Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July 2015

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sat 04 Jul, 2015 11:58 pm

About time Bercow censured Osborne for all of this stuff coming out - chancellors have resigned for leaking less.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:00 am

The Sky takeover can't be long in coming back.

One thing often forgotten in this "Labour sucked up to Murdoch just as much" is that they also gave the BBC above inflation increases. Murdoch won't have liked that at all.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:02 am

From 2020 just read.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:10 am

In 2014 the cost of the over 75s license was £607m.

No wonder Osborne likes that - savings to him and giving the BBC a good kicking at the same time.

And all for what is a government policy which government ought to pay for.

Wonder how many more redundancies get announced because of this?

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:13 am

Well, Toady likes it...

Toby YoungVerified account
‏@toadmeister Toby Young retweeted Nick Sutton
Getting the BBC to pay for free TV licenses for pensioners is a political master stroke #allinittogether

But then he is a complete Tory-loving prick so not surprising.

Really bad politics - getting someone else pay for your policies.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:16 am

It's not so much a saving as a reduced input for someone else. Who can then get the blame when the output falls.

Are the BBC allowed to raise the licence fee to recoup it? Or would that be like living in Russia?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:18 am

RogerOThornhill wrote:Well, Toady likes it...

Toby YoungVerified account
‏@toadmeister Toby Young retweeted Nick Sutton
Getting the BBC to pay for free TV licenses for pensioners is a political master stroke #allinittogether

But then he is a complete Tory-loving prick so not surprising.

Really bad politics - getting someone else pay for your policies.

That's also what they're doing with the great housing association / council housing and land sell off.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:19 am

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
Are the BBC allowed to raise the licence fee to recoup it?

Of course not.

Tony Hall ought to kick up a fuss about this - he doesn't decide the license fee yet has to absorb every cost the government wants to throw at him.

Wonder which one of the Murdoch family suggested this?

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:27 am

"In return BBC will be allowed to charge for iplayer and other online catch up services"

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:30 am

Went to see Andy Burnham speak and answer questions tonight. I will try to post something on it tomorrow but for now will just say the Welsh audience were top bods IMO.

Burnham was told in a variety of ways that Labour need to be plain and direct speaking using words that most people use and relate to rather than the political code and burble that gets spewed out. 'Narrative' should be consigned to the bin, 'ordinary' and 'hard-working' people out the window, 'aspiration' booted out with a kick up the arse ... 'vision' might just be allowed.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:41 am

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 66229.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Number of young homeless people in Britain is 'more than three times the official figures'

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:49 am

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

George Osborne’s £13bn ‘northern powerhouse’ fund includes routine council spending on potholes

Sounds like £5bn is rebranded routine maintenance.

The "North" might be becoming a political problem for Osborne having talked it all up.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:52 am

In parliament last week, communities minister James Wharton said: “This government is investing £13bn in rail in the north. There will be more trains, newer trains and more regular journeys.”

It has now emerged, however, that only £3bn of that money is for rail schemes – of which £1.35bn had already been allocated, mainly to upgrades in and around Manchester.

Bercow!

Get this man into Parliament.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:58 am

Wharton can be got in to apologise for that. Just before PMQs.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 7:17 am

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=briti ... yUKMAks%3D" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I guess this kind of image became embedded in the national psyche and has never quite gone away.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 7:20 am

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=briti ... yUKMAks%3D" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As compared to this.

Lonewolfie · Post by **Lonewolfie** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 8:13 am

ScarletGas wrote:
AngryAsWell wrote:A big part of the problem is the Newspaper Review on both BBC and Sky. That sets the tabloid agenda which the news programs then follow. BBC in particular simply don't seem to have journalists or reporters any more, just presenters who build their program around right wing paper's headlines without a thought to challenge or verify the facts.
We now have tabloid TV.
its pretty fashionable these days to deny the influence of the print media.Although it certainly has diminished with the advent of social media it still plays an important role in the dissemination of information to the mass of the public. Its pretty well known that John Humphries develops his questioning using the Daily Mail agenda,seemingly accepting its validity, so who is to say the average "non political" reader does not do the same.

