Tuesday 26th May 2015

[Eric_WLothian]

More about powers devolved from the Scotland Act 2012 - an alternative perspective below.

Explaining the limited tax powers in the Scotland Act 2012
Michael Gray
17 March 2014

Clearly the Scotland Act was not the significant transfer of fiscal powers that some politicians have tried to make it out to be. Even if you generously include the ability to vary income tax as ‘control’ over that revenue, then Scotland will still only have control over 15% of its total revenue.

Polls show that a big majority of Scottish voters support the devolution of more tax powers to Scotland. Yet when the opportunity arose to do just that, 85% was kept at Westminster and Scotland’s share was only increased by a marginal amount.

http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk/ex ... -act-2012/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't understand the second paragraph.
'A big majority of Scottish voters support further devolution of more tax powers in Scotland'
What opportunity arose to devolve more tax powers is the author referring to?

Don't be fooled by 'businessforscotland' - it's basically a front for SNP propaganda and was registered as a 'yes' supporting organisation with the Electoral Commission. It may have changed (though I doubt it) but in the run up to the referendum no large businesses, or cross-border businesses, were members.

Close examination of Business for Scotland’s declared member list shows that the group has only a tiny handful of members who employ significant numbers of Scots, and literally none with a substantial cross-border trade. In other words, it could scarcely be less representative of the industries that provide the majority of Scotland’s private-sector jobs and which, according to the No campaign, are at risk from a Yes vote.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... dence.html

http://chokkablog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/0 ... esent.html

The Scotland Act 2012 will force Holyrood to use tax-varying powers. They haven't used the 3p variation allowed by the 1999 Act but this time, income tax paid by Scottish taxpayers will be reduced by 10%. This reduction will be reflected in the Scottish block grant and it will be up to the Scottish Parliament to collect the shortfall. Presumably if they impose a 10% Scottish tax rate, they'll break even.

https://www.gov.uk/scotland-act-2012

The property tax (stamp duty) has already shown that changes made by Westminster affect the devolved tax.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-s ... s-30908336

[citizenJA]

@Eric_WLothian
Thank you, Business for Scotland's analysis was quite different from the Parliamentary research papers & other official documentation.
I understand better now.

[PorFavor]

47m ago14:44
Falconer wants to reintroduce assisted dying bill (Politics Blog, Guardian)

I do hope he succeeds.

There's a lot of talk about people not wishing to be "a burden to their families". What about people who don't want to be a burden to themselves?

Just thought I'd cheer you all up . . .

[AnatolyKasparov]

Excuse the typos and appalling grammar on my last venting of spleen, on my phone, pathetic excuse but it will have to do.

No problem, it is good to hear from you again

[rebeccariots2]

Afternoon.

Patrick Wintour ‏@patrickwintour 6m6 minutes ago
Rerunning 2010 Lab leader ballot on 2015 rules Ed Miliband beats his brother on final ballot by 175,400 to 147,100. Few people know that.

Bit late to come out with that now. Are we suddenly going to get some of the media reversing their position that somehow he stabbed his brother in the back ... the implication being that Ed couldn't really have been the popular choice but only the unions' choice of course.

No, I didn't think so.

[PorFavor]

Afternoon.

Patrick Wintour ‏@patrickwintour 6m6 minutes ago
Rerunning 2010 Lab leader ballot on 2015 rules Ed Miliband beats his brother on final ballot by 175,400 to 147,100. Few people know that.

Bit late to come out with that now. Are we suddenly going to get some of the media reversing their position that somehow he stabbed his brother in the back ... the implication being that Ed couldn't really have been the popular choice but only the unions' choice of course.

No, I didn't think so.

Is there a rewind button I can press?

[rebeccariots2]

Utterly disgusted by Womans Hour this morning.

Mary Creagh on as a guest to talk about her bid for the Labour leadership. First question a nicey nicey general one about her background. Second question 'What do you think about the row about Andy Burnham's use of the expenses scheme to rent a flat while he already owns one in London'? And the interviewer went on and on about whilst he hasn't done anything illegal or outside the rules it is this kind of thing that gives politics a bad name.

Why is she asking Mary Creagh about another of the candidates' business when she is there to talk about her own candidacy? How bloody insulting is that for starters.

