsh contingent: if you're by Newgale in Pembrokeshire or Tintern in Monmouthshire, the A487 and A466 will be closed as 'supertides' are approaching on the annual spring tides – it's the peak of an 18-and-a-half-year cycle over the weekend. Check for flood warnings and alerts, chaps and chapesses...
I greatly admire his style, and I'm embarrassed and ashamed that the best we can put up to talk to him is Gidiot.rebeccariots2 wrote:You've got to admire his style.Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis 15h15 hours ago
Two nights ago I saw S, Beckett's Happy Days (Greek National Theatre). Splendid performance(s). Such a relief from you know what...
Yes, you are reading it correctly, participation has decreased since it was made compulsory.Thanks for the info, although I have to confess I'm more confused than ever. If participation in education or training for 16 and 17 year olds was 93.9% in 2010 and is now 92.8%, the policy to have all young people in education until 18 introduced in 2013 seems to have had the opposite effect than the one intended. Can that be right or am I reading it wrong?
In England a young person must continue in education or training until:
from summer 2013, the end of the academic year in which they turn 17, and from summer 2015, until their 18th birthday.
This does not necessarily mean a young person will have to stay on at school after Year 11. The compulsory school leaving age is not being raised, so the young person cannot be forced to stay in school or college, nor participate in post-16 education or training. A young person will be given a choice about how they want to participate post-16, which could be through:
full-time education, such as school or college
work-based learning, such as an apprenticeship
part-time education or training if they're employed, self employed or volunteering for 20 hours or more a week.
The local authority is responsible for making sure that a young person has a suitable offer of a place in post 16-education or training.
WelshIan wrote:Willow from last night:
Yes, you are reading it correctly, participation has decreased since it was made compulsory.Thanks for the info, although I have to confess I'm more confused than ever. If participation in education or training for 16 and 17 year olds was 93.9% in 2010 and is now 92.8%, the policy to have all young people in education until 18 introduced in 2013 seems to have had the opposite effect than the one intended. Can that be right or am I reading it wrong?
Although reading the below from Citizens Advice (my bold), it doesn't sound as if it actually is compulsory!
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/e ... cation.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In England a young person must continue in education or training until:
from summer 2013, the end of the academic year in which they turn 17, and from summer 2015, until their 18th birthday.
This does not necessarily mean a young person will have to stay on at school after Year 11. The compulsory school leaving age is not being raised, so the young person cannot be forced to stay in school or college, nor participate in post-16 education or training. A young person will be given a choice about how they want to participate post-16, which could be through:
full-time education, such as school or college
work-based learning, such as an apprenticeship
part-time education or training if they're employed, self employed or volunteering for 20 hours or more a week.
The local authority is responsible for making sure that a young person has a suitable offer of a place in post 16-education or training.
But in all fairness - there it is again - playing fair has played a huge part in our make up. You're doing the public schoolboy bit. I'm on about being concerned that those at the bottom of the ladder got a bite of the apple. And if the NHS wasn't about fairness I don't know what is.RobertSnozers wrote:Even a stopped clock shows the right time twice a day. I found this offensive in all kinds of ways and Forsyth is clearly both delusional and rather a nasty piece of work. The fact that he happened to light on a point I would agree with seems bizarre, and I suppose goes to show the extent to which the tax avoiding elite is beyond the pale. Forsyth's chief concern seemed to be that the Tories had allowed themselves to be seen celebrating obscene wealth rather than the fact that they had done it at all.ohsocynical wrote:Hit. Nail. Head.Losing the British sense of fair play
THERE is a sense of genuine mystification in the heart of the Establishment of this country. The puzzle is: why are we [Tories] so utterly discredited in the eyes of the people? The answer is staring them in the face. Apart from the very small proportion who spend their whole lives whingeing and complaining about the slightest thing that goes wrong, the British actually ask for very little.
But there is one word that is dye-stamped into the British mass psyche. That word is “fair,” or its larger cousin “fair play”. Now there’s an oddity here. That single phrase is understood by the British with total and immediate clarity.
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/column ... SBC-search
'Fair play'? Christ. Smacks of 'the Gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead/ but the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks/ Play up! Play up! and play the game'
What the fuckedy fuck???????????????George Osborne has announced an £84m pot to offer social tenants up to £30,000 to buy a new home on the open market.
The policy, announced in a major speech on housing this morning, will allow tenants who would have qualified for the Right to Buy to leave their social home and buy a new property.
Dubbed the Social Mobility Fund, it will be offered to tenants across England from April.
Local authorities will bid for a share of the cash, which they can then offer to tenants. The deadline for bids is 18 March.
The maximum discount available will be £20,000 across England and £30,000 in London, which is substantially lower than the £70,000 and £100,000 respectively offered under the Right to Buy.
A Treasury spokesperson said this was because the tenant gets a ‘substantial additional benefit’ of being able to select their home.
Can't have the plebs having access to justice eh? Where will it all end?Contrary to its assurances to Parliament, the Ministry does not know whether people who are eligible for legal aid are able to get it. The Ministry said in its 2012 impact assessment that it would establish a robust mechanism to identify and address any shortfalls in the provision of legal aid, but it has not done so.