Reverting back to the BBC/Sky paper reviews. I do wish both companies would inform their viewers more comprehensively when captioning names overlaid on the screen. Telling us Tim Collins is chairman of Bell Pottinger political (when praising everything this government is or has done) means nothing to a casual viewer if not also informed that in a previous life he was a pretty right wing tory MP. The BBC did start a little while ago the label representatives of think tanks as right/left wing but seemed to have dropped this recently.

Evenaftimorn all...

It might also be helpful if viewers were reminded that 40% of the 'newspapers' are controlled by the same person that controls Sky (and a huge number of BBC News staff are ex-Murkydochians - 'Head' of 'News' was the editor of the Times from 2007 to 2012) - another 40%(ish) are controlled by non-dom billionaires - it's very easy to set an agenda when you pull all the strings. Anyone who works has worked for one of Uncle Ruperts' putrid organs will be well-versed in investigating and reporting in a very specific way...in a way that won't upset 'the boss'....because that would be bad for your career (the same applies to politicians...evidenced here by Nick Davies - http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/j ... CMP=twt_gu). This has, of course, been going on for years - dumb down everything, foment disrespect for those in public office and public service, misrepresent and obfuscate anything that remotely resembles 'fairness', whip up shallow media frenzies around sensitive and complex subjects (immigration/EUrrrp etc), use subterfuge and break the law to create 'stories' that are 'in the public interest' (i.e. John Alford http://www.theguardian.com/media/greens ... -thepeople).

All this to enable and ensure the complete concealment of the disgusting and nefarious activities that are really in the public interest (Daniel Morgan/Orgreave/Hillsborough/HSBC/CSA Inquiry (Janner is the first of many - the word 'Thatcherite' will, I believe(TM), soon come to mean something completely different) and on and on and on) and enable the total destruction of the post-war consensus, the theft of public assets and the concentration of power and money with a few of the 'right sort of people'....but the cat is out of the bag, the can is on the floor and the worms are everywhere - all the power in Murkydochia will not be enough to save them from themselves.

ttfn

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 8:34 am

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
In parliament last week, communities minister James Wharton said: “This government is investing £13bn in rail in the north. There will be more trains, newer trains and more regular journeys.”

It has now emerged, however, that only £3bn of that money is for rail schemes – of which £1.35bn had already been allocated, mainly to upgrades in and around Manchester.
Bercow!

Get this man into Parliament.

A common trait of the last government and no doubt this one too, Tubby, was announcing previously allocated funds as new. I could never determine whether they merely treated the electorate as ignoramuses with memory lapses or whether the failing was entirely their own.

On a similar note, I queried the oft repeated £12.7bn extra the last government put into the NHS, which had become £7bn during the election campaign. Never once did I see it queried by the msm.

Edit: just to be clear I meant how the £12.7bn had become £7bn during the campaign. Perhaps their promised £8bn didn't sound so good any more. There was the odd occasion I saw the £12.7bn queried during the last government.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 9:17 am

Iain Martin ‏@iainmartin1 38m38 minutes ago
This - on the disgusting treatment of Greece - is brilliant. Bloomberg View http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2 ... -with-exit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

... A truly independent ECB, willing to do whatever it takes to defend the euro system, could have announced that it would keep supplying Greek banks with liquidity. If the Greek banks are deemed in due course to be insolvent (which hasn’t happened yet), that doesn't have to trigger an exit, either. Europe has the wherewithal and a bank-rescue mechanism that would allow the banks to be taken over and recapitalized. These options are foreclosed because the supposedly apolitical ECB has let Europe's finance ministers use it as a hammer to extract fiscal concessions from Greece...

Mr Riots has decided that he will vote to leave Europe in the coming referendum. He hates what is happening re Greece. Something very different - a real change in attitude - would need to occur and be sustained for him to change his mind now.

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 9:20 am

Apparently Larry has not been performing his duties after all. Well I could have told you that, the vermin are still in Downing Street.

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 9:24 am

Note that Chris Leslie is using the term social security on the Andrew Marr Show, something that was much discussed well over a year ago.

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 9:29 am

I also note that Cris Leslie has stated what to some of us has been obvious that so-called benefit reforms end up costing more than before, e.g the bedroom tax. As I've often retorted the government's Risk Registers or Impact Assessments are not worth the paper they're printed on. I suspect that the purge of civil service has been partly responsible, especially as replaced by ministers' own apparatchiks.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 9:33 am

Why Zac Goldsmith’s views on Heathrow and Europe are a problem for Cameron
The MP now tipped to be London’s mayor has long been the face of green Toryism . But his passionate opposition to a third runway could put him on a collision course with his party
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... id-cameron" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting piece although irritating that the G seem to have him virtually sitting in the Mayor's seat already. There's a lot that can happen between now and the election.

