Friday 27th Feb 2015

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 2:35 am

Later, Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar will commit a future Welsh Conservative government to trial charging patients for not turning up for appointments with their GP.

And so it begins.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-31646407" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Powers to set national speed limits across Wales will also be proposed, together with a promise to consider the merits of devolving Air Passenger Duty and the option of changing the assembly's name to Welsh Parliament.

There you are my Welsh friends - excited ??

Thought not

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 6:16 am

Morning pk

Not much to add to your post there!

I'm excited that I might bump into Ed Miliband who is in Leeds today

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-31640592" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ed Miliband is to set out Labour's plans to cut £9,000 university tuition fees by a third.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 8:27 am

Morning all.

How interesting...remember that Daily mail article about a school on the IoW where the HT was "forced out" by the unions?

Sacked for being too good: He was the headmaster who defied bolshie teaching unions to transform a failing school and became the head ever parent dreamed of. The story of what happened to him this week will make your blood boil

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -good.html

Well...Ofsted went back in and the s.8 report is now up.

http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection ... ELS/136753" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Senior leaders, governors and sponsors are not taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection and plans are not sharply focused on rapidly bringing about improvement.

There's a good summary of this at the bottom of this rather skewed local paper article.

http://onthewight.com/2015/02/26/praise ... my-ofsted/

So...he might have known what he wanted but failed to get it across to his teaching staff. That's why he had to go.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 8:39 am

Morning all.

norman smith ‏@BBCNormanS 1h1 hour ago
Vince Cable @LibDems says Labour tuiton fee cut is "financially illiterate"

That might just be quote of the day. And so early ...

Post by **refitman** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 8:40 am

Morning. Labour lead at 1 point on Yougov:

Latest YouGov / The Sun results 26th February -

Con 33%, (nc)
Lab 34%, (+1)
LD 8%, (nc)
UKIP 13%, (-2)
GRN 6%; (nc)

APP -17 (-1)

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 8:54 am

pk1 wrote:
Later, Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar will commit a future Welsh Conservative government to trial charging patients for not turning up for appointments with their GP.
And so it begins.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-31646407" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Powers to set national speed limits across Wales will also be proposed, together with a promise to consider the merits of devolving Air Passenger Duty and the option of changing the assembly's name to Welsh Parliament.
There you are my Welsh friends - excited ??

Thought not

No doubt the power to reintroduce fox hunting with packs of dogs will be in there somewhere too .... They really are something else. And this is meant to appeal to Welsh voters? The GP charge would impact on those least able to cope ... those with problems organising themselves and their lives for a whole host of reasons. What happens when someone can't pay - or doesn't pay? When it's an appointment for a child - and they later show up at A&E?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 8:57 am

Chuka Umunna ‏@ChukaUmunna 46m46 minutes ago
We'll take no lectures from Vince Cable & Nick Clegg on tuition fees - they have zero credibility on this having betrayed the British people

Post by **adam** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 9:26 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:Morning all.

norman smith ‏@BBCNormanS 1h1 hour ago
Vince Cable @LibDems says Labour tuiton fee cut is "financially illiterate"
That might just be quote of the day. And so early ...

Go back to the talk surrounding the introduction of fees capped at £9k and you'll see an insistence that although the capped limit is £9k, universities will have to exceptionally justify charging more than £6k - Labour seem to just be formalising the unwritten rules the government made that have been almost completely comphehensively broken from day one (as everybody knew they would be).

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 9:31 am

pk1 wrote:
Later, Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar will commit a future Welsh Conservative government to trial charging patients for not turning up for appointments with their GP.
And so it begins.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-31646407" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Powers to set national speed limits across Wales will also be proposed, together with a promise to consider the merits of devolving Air Passenger Duty and the option of changing the assembly's name to Welsh Parliament.
There you are my Welsh friends - excited ??

Thought not

Morning PK.

I think the words 'will commit a future Welsh Conservative government' put that well into the realms of fantasy.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 9:40 am

From AS at the UKIP spring conference...

I’ll be blogging from the conference all day.

Poor sod...

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 9:58 am

adam wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:Morning all.

norman smith ‏@BBCNormanS 1h1 hour ago
Vince Cable @LibDems says Labour tuiton fee cut is "financially illiterate"
That might just be quote of the day. And so early ...
Go back to the talk surrounding the introduction of fees capped at £9k and you'll see an insistence that although the capped limit is £9k, universities will have to exceptionally justify charging more than £6k - Labour seem to just be formalising the unwritten rules the government made that have been almost completely comphehensively broken from day one (as everybody knew they would be).