Why are the BBC - Womans Hour - peddling this line on Burnham anyway? It seemed completely out of step in every way.

I swore out loud at the radio - good thing I was at the far end of my client's garden. The words were choice.

Mary Creagh kept her cool but you could almost hear her thinking the same questions as I have just asked. She had to repeat several times that she didn't think it was right for her to comment on someone else's expenses. Grrrrrh.

[rebeccariots2]

Afternoon.

Patrick Wintour ‏@patrickwintour 6m6 minutes ago
Rerunning 2010 Lab leader ballot on 2015 rules Ed Miliband beats his brother on final ballot by 175,400 to 147,100. Few people know that.

Bit late to come out with that now. Are we suddenly going to get some of the media reversing their position that somehow he stabbed his brother in the back ... the implication being that Ed couldn't really have been the popular choice but only the unions' choice of course.

No, I didn't think so.

Is there a rewind button I can press?

Sadly not PF. And my experiences with rewind buttons are generally not good - as they are usually to do with the hoover lead retraction button and involve several attempts and a lot of swearing as it zips back inside the hoover only to stop with about 2 feet of limp lead and plug left hanging outside. You don't want that to happen with your life. Trust me.

[ohsocynical]

Duncan Hothersall ‏@dhothersall 12 mins12 minutes ago

"Labour voted for £30bn cuts" line was ubiquitous in SNP campaign. Every one of their 56 MPs repeated it. Sturgeon today admits it's a lie.

Too bloody late.

Will her handmaidens Wood & Bennett and their supporters admit it too ?

Hah! My thoughts exactly but I didn't like to say.

[RogerOThornhill]

Utterly disgusted by Womans Hour this morning.

Mary Creagh on as a guest to talk about her bid for the Labour leadership. First question a nicey nicey general one about her background. Second question 'What do you think about the row about Andy Burnham's use of the expenses scheme to rent a flat while he already owns one in London'? And the interviewer went on and on about whilst he hasn't done anything illegal or outside the rules it is this kind of thing that gives politics a bad name.

Why is she asking Mary Creagh about another of the candidates' business when she is there to talk about her own candidacy? How bloody insulting is that for starters.

Why are the BBC - Womans Hour - peddling this line on Burnham anyway? It seemed completely out of step in every way.

I swore out loud at the radio - good thing I was at the far end of my client's garden. The words were choice.

Mary Creagh kept her cool but you could almost hear her thinking the same questions as I have just asked. She had to repeat several times that she didn't think it was right for her to comment on someone else's expenses. Grrrrrh.

That story isn't even new - Burnham answered as to why he was forced by the rules to do it nearly three years ago.

You can see why they've dragged it back up again though - a stick to beat Burnham with.

[rebeccariots2]

Utterly disgusted by Womans Hour this morning.

Mary Creagh on as a guest to talk about her bid for the Labour leadership. First question a nicey nicey general one about her background. Second question 'What do you think about the row about Andy Burnham's use of the expenses scheme to rent a flat while he already owns one in London'? And the interviewer went on and on about whilst he hasn't done anything illegal or outside the rules it is this kind of thing that gives politics a bad name.

Why is she asking Mary Creagh about another of the candidates' business when she is there to talk about her own candidacy? How bloody insulting is that for starters.

Why are the BBC - Womans Hour - peddling this line on Burnham anyway? It seemed completely out of step in every way.

I swore out loud at the radio - good thing I was at the far end of my client's garden. The words were choice.

Mary Creagh kept her cool but you could almost hear her thinking the same questions as I have just asked. She had to repeat several times that she didn't think it was right for her to comment on someone else's expenses. Grrrrrh.

That story isn't even new - Burnham answered as to why he was forced by the rules to do it nearly three years ago.

You can see why they've dragged it back up again though - a stick to beat Burnham with.

It was the Mail that dug it up again first I believe. A lot of their stories would fit the category 'products of exhumation'. Seems John Humphrys isn't the only BBC interviewer to be sitting next to an open copy of the Mail when they work out their approach...