But this bit of background

Cameron was in his ultra-green phase and wanted Zac Goldsmith, former editor of the Ecologist magazine, to develop ideas on how to tackle climate change, cut carbon emissions and promote green transport.

When the group reported in 2007, Cameron’s then director of communications, Andy Coulson, was far from impressed. Some of the ideas looked to him like certain vote-losers: what Cameron might refer to these days as “green crap”. One suggestion – that local councils be given powers to charge for parking at out-of-town supermarkets to encourage people to shop on their high streets – was particularly unwise, Coulson believed.

prompts me to tell you about recent events in sleepy Cardigan.

Someone went round the town centre car parks about three weeks ago and comprehensively smashed to smithereens the ticket machines. Their collecting boxes were hanging open and bent like gaping mouths. They are now covered in black plastic and taped up with big out of order signs. Result ... town traders are happy happy people. In particular the market stall traders in the Guildhall which had been done up at great town council expense but was failing badly are reporting booming business. Happy happy local residents. It no longer costs £1.10p just to stop in order to buy a loaf of bread from the independent bakers in town ... yay!

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 9:42 am

George Osborne ‏@George_Osborne 4m4 minutes ago
About to do interview on @marrshow talking about my Budget which will deliver economic security for working people

Really? Those on the minimum (or lower) wage ... those in receipt of working tax credits ... those on zero hours contracts or underemployed are going to be economically secure because of your budget? And that's before we consider those who can't work - or can't find work - who are obviously not entitled to feel or be secure in your world view.

Please Labour bods - carry on using the term social security. Just keep on repeating it - just as the Tories keep on repeating their ridiculous euphemism and slur terms.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 9:46 am

Andrew Neil ‏@afneil 3m3 minutes ago
Chancellor confirms welfare cap will be lower than £23,000 outside London on @MarrShow

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 9:54 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:
George Osborne ‏@George_Osborne 4m4 minutes ago
About to do interview on @marrshow talking about my Budget which will deliver economic security for working people
Really? Those on the minimum (or lower) wage ... those in receipt of working tax credits ... those on zero hours contracts or underemployed are going to be economically secure because of your budget? And that's before we consider those who can't work - or can't find work - who are obviously not entitled to feel or be secure in your world view.

Please Labour bods - carry on using the term social security. Just keep on repeating it - just as the Tories keep on repeating their ridiculous euphemism and slur terms.

I've heard it said that our 2.1 Modern History graduate is a smart political operator. Maybe he is appearing before his budget to frame the debate. I wonder how that will compare to subsequent appearances defending it.

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 9:56 am

Blimey as if George hadn't had enough opportunity to rabbit on unopposed. Why isn't Chris Leslie sat next to him on the sofa at the end of the show?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 10:00 am

Debbie Abrahams ‏@Debbie_abrahams 3m3 minutes ago
Osborne saying the same nonsense - most soc sec claimants are in work but on low pay! #marr

Debbie Abrahams ‏@Debbie_abrahams 3m3 minutes ago
The vast majority of soc sec claimants have also paid into it! More mistruths & slurs from Osborne. #marr

Debbie Abrahams ‏@Debbie_abrahams 3m3 minutes ago
Osborne confirms benefit cap will be lower than £23k outside London & again says claimants have not contributed Most on soc sec are in work!

Good. Another Labour MP using 'social security'. I hope this is how they mean to go on.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 10:28 am

Labour has warned that the BBC must appoint an “impartial” journalist to the role of political editor amid reports that Nick Robinson is to step down after 10 years in the high-profile job.

Mr Robinson, who has led the BBC’s political coverage since the days of Tony Blair, will reportedly become a presenter on the Today programme on Radio 4 this autumn.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media ... 66431.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well - that's made my day - rubbish. I suppose it doesn't matter whether the Today presenters are seen to be impartial or not. As long as they know how to do their research from the Daily Mail and fold it open in the right place.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 10:31 am

Vincent Moss ‏@vincentmoss 3m3 minutes ago
Michael Fabricant says he is happy if there are charges for BBC iplayer provided people don't have to pay licence fee too #Murnaghan

I agree with the not paying twice bit ... but how will they work that one out? Individual household accounts linked to licence numbers?