Vince Cable is talking absolute nonsense about this. A combination of student loans and government funding was paying for higher education just 5 years ago. What is economically illiterate about the government paying its share now, for a service being provided now, rather than in 25 years time when an unknown amount of student loans are still unpaid? The truth is, by funding it now government will have to make choices about how many university places it is willing to subsidise and this is a good thing. The number of graduate level jobs is finite, therefore the ability of the economy to generate enough in wages to pay for graduate training is finite. We can't have a situation where of those that choose to go to university only 50% gain a job capable of paying for it and taxpayers pick up the bill for educating the rest to this level for no reason, when that money could be better spent on training for jobs we do need doing like nursing, funding for which has been cut.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 9:59 am

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng- ... projection" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Guardian's 2015 election prediction page makes no sense.
Look at the top bit of information then look at the bottom polls.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 10:01 am

George Osborne rebuked for boasting he halved £1.7bn EU surcharge

Treasury committee stops short of saying chancellor misled parliament by claiming he won the bill reduction when the surcharge was halved by the UK’s automatic rebate

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... -surcharge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 10:09 am

Jesus wept. Norman Smith can fuck right off with his partisan dismissing of the proposed tuition fees changes. He doesn't even reference how much the current 9k limit is going to cost, and no mention of the Tory assurances that very few would go beyond 6k.

Let's try and unpick future policy instead of concentrate on the disastrous results of current governmental policies.

Edward Stourton on the wato repeated on multiple occasions the piss poor Hague statement that the reason immigration is increasing is because of the economy doing so well line. No wonder the Conservatives don't put up a minister to comment, if they did the presenter might actually have to ask questions instead of repeating statements as fact without any discussion. [/rant]

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 10:11 am

citizenJA wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng- ... projection

Guardian's 2015 election prediction page makes no sense.
Look at the top bit of information then look at the bottom polls.

Clickbait and wishful thinking, nothing less.

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 10:17 am

http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2015/02/26/ba ... tion-deal/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

' As private debate within Labour circles intensifies on the terms of a potential deal with the SNP, Uncut has learned that some of Ed Miliband’s closest advisers are plotting to sack Ed Balls in a bid to secure Ed Miliband’s tenure in Number 10, in the event of a hung parliament where Labour is not the largest party.

Insiders familiar with these discussions over the past few weeks describe a scenario where Labour would have to “reset its economic standing with the public” and demonstrate to the SNP that it would not be “wedded to austerity-lite.”

For some of Ed Miliband’s closest and oldest advisers, removing Ed Balls would achieve both objectives as well as ridding them of a potentially truculent and obstructive Chancellor. '

JFC.

Edit: Just noticed Labour Uncuts Atul Hatwal is on the Daily Politics. Perfect.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 10:19 am

Labour Uncut - say no more.

Post by **refitman** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 10:47 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Labour Uncut - say no more.

Labour Un-hinged?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:00 am

On a positive note (and I'm having to search for and cling on to the positives in the midst of our bereftness here) - anyone who watched QT last night cannot have failed to note the wonderful, clear and impassioned speech by the nurse in the audience. She totally nailed Grant Shapps to the ceiling by his goolies - telling him why she is so disgusted by the Tory cant about 2nd jobs for MPs and needing outside experience when they expect her and other nursing professionals to get a 1% increase if they are lucky, forgo any additional rate of pay for overtime and unsocial hours, any increments, pay increased pension contributions and lose many of the terms and conditions they signed up to .... she said it amounted to gross breach of contract.

She got thunderous - and it seemed pretty unanimous - applause from the audience.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:06 am

Dianne Hayter ‏@HayteratLords 1 hr1 hour ago
Survation/DailyMirror:

LAB 34%;
CON 28%;
UKIP 19%;
LD 10%;
GRN 4%.

That Green surge again! Natalie Bennett on radio? Or B & Hove record?

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:11 am

Good morfternoon.

What's the latest on the clipped weighted moving average?

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:12 am

Morning.

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

Why can’t theatre imagine what it’s really like to be the parent of a disabled child?
Dea Birkett

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:13 am

Nick Clegg's £281 billion debt bombshell? Labour reveal the cost of £9,000 fees
Ed Miliband and Ed Balls will attack the coalition's fees model for betraying young people and piling billions onto the national debt

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/20 ... -9000-fees

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:23 am

StephenDolan wrote:
citizenJA wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng- ... projection

Guardian's 2015 election prediction page makes no sense.
Look at the top bit of information then look at the bottom polls.
Clickbait and wishful thinking, nothing less.