[LadyCentauria]

The SDLP (and Greens) seem to be making a sterling attempt to prevent the Welfare Reform Bill passing in the Northern Ireland Assembly, which would introduce UC and PIP to NI, and also remove the mitigation measures against the Under-Occupancy Penalty under certain conditions. One of their strong arguments is the Conservative Government at Westminster's determination to cut a further £12bn from the overall Social Security budget for working-age benefits, within a few short weeks, which will put NI's funding up in the air all over again.

[rebeccariots2]

norman smith ‏@BBCNormanS 3m3 minutes ago
Polish PM tells David Cameron that Polish workers are "very honest " and must not be discriminated against over benefits

Sounds like the negotiations are starting really well then.

[citizenJA]

The hell with it.
My advice to Labour party MPs is to show up to these gigs in jeans, rumpled hair & carrying a genuine list of Other Things I've Got To Do Today.
If the interviewer steps out of line asking junk, ask what the hell does that have to do with me & continue being real until someone, anyone, asks a reasonable question allowing time for an answer.
Failing that, walk out.
Tell the audience,
I do not have the time to waste getting jerked around
I work for a living
And do it.

[ohsocynical]

The hell with it.
My advice to Labour party MPs is to show up to these gigs in jeans, rumpled hair & carrying a genuine list of Other Things I've Got To Do Today.
If the interviewer steps out of line asking junk, ask what the hell does that have to do with me & continue being real until someone, anyone, asks a reasonable question allowing time for an answer.
Failing that, walk out.
Tell the audience,
I do not have the time to waste getting jerked around
I work for a living
And do it.

Yes. Amen to that.
When Women's hour have a phone in, I've heard an angry listener complain about their one sided presentation, and the presenter saying it's a team decision.

It's disgraceful, and if the Beeb does lose its position, they all need to take the blame.

[ohsocynical]

And as I was cooking a meal earlier, I thought; wouldn't it be fantastic if the Queen ran her eyes down the speech [for effect, because she'll already have read it] and said "I'm not reading this shit" and threw it on the floor...

Edited to add:

Or should that be: "One refuses to read this excrement" then threw it on the floor.

[Willow904]

Utterly disgusted by Womans Hour this morning.

Mary Creagh on as a guest to talk about her bid for the Labour leadership. First question a nicey nicey general one about her background. Second question 'What do you think about the row about Andy Burnham's use of the expenses scheme to rent a flat while he already owns one in London'? And the interviewer went on and on about whilst he hasn't done anything illegal or outside the rules it is this kind of thing that gives politics a bad name.

Why is she asking Mary Creagh about another of the candidates' business when she is there to talk about her own candidacy? How bloody insulting is that for starters.

Why are the BBC - Womans Hour - peddling this line on Burnham anyway? It seemed completely out of step in every way.

I swore out loud at the radio - good thing I was at the far end of my client's garden. The words were choice.

Mary Creagh kept her cool but you could almost hear her thinking the same questions as I have just asked. She had to repeat several times that she didn't think it was right for her to comment on someone else's expenses. Grrrrrh.

That story isn't even new - Burnham answered as to why he was forced by the rules to do it nearly three years ago.

You can see why they've dragged it back up again though - a stick to beat Burnham with.

Makes me think that Burnham is the candidate the Tory cheerleaders particularly don't want, probably because he's the only one at the moment with half a chance of winning back votes lost to Ukip. The more the right tries to discredit him as a person the more obvious it is they fear they will struggle to counter his actual arguments - on the NHS, Europe, whatever. Burnham plus Creasy could be a good combo of experience and fresh thinking. Shame it's not possible to vote as a pair as there's no chance it will turn out all neatly like that!

[PorFavor]

Citizens Advice & New Policy Institute (NPI) - A nation of renters - 21 May 2015

Despite the growing need for security as the number of children in the sector has risen, the private rental sector is still an unsettled place. More than a third of all privately renting households moved into their current property in just the last year, and average tenure lengths remain far shorter than in other tenures. This is not a case of families moving on quickly to buy their first home; while 61 per cent of private renters still say they plan to buy a home in the future, the median private renter is less than one twentieth of their way towards saving for an average first deposit.

The average rent paid for private rental properties that are unsafe is £157 a week meaning that, in total, private landlords are paid £5.6 billion a year in rent for unsafe homes, £1.3 billion of which is paid by the state in the form of housing benefit.

