Monday 6th July 2015

LadyCentauria · Post by **LadyCentauria** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:49 am

Varoufakis has resigned:

Minister No More! http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/07/06/minister-no-more/ …

https://twitter.com/yanisvaroufakis/sta ... 16?lang=en

Edit to add: Mornin' all...

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 8:51 am

Just listened to Redwood on Toady with his Laffer Curve nonsense. Not challenged once by Montague. Wankers!

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 8:55 am

frightful_oik wrote:Just listened to Redwood on Toady with his Laffer Curve nonsense. Not challenged once by Montague. Wankers!

The answer to "Where should the tax rate be with the Laffer Cuirve in mind?" seems to be "Lower than it is now" which is a coincidence.

Morning all...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 9:16 am

Morning.

Beth Rigby ‏@BethRigby 1h1 hour ago
Varoufakis on quitting as Greek Fin min, says it will help Tsipras's negotiation: "I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride" #grexit

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 9:28 am

I missed this from last week.

Peter Oborne returns to Daily Mail
Award-winning journalist who left the Telegraph over its commercial policies will write a new weekly political column
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/j ... are_btn_tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 9:40 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:I missed this from last week.

Peter Oborne returns to Daily Mail
Award-winning journalist who left the Telegraph over its commercial policies will write a new weekly political column
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/j ... are_btn_tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Swapped places with Simon Heffer whose article on education in the DT the other day was abysmal. Everyone in education is still a Marxist apparently.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 9:45 am

Ukip and Greens demand more peers in House of Lords
Parties which won 16% of total vote at election but have only four peers in Lords argue upper chamber should see appointment according to national vote share
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... e-of-lords" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We are stuck in a kind of groundhog day, Catch 22 situation with the House of Lords. Yes - it's an unelected, unrepresentative anomaly or mess, if you prefer. But - it's currently about the only check we have on out and out Tory brutality and corporatism ... What an irony that Ukip and Greens are having to share this platform - for something they both ultimately want shot of. I can see Cameron trying to stuff the HoL full of more and more Conservative cronies and then, if they hold on to power post 2020, there'll be no progress in reforming it.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 9:47 am

RogerOThornhill wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:I missed this from last week.

Peter Oborne returns to Daily Mail
Award-winning journalist who left the Telegraph over its commercial policies will write a new weekly political column
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/j ... are_btn_tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Swapped places with Simon Heffer whose article on education in the DT the other day was abysmal. Everyone in education is still a Marxist apparently.

I wonder how Oborne is going to find the 'ethics' and tactics of the Daily Mail? He was one of those who called out the media treatment of Ed Miliband as vile and unjustified.

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 9:53 am

RogerOThornhill wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:I missed this from last week.

Peter Oborne returns to Daily Mail
Award-winning journalist who left the Telegraph over its commercial policies will write a new weekly political column
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/j ... are_btn_tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Swapped places with Simon Heffer whose article on education in the DT the other day was abysmal. Everyone in education is still a Marxist apparently.

Is Heffer still going?

I have problems with Oborne but at least he is on this planet.

mikems · Post by **mikems** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 9:54 am

It's that odd streak of naivety and childish innocence in Oborne again. The Heil is even more dishonest to its readers than the Torygraph - MMR for example. Yet, somehow, he has managed to ignore its history and practice and has taken the job.

Oborne is very much a curate's egg.

mikems · Post by **mikems** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 9:58 am

— Mike Bird (@Birdyword)
July 6, 2015

Euclid Tsakalotos had a paper in 2010 on the Greek crisis written in comic sans. Unacceptable http://t.co/HZGLEqTlP8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; pic.twitter.com/cW65NldmN7

Read the paper? 'course not, mate, wrong font.

People who declare thinks 'unacceptable' have been appointed gods, or something?

mikems · Post by **mikems** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 10:06 am

— Steve Collins (@TradeDesk_Steve)
July 6, 2015

ECB Noyer: Greece Debt To Eurosystem Cannot Be Restructured

This refers to Greek debt held by the ECB, which he says cannot be restructured because it would be monetary financing of a state.

Incredible! That's exactly what is wrong with the Euro - the ECB cannot lend to states, only to private banks. However, all other currencies operate on the basis that the central bank is not only the lender of last resort to private banks, it is also the means of funding the government, along with taxes, via bond issues and purchases. Euro states can only offer bonds to markets, not the ECB, so are constantly held to ransom by 'investors'.

The ECB is really standing alongside the markets to extort the wealth of Greece, to the benefit of bankers fearing 'contagion' i.e. the real value of their assets being exposed.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 10:22 am

mikems wrote:
— Steve Collins (@TradeDesk_Steve)
July 6, 2015

ECB Noyer: Greece Debt To Eurosystem Cannot Be Restructured