You're not kidding, StephenDolan, I have rarely beheld any thread so strewn with jackass nonsense. A dozen nickb's spamming the thread.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:29 am

PorFavor wrote:Good morfternoon.

What's the latest on the clipped weighted moving average?

About as coherent as a late twentieth century grunge band practising in the garage on smack.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:30 am

I had to call the authorities many a time.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:32 am

George Eaton @georgeeaton · 22m 22 minutes ago
Labour's policy on fees can't simply be dismissed as "short-term populism" - @IPPR_NickP is essential reading: http://www.ippr.org/nicks-blog/student- ... ation-debt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

The US experience with student loans outlined here is pretty scary ... we seem to be going the way they have gone at an accelerated rate.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:32 am

Good-morning.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:35 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:
George Eaton @georgeeaton · 22m 22 minutes ago
Labour's policy on fees can't simply be dismissed as "short-term populism" - @IPPR_NickP is essential reading: http://www.ippr.org/nicks-blog/student- ... ation-debt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
The US experience with student loans outlined here is pretty scary ... we seem to be going the way they have gone at an accelerated rate.

Oh, yes.
Back away from the debt, come away, back away from it, it's dangerous, it'll hurt you...back away from the debt, everyone...

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:39 am

You know Vince Cable says Labour are being financially illiterate in reducing Tuition Fees to £6000 pa. Well, here's what he said in the Commons on 9 December 2010

That is a highly pertinent question in the light of the experience of the last Government, who had a two-tier system. There was a migration of all universities to the top of the range. They operated, in effect, like a cartel, and that must be stopped. It must not happen again, and there are several means by which that will happen. First, any university that wants to go beyond £6,000 will have to satisfy very demanding tests of access for low-income families, including through the introduction of the scholarship scheme. Newer institutions, particularly further education colleges providing accredited courses, will drive down the cost of high quality basic teaching. If universities defy the principle of operating on a competitive cost basis, it may well be necessary to introduce additional measures to observe the principle that my hon. Friend has correctly summarised

So, he thought fees should be, err about err how much?

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 11:42 am

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

The scandal of councils turning away the homeless is finally being exposed

Rebecca · Post by **Rebecca** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 12:09 pm

Morning/afternoon,and sorry if this puts anyone off their lunch,but ukip are giving away condoms with don't waste an election printed on the packaging.
Are they also going to do Viagra freebies for their elderly,angry,asshole supporters?

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 12:10 pm

Ed's on R5 live now

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 12:16 pm

http://www.irwinmitchell.com/newsandmed ... I.facebook" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Judicial Review Into DWP’s Disabled Benefits ‘Fiasco’

Irwin Mitchell’s specialist public lawyers have been granted permission for the legal challenge in relation to Personal Independence Payments (PIP), after hearing numerous first-hand accounts from those who have faced serious financial hardship after experiencing delays in receiving the funds.

Post by **adam** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 12:21 pm

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:You know Vince Cable says Labour are being financially illiterate in reducing Tuition Fees to £6000 pa. Well, here's what he said in the Commons on 9 December 2010

...Newer institutions, particularly further education colleges providing accredited courses, will drive down the cost of high quality basic teaching...

There is a brand new University opening in my town in September (really a brand new outpost of the University of Chester) which will barely have a centre, a library or residences, will have no background and is, at best, a hopeful stab at expanding what is already a very young university that is somewhere way down at the bottom of the rankings.

It's charging £9,000 a year for all courses.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 12:25 pm

Paul Oakden, Ukip’s national agent, is giving a speech on energy, on behalf of Roger Helmer MEP, the energy spokesman, who can’t be here. (Andrew Sparrow, Guardian)

? ? Perhaps he didn't have the energy.

Oh, well. No big loss, I imagine.

I'm currently enjoying Ed Miliband's speech re tuition fees (just ending) on TV. Ed Balls is up next (not being televised on BBC News but it might be on the Parliament Channel which I'm avoiding because I suspect it's probably showing the UKIP conference - which there's no point in watching if the fabulous Roger Helmer isn't there).

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 12:31 pm

Rebecca wrote:Morning/afternoon,and sorry if this puts anyone off their lunch,but ukip are giving away condoms with don't waste an election printed on the packaging.
Are they also going to do Viagra freebies for their elderly,angry,asshole supporters?