These striking findings make one thing unavoidably clear: the state of the private rental sector in England is one of the central challenges of this parliament.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/a-nation-of-renters/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Globa ... enters.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tory lanlors hep no one but theysef

I'm afraid this won't do anything to improve your mood - although I doubt is it will come as a revelation to anyone here -

Ex-council homes in London are a 'gold mine' for landlords

As more than 1m housing association tenants are set to win the right to buy, estate agents spell out the advantages
(Guardian)

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/m ... -landlords

[citizenJA]

The ONS conducts an experimental report trying to solve the UK 'productivity puzzle'.

22 May 2015
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Quality Adjusted Labour Input, Estimates to 2014 - Experimental

- Quality adjusted labour input (QALI) differs from traditional measures of labour input as it weights the hours worked by different types of workers by their relative contribution to economic production.
- This is calculated by categorising workers by identifiable characteristics (based on age, gender, industry of employment and education level), and weighting changes in the hours worked of each worker type by their share of total labour income.
- The rationale for this approach is that, under competitive markets, economic theory suggests that different factors of production (different types of workers, and different types of capital assets) will be paid reflecting their marginal productivity.
- ...in general, it is reasonable to expect that on average,more highly paid workers contribute more to production than lower paid workers.
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/icp/quali ... troduction" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(my bold)

One would hope high pay & contributing more to production would justify the wage.
Getting paid little yet contributing more to production sucks.

- As noted above, the slight negative contribution of labour quality in 2014 is unprecedented, although it has no material impact on overall Quality Adjusted Labour Input (QALI) growth.
- A possible reason why labour quality growth has stagnated over 2014 could be due to strong growth in hours worked of the youngest QALI age category, 16-29, which experienced the strongest growth since QALI records began in 1993.
- Age is used as a proxy for experience, and those who are younger and at the start of their career typically have a lower wage.
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/icp/quali ... ket-Sector" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(my bold)

Unprecedented, eh?
We're all being paid shite.
When we're paid at all.
There's the answer.
?

- Labour hours growth and labour quality growth each accounted for around half of the QALI growth over the period.
- The trend in QALI growth has been steadily growing since 2011, but strong growth in hours coupled with little to no growth of labour quality over 2013 and 2014 has changed substantially what is driving QALI growth.
- To emphasise this, in the last quarter of 2012, labour quality accounted for over 80% of QALI growth since the downturn.
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/icp/quali ... ket-Sector" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I would appreciate it if someone could help me better understand what this means.
No worries if Other Things You've Got To Do Today take precedence.
Thank you.

[ohsocynical]

Isn't life weird?

This morning Mr Ohso and I were saying how much we still missed my mum and dad.
An hour later I went to read my mail and found a forwarded letter from a site that features some of my dad's wartime experiences.

The letter was from the son of one of the men under my dad who was a CPO Artificer in the Fleet Air Arm. He has a web site about HMS Vengeance along with loads of wartime photographs, and my dad who is named was in a couple. His father, who is still alive and in his nineties, had amazingly remembered my dad's name.

[citizenJA]

Citizens Advice & New Policy Institute (NPI) - A nation of renters - 21 May 2015

Despite the growing need for security as the number of children in the sector has risen, the private rental sector is still an unsettled place. More than a third of all privately renting households moved into their current property in just the last year, and average tenure lengths remain far shorter than in other tenures. This is not a case of families moving on quickly to buy their first home; while 61 per cent of private renters still say they plan to buy a home in the future, the median private renter is less than one twentieth of their way towards saving for an average first deposit.

The average rent paid for private rental properties that are unsafe is £157 a week meaning that, in total, private landlords are paid £5.6 billion a year in rent for unsafe homes, £1.3 billion of which is paid by the state in the form of housing benefit.

These striking findings make one thing unavoidably clear: the state of the private rental sector in England is one of the central challenges of this parliament.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/a-nation-of-renters/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Globa ... enters.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tory lanlors hep no one but theysef

I'm afraid this won't do anything to improve your mood - although I doubt is it will come as a revelation to anyone here -

Ex-council homes in London are a 'gold mine' for landlords
As more than 1m housing association tenants are set to win the right to buy, estate agents spell out the advantages
(Guardian)

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/m ... -landlords

It's best to find these things out in the company of friends.
Bad news isn't welcome.
Ignorance of what's happening is worse.
Thank you for the link.