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 10:48 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:Went to see Andy Burnham speak and answer questions tonight. I will try to post something on it tomorrow but for now will just say the Welsh audience were top bods IMO.

Burnham was told in a variety of ways that Labour need to be plain and direct speaking using words that most people use and relate to rather than the political code and burble that gets spewed out. 'Narrative' should be consigned to the bin, 'ordinary' and 'hard-working' people out the window, 'aspiration' booted out with a kick up the arse ... 'vision' might just be allowed.

My favourite form of this Newspeak is "everyday people." Which was, of course, guess who.

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:01 am

The BBC. I love radio 3 passionately, and no commercial broadcaster would provide it. it feels like civilization to me.

The Tories hate it, as it is not part of the private sector, but I am not sure that should be enough to cause us to love it.

The way it is funded is a poll tax. Yes, there are some reliefs at the edges, but the poll tax had that as well. Poll taxes are not a good thing.

My viewing habits, and that of my family, means the BBC output I now watch is drastically down on, say, 20 years ago. I watch Bake off, Wolf Hall and Strictly, but pretty much that is it. I'll watch more hours of HBO this year. There just isn't as much need for tv broadcast channels as there was.

There does seem to me to be a case for cutting it back to the core activities (impartial news?) that it provides that are not available elsewhere.

Persuade me I am wrong. Why should we be funding the BBC through this poll tax?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:02 am

SpinningHugo wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:Went to see Andy Burnham speak and answer questions tonight. I will try to post something on it tomorrow but for now will just say the Welsh audience were top bods IMO.

Burnham was told in a variety of ways that Labour need to be plain and direct speaking using words that most people use and relate to rather than the political code and burble that gets spewed out. 'Narrative' should be consigned to the bin, 'ordinary' and 'hard-working' people out the window, 'aspiration' booted out with a kick up the arse ... 'vision' might just be allowed.

My favourite form of this Newspeak is "everyday people." Which was, of course, guess who.

I will - just for once - rise to that Hugo and guess - as it's you positing the Q - that it might have been Ed? Anyway, whoever it was - I agree with you that it is completely fatuous and meaningless. In fact it's Tesco speak - isn't 'everyday' essentials one of their brands?

Just to be clear though - Burnham last night wasn't himself being accused of overusing the political burble - he was pretty straightforward in his speaking - only a couple of lapses with 'narrative' I think.

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:09 am

@rebeccariots2

'And there was me thinking it were Sly and the Family Stone.

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:11 am

@SpinningHugo

Bake Off and Strictly? No wonder you feel it not worth the money.

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:17 am

utopiandreams wrote:@SpinningHugo

Bake Off and Strictly? No wonder you feel it not worth the money.

Snob!

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:21 am

Patrick O'Flynn retweeted
UKIP Info ‏@UK_IPRR 12m12 minutes ago
Former Conservative stalwart defects to UKIP in Hartlepool http://rightrelevance.com/tw/uk_iprr/61 ... ce%20party" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

and from that link here's his 'reasoning':

... Mr Moore ... said: 'I had become incredibly disillusioned with the Conservative party in Hartlepool, as they have now, to all intents and purposes, become an extension of the Labour Party'...

Eh?

Maybe they're battling with cuts to local authorities - and actually having to speak out about it?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:32 am

SpinningHugo wrote:
utopiandreams wrote:@SpinningHugo

Bake Off and Strictly? No wonder you feel it not worth the money.
Snob!

No - I watch Bake Off (not Strictly which I think is way past its sell by date and has been steadily dumbed down since its inception) but if those are the only programmes you want to watch it's a pretty narrow selection / amount of viewing - so it's fair to say it's not surprising you don't feel the BBC licence fee is worth paying.

Don't you watch any of the BBC 4 drama / docs?

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:42 am

SpinningHugo wrote:
utopiandreams wrote:@SpinningHugo

Bake Off and Strictly? No wonder you feel it not worth the money.
Snob!

Thank you kindly, SH. Well it's certainly a lot kinder than what I was being called yesterday.