And there I've just posted elsewhere I thought UKIP weren't satire. I was wrong. Please tell me UKIP are satire. Please.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 12:32 pm

adam wrote:
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:You know Vince Cable says Labour are being financially illiterate in reducing Tuition Fees to £6000 pa. Well, here's what he said in the Commons on 9 December 2010

...Newer institutions, particularly further education colleges providing accredited courses, will drive down the cost of high quality basic teaching...

There is a brand new University opening in my town in September (really a brand new outpost of the University of Chester) which will barely have a centre, a library or residences, will have no background and is, at best, a hopeful stab at expanding what is already a very young university that is somewhere way down at the bottom of the rankings.

It's charging £9,000 a year for all courses.

I see.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 12:35 pm

LAB back in the lead with Populus
CON 31
LAB 33
LD 9
UKIP 16
GRN 6

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 12:47 pm

Mark Reckless interviewed at Margate saying, "If you vote Ukip, you'll get Ukip". How does that stack up with the hints that they could back the Conservatives should the circumstances arise?

LadyCentauria · Post by **LadyCentauria** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 1:08 pm

PorFavor wrote:
Paul Oakden, Ukip’s national agent, is giving a speech on energy, on behalf of Roger Helmer MEP, the energy spokesman, who can’t be here. (Andrew Sparrow, Guardian)
? ? Perhaps he didn't have the energy.

Oh, well. No big loss, I imagine.

I'm currently enjoying Ed Miliband's speech re tuition fees (just ending) on TV. Ed Balls is up next (not being televised on BBC News but it might be on the Parliament Channel which I'm avoiding because I suspect it's probably showing the UKIP conference - which there's no point in watching if the fabulous Roger Helmer isn't there).

Parliament Channel are showing HoC live debate on House of Lords reform and will, at 2.45pm, be covering the Welsh Conservatives Spring Conference for a couple of hours.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 1:10 pm

HindleA wrote:LAB back in the lead with Populus
CON 31
LAB 33
LD 9
UKIP 16
GRN 6

Despite all the BBC's best efforts!

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 1:14 pm

Labour’s plan to cut tuition fees – five things you need to know
http://www.labour.org.uk/blog/entry/lab ... uitionfees" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 1:21 pm

http://www.independent.co.uk/money/dwp- ... 72202.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

DWP criticised after it left a pensioner £26,000 worse off

The Department for Work and Pensions has been slammed after a series of cock-ups left an elderly pensioner £26,000 worse off.
The Pensions Service – part of the DWP - failed to send a computerised prompt to her local council that would have automatically triggered a housing benefit claim she was entitled to.
Her family from Essex discovered the mistake, but then were then forced to spend five years battling with officials from the Pension Service who bafflingly refused to put things right.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 2:00 pm

http://labourlist.org/2015/02/full-text ... -fees-cut/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

LabourList
Full text: Miliband’s speech pledging tuition fees cut
February 27, 2015 12:57 pm

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 2:13 pm

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1122177 ... fairer-for
Miliband's speech

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1122178 ... or-remarks
Ed Balls remarks related to Miliband's speech

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1122185 ... fairer-for
Labour Press website link for notes & links to both above

A better plan for a better future: fairer for young people, fairer for taxpayers - Labour’s fourth election pledge

Ed Miliband has today unveiled Labour’s fourth election pledge including a clear, fully funded commitment to cut tuition fees which are causing rising debts for graduates and the taxpayer.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 2:20 pm

http://www.ippr.org/nicks-blog/student- ... ation-debt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Student politics: The future of tuition fees and higher education debt
Nick Pearce
Published Thu 26 Feb 2015

Please let me know your thoughts.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 2:20 pm

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1122223 ... discharges" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thousands stuck in hospital as delayed discharges reach an all time high

Delayed discharges cost £285 million in the last year alone – money which could have paid for a year of home visits for almost 41,000 elderly people, or 6,840 nurses.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 2:25 pm

http://rcseng.ac.uk/blog/hospital-disch ... ing-carers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Hospital discharge: the importance of involving and consulting carers"

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 27 Feb, 2015 2:32 pm

David Hencke retweeted
ExaroNews ‏@ExaroNews 14m14 minutes ago
Tony McSweeney guilty of indecent assault on boy at Grafton Close. Report on Exaro shortly. Exaro’s (and Op #Fernbridge’s) first conviction.

David Hencke retweeted
ExaroNews ‏@ExaroNews 11m11 minutes ago
Tony McSweeney, priest who worked at Grafton Close children’s home, also convicted of three counts of making indecent images of a child.