[frightful_oik]

Coulson trial: Jury sent home until Friday while a point of law is discussed. Prosecution has finished, now on defence.

[LadyCentauria]

Glad Toynbee has written this. Helps clarify the nonsense of the 'no difference between them' argument.

Look at the alternative Queen’s speech and wonder what might have been
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... h-miliband" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... Here’s an exclusive glimpse of the bills that could have graced the goatskin parchment the Queen will slip out of the silk purse. First, a housing bill would have paved the way for 200,000 new homes a year, with planning reform and powers to stop developers sitting on unused land-banks. Plans to regulate the private rented sector included three-year leases, rents only rising with inflation.

The bedroom tax would have been abolished within a week by statutory instrument. A bill would have reformed the energy market, temporarily preventing price rises while the six companies were broken up, no longer acting as both retailer and wholesaler – a signal to all sectors where consumers feel trapped by cabals.

A labour market reform bill would have ended zero-hours contracts and abolished prohibitive fees for employment tribunals. A constitutional convention would have brought devolution for Scotland and Wales going beyond the Smith commission, accommodating English votes for English laws without making Scottish representatives second-class MPs. House of Lords reform would have been prepared, along with votes at 16. We would have been spared the EU referendum.

A bill would have repealed the marketising elements of the Health and Social Care Act, the notorious section 75 that puts every service up for private tender. The NHS would have been restored as preferred provider, with the health secretary again legally responsible for the service. Shifting the NHS to local councils’ health and wellbeing boards would have spread the devolution now happening in Manchester to all councils, integrating health and social care. A bill devolving power to city regions and counties would have gone further than George Osborne proposes. New free schools would have been stopped, instead of the 500 more Cameron promises. On railways, a bill would have created a public sector competitor free to bid for all franchises – and the badger cull would have ended...

Good if depressing piece by Polly. Comments section is full of gloating half wits peddling the usual misinformed tripe.

BTL on that (and many other pieces) really is depressingly full of nastiness, with just the occasional glimmer of light.

[thatchersorphan]

http://thebemolutionwillnotbetelevised. ... narch-ish/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; GE2015 and Beyond:

[seeingclearly]

Glad Toynbee has written this. Helps clarify the nonsense of the 'no difference between them' argument.

Good if depressing piece by Polly. Comments section is full of gloating half wits peddling the usual misinformed tripe.

BTL on that (and many other pieces) really is depressingly full of nastiness, with just the occasional glimmer of light.

I shared this article this morning. Sadly only got one response in a place where most things attract many comments. This line comment banged on about zionists and them all being the same.

In better spirit though, just to mention the getupstandup campaign, Twitter and other social media to get Marleys song up there and trending, chart topping etc. you've probably already heard of this, but wanted it recorded here. A feature of the last five years has been an absence of protest music. I've always thought that a bit of a failing as many voices have power, as all football fans know.

[PorFavor]

@citizenJA

Landlords enjoy £14bn tax breaks as figures reveal buy-to-let expansion

Shelter urges review of tax treatment of landlords as freedom of information request shows they declared £6.3bn against mortgage interest in 2012-13 (Guardian)

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... e-interest


Sorry.

[rebeccariots2]

Calls for SNP to make anti-foxhunting stance clear as hunts caught on video
Scottish MPs under pressure to block any repeal of foxhunting ban as League Against Cruel Sports alleges half of Scotland’s hunts break the law
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... eaking-law" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

After the election ... and now they are in the HoC in some force ... they are actually going to be subject to some scrutiny re their policies and record ... by campaign groups. Irony, eh.

[TechnicalEphemera]

At this stage, with parliament about to kick off in earnest, it is probably time to consider what Labour has to do next, and I don't mean a leadership election.

The next few weeks are crucial and Labour needs to be on its game. The economy is basically screwed and in need of urgent action to deflate the housing bubble and stimulate growth. GDP is mostly static, deflation has arrived and productivity is dire.