Allow me to set the scene. Some time ago a supermarket was built at the bottom of our road, since which congestion has become a major problem. A few of us used to attend public council and police meetings to raise the topic and representatives from the County Council even came to a meeting with us in a renovated kiln coffee-bar with long term promises that were never delivered. I haven't been for some time but the guy opposite me has continued campaigning for what must be eight years now and is not allowed his say any more.

We have now decided to be even more awkward about how we park our cars to cause even greater tail-backs in the vain hope that people shall start using the nearby major route. Anyway we were watching and discussing the matter from the pavement opposite yesterday when I remarked to a guy who was alongside my vehicle in the face of oncoming traffic that the art of good driving was achieved by looking ahead and wasn't he embarrassed by causing such an obstruction. Let me add that I was perfectly polite whereas he could only come out with expletives. I hope his wife had words with him especially as he had young children in the back.

Anyway, me a snob? Hardly, you obviously haven't seen my dress (deliberately phrased to keep you guessing) and shock of grey hair. I've even seen schoolchildren pointing and laughing at me for it.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:46 am

May I just disagree slightly with the above to argue that "narrative" *is* a useful term on occasion - though I agree it has been grossly over-used in recent times

However, one of the first things the new Labour leader should announce is that all use of "hardworking" is henceforth banned

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:51 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:
SpinningHugo wrote:
utopiandreams wrote:@SpinningHugo

Bake Off and Strictly? No wonder you feel it not worth the money.
Snob!
No - I watch Bake Off (not Strictly which I think is way past its sell by date and has been steadily dumbed down since its inception) but if those are the only programmes you want to watch it's a pretty narrow selection / amount of viewing - so it's fair to say it's not surprising you don't feel the BBC licence fee is worth paying.

Don't you watch any of the BBC 4 drama / docs?

Not much. History docs sometimes I suppose. I watched a season of Engrenages, and thought that good, but that was a long time ago. I no longer listen to radio 4 either. That has done my health a world of good.

I am not sure it is possible to dumb down Strictly.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 11:58 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:May I just disagree slightly with the above to argue that "narrative" *is* a useful term on occasion - though I agree it has been grossly over-used in recent times

Yes, it might be useful on the odd occasion - but most times 'line' or, better still, 'myth' would probably be more accurate and useful.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:04 pm

Oh what a surprise ! not......

George Osborne’s £13bn ‘northern powerhouse’ fund includes routine council spending on potholes

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

Whoops! refresh and read before posting !!! sorry, won't let me delete

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:05 pm

Huw Irranca-Davies ‏@IrrancaDaviesMP 2m2 minutes ago
Excellent q&a at #Labourleadership hustings on Wales powers/funding, #greecereferendum , UKIP, immigration, Europe ... all in 1st 20 mins!

Is there a live stream for this ... anyone?

From the live WalesOnline reporting it sounds as though the Welsh audience are asking a great bundle of questions - again.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:31 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Huw Irranca-Davies ‏@IrrancaDaviesMP 2m2 minutes ago
Excellent q&a at #Labourleadership hustings on Wales powers/funding, #greecereferendum , UKIP, immigration, Europe ... all in 1st 20 mins!
Is there a live stream for this ... anyone?

From the live WalesOnline reporting it sounds as though the Welsh audience are asking a great bundle of questions - again.

I can only find the twitter feed for it
https://twitter.com/search?q=%20%23Labo ... lang=en-gb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:31 pm

Huw Irranca-Davies ‏@IrrancaDaviesMP 7m7 minutes ago
Impressive quality of audience q's & candidate answers at #labourhustings in Cardiff - inspiring & open debate

Echoes how I perceived the west Wales audience at last night's Andy Burnham Q & A. They were impressive.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:37 pm

From WalesOnline reporting of leadership hustings:

NEWS: All Labour candidates agree that they want to end Free Schools.

I thought Kendall was OK with continuation of Free Schools programme?

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:38 pm

NEWS: All Labour candidates agree that they want to end Free Schools (From http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/labou ... es-9589439" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )

Liz has changed her mind on that then, last time she spoke on schools she - wasn't concerned who provided education as long as it was good (paraphrased)

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:38 pm

The sun has finally come out and the torrential rain stopped (for a bit).

I must go out and plant peas while I can.

I will be back.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sun 05 Jul, 2015 12:41 pm

Wish AB would stop using "Westminster bubble!" its getting a tad boring now