What Osborne is going to do however is inflate the housing bubble and launch an unprecedented fiscal tightening through austerity. This is going to produce a huge recession, it cannot realistically do anything else. Labour needs to be warning about the risks he is taking and they need to attack every measure that hammers the working poor whilst leaving the affluent untouched.

To quote an Aussie, Labours new theme should be A fair shout for everybody. It needs to be anti establishment, attacking privilege where it sees it and demanding an end to pointless austerity that makes the majority poor to provide tax cuts to the wealthy. When Osbornes train wreck happens Labour needs to be front and centre holding him to account and offering plausible alternatives.

Now is not the time for meek Tory-lite attitudes on the economy. Sadly that also includes a harder line on benefits and low wage migration. However a fair shout for everyone means abominations like the bedroom tax can be fought and disability benefits must be vigorously protected, and a safety net must also be available for those who want to work but Osborne is going to make unemployed.

The man I blame for 2015 is Alastair Darling. Who fucked off to write a book in 2010 instead of standing toe to toe with Osborne at the dispatch box. Chris Leslie has to get it on right now, turn the dial up to 11.

[letsskiptotheleft]

I have just read a post btl on the Guardian that could have come from the lips of Jeremy Hunt or David Cameron, it came from an SNP supporter and it concerned education and health in Wales. My dislike for them is turning to hatred.

Two cheeks of same arse, the SNP and Tories.

[tinyclanger2]

Utterly disgusted by Womans Hour this morning.

Mary Creagh on as a guest to talk about her bid for the Labour leadership. First question a nicey nicey general one about her background. Second question 'What do you think about the row about Andy Burnham's use of the expenses scheme to rent a flat while he already owns one in London'? And the interviewer went on and on about whilst he hasn't done anything illegal or outside the rules it is this kind of thing that gives politics a bad name.

Why is she asking Mary Creagh about another of the candidates' business when she is there to talk about her own candidacy? How bloody insulting is that for starters.

Why are the BBC - Womans Hour - peddling this line on Burnham anyway? It seemed completely out of step in every way.

I swore out loud at the radio - good thing I was at the far end of my client's garden. The words were choice.

Mary Creagh kept her cool but you could almost hear her thinking the same questions as I have just asked. She had to repeat several times that she didn't think it was right for her to comment on someone else's expenses. Grrrrrh.

That story isn't even new - Burnham answered as to why he was forced by the rules to do it nearly three years ago.

You can see why they've dragged it back up again though - a stick to beat Burnham with.

Am having to actively fight the propensity for this kind of stuff to destroy my soul.

[rebeccariots2]

I have just read a post btl on the Guardian that could have come from the lips of Jeremy Hunt or David Cameron, it came from an SNP supporter and it concerned education and health in Wales. My dislike for them is turning to hatred.

Two cheeks of same arse, the SNP and Tories.

It's very depressing isn't it. I just keep telling myself that not all SNP supporters are the same as many of those BTL ... they just can't be.

[TechnicalEphemera]

I have just read a post btl on the Guardian that could have come from the lips of Jeremy Hunt or David Cameron, it came from an SNP supporter and it concerned education and health in Wales. My dislike for them is turning to hatred.

Two cheeks of same arse, the SNP and Tories.

It's very depressing isn't it. I just keep telling myself that not all SNP supporters are the same as many of those BTL ... they just can't be.

The only ones I have met lived in a fantasy world of their own construction. If you showed them evidence that black wasn't white they simply claimed that the zebra was lying and had edited Wikipedia.

I really wish the last bit was a joke, it really isn't.

[ohsocynical]

Utterly disgusted by Womans Hour this morning.

Mary Creagh on as a guest to talk about her bid for the Labour leadership. First question a nicey nicey general one about her background. Second question 'What do you think about the row about Andy Burnham's use of the expenses scheme to rent a flat while he already owns one in London'? And the interviewer went on and on about whilst he hasn't done anything illegal or outside the rules it is this kind of thing that gives politics a bad name.

Why is she asking Mary Creagh about another of the candidates' business when she is there to talk about her own candidacy? How bloody insulting is that for starters.

Why are the BBC - Womans Hour - peddling this line on Burnham anyway? It seemed completely out of step in every way.

I swore out loud at the radio - good thing I was at the far end of my client's garden. The words were choice.

Mary Creagh kept her cool but you could almost hear her thinking the same questions as I have just asked. She had to repeat several times that she didn't think it was right for her to comment on someone else's expenses. Grrrrrh.

That story isn't even new - Burnham answered as to why he was forced by the rules to do it nearly three years ago.

You can see why they've dragged it back up again though - a stick to beat Burnham with.

Am having to actively fight the propensity for this kind of stuff to destroy my soul.

Yep. Me too. The anger is just below the surface. I'm having to be very careful what I read.

[letsskiptotheleft]

I have just read a post btl on the Guardian that could have come from the lips of Jeremy Hunt or David Cameron, it came from an SNP supporter and it concerned education and health in Wales. My dislike for them is turning to hatred.

Two cheeks of same arse, the SNP and Tories.

It's very depressing isn't it. I just keep telling myself that not all SNP supporters are the same as many of those BTL ... they just can't be.

I hope, I didn't think I would feel this way that Carmichael digs his heels in just to piss them off, childish maybe, but I take what little comfort I can at the moment.

[letsskiptotheleft]

Anyway, found this on the weekend, whilst browsing another site. Any similarity between a cult and the SNP is purely coincidental and on my part unintentional. Long documentary but very good.

[youtube]FB_f6vLN9Ns[/youtube]

[LadyCentauria]

Voting in NI Assembly on Welfare Reform was 58 Aye/39 No. But because it didn't gain all-party support, and Sinn Fein used their veto, the Bill falls. This has major repercussions but the possibly-most-major-of-all is that the assembly is likely to be suspended with Civil Servants taking over the administration of the country and, perhaps, control by Westminster/Northern Ireland Office. The Assembly could also simply collapse.

[TechnicalEphemera]

Voting in NI Assembly on Welfare Reform was 58 Aye/39 No. But because it didn't gain all-party support, and Sinn Fein used their veto, the Bill falls. This has major repercussions but the possibly-most-major-of-all is that the assembly is likely to be suspended with Civil Servants taking over the administration of the country and, perhaps, control by Westminster/Northern Ireland Office. The Assembly could also simply collapse.

They won't suspend the assembly, the risks prohibit that.

[AngryAsWell]

List of MPs’ endorsements of the Labour leadership candidates
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/20 ... candidates" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Strangely comforting that Labour MP's I have little time for are supporting Liz Kendall, and those I always seemed to agree with are supporting Andy Burnham, not settled on Andy myself yet as still hoping more will come forward when the candidates list opens on 9th (?) June, but if nothing else he has good people standing with him.

[PorFavor]

Goodnight, everyone.

[ohsocynical]

Oh, and guess what. Wonga's new TV advert is aimed at 'hardworking families.'

[Eric_WLothian]

I have just read a post btl on the Guardian that could have come from the lips of Jeremy Hunt or David Cameron, it came from an SNP supporter and it concerned education and health in Wales. My dislike for them is turning to hatred.

Two cheeks of same arse, the SNP and Tories.

It's very depressing isn't it. I just keep telling myself that not all SNP supporters are the same as many of those BTL ... they just can't be.

I hope, I didn't think I would feel this way that Carmichael digs his heels in just to piss them off, childish maybe, but I take what little comfort I can at the moment.

This really is a storm in a teacup. Somebody has now reported it to the police:

POLICE are to investigate a complaint against former Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael after it emerged he was behind the leak of a controversial memo.
Police Scotland said it was making inquiries into the leak of the document, which suggested that Nicola Sturgeon wanted David Cameron to return to Downing Street.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/t ... -1-3783276

OK, he was probably wrong to authorise the sending of the memo to the press. However, as I see it the content of the memo was most likely correct or Sir Jeremy Heywood would not have used the phraseology he did. The French Ambassador is reported as saying:
Sturgeon did not ''touch on her personal political preferences with regards to the future Prime Minister'' during a meeting in February.
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2015-04- ... reference/
That does not rule out a more general discussion of her party's preferences.
The 'lost in translation' argument is unlikely to hold water as the meeting was conducted in English and, as was reported at the time, all French diplomats in the UK speak fluent English.
So rank in order of credibility:
1 The Cabinet Secretary;
2 An experienced and trusted Civil Servant;
3 Nicola Sturgeon.

[ohsocynical]

Goodnight, everyone.

Night PF

[gilsey]

http://thebemolutionwillnotbetelevised. ... narch-ish/ GE2015 and Beyond:

This is good too.

http://thebemolutionwillnotbetelevised. ... #more-1034" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Political Short Termism: The (Second) Biggest Loser of GE2015

In its fanatical quest to win over affluent hyperindividualists in suburban swing seats, Labour has probably fatally undermined its ability to decisively win a general election.

Good in the sense of interesting and readable, not in its conclusion.

[LadyCentauria]

Voting in NI Assembly on Welfare Reform was 58 Aye/39 No. But because it didn't gain all-party support, and Sinn Fein used their veto, the Bill falls. This has major repercussions but the possibly-most-major-of-all is that the assembly is likely to be suspended with Civil Servants taking over the administration of the country and, perhaps, control by Westminster/Northern Ireland Office. The Assembly could also simply collapse.

They won't suspend the assembly, the risks prohibit that.

And collapse triggers an election. Perhaps less risk in that. A lot of voices were calling for the enforced-coalition set-up to end – 'though I think they were mainly MPs with with 'Unionist' in their parties' name. In the meantime, NI doesn't introduce UC or PIP and carries on, effectively, paying fines of nine-and-a-half million pounds a month to the UK Government for refusing to implement IDS' reforms in full. Ach I just hope everything doesn't kick-off, for the sake of the people there.

[LadyCentauria]

Goodnight, PF. Sweet dreams

[seeingclearly]

Somebody mentioned that 20% of people didn't get re registered for voting for whatever reason. I've been thinking about this, because I didn't re-register, in fact was worried about it because I forgot about it, then I got my polling card so never had to do a mad rush to get registered, which was a blessing. Anyway, someone (I know, this is anecdotal ..... ) else said that some councils automatically registered people on their books who were Registered for other things like CT, HB etc. and some councils didn't.

So my questions are:

Is there any data on how this varied from constituency to constituency?
Could this have affected outcomes?

I'm not hanging on, honest, I just want to know what shaped things. They are usually one step ahead so it's good to understand things. On the other hand I could be the deluded one.

[thatchersorphan]

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 53937.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; on Ireland, welfare reform bill

[AngryAsWell]

Somebody mentioned that 20% of people didn't get re registered for voting for whatever reason. I've been thinking about this, because I didn't re-register, in fact was worried about it because I forgot about it, then I got my polling card so never had to do a mad rush to get registered, which was a blessing. Anyway, someone (I know, this is anecdotal ..... ) else said that some councils automatically registered people on their books who were Registered for other things like CT, HB etc. and some councils didn't.

So my questions are:

Is there any data on how this varied from constituency to constituency?
Could this have affected outcomes?

I'm not hanging on, honest, I just want to know what shaped things. They are usually one step ahead so it's good to understand things. On the other hand I could be the deluded one.

Not sure, but in addition to those missed off the register you can bet that few of the 50,000 families shipped out of London boroughs in the past three years had the emotional wherewithal to even think about registering to vote in their new "home" (read B&B in a lot of cases there)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 13854.html#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What also plays on my mind is proxy voting (say, from nursing homes) and postal voting - how may were there in the end?

[rebeccariots2]

Kate Hoey, the former Home Office minister under Tony Blair who is one of the most prominent Eurosceptics in the Labour party, is being lined up as a possible leader of the no campaign in the referendum on Britain’s EU membership.

A leading Labour donor who is expected to bankroll the “Brexit” side described Hoey, the MP for Vauxhall, as a “tough fighter” who would appeal across the political spectrum.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... o-campaign" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think that could be a big mistake for Labour if she ends up heading the No campaign. Mind you ... it often seems like a big mistake that she's in the Labour party to me.

[AngryAsWell]

John Redwood ‏@johnredwood · May 18
@FionaLegal Thank you for the tweet. I do not favour cruelty to animals and would vote against repealing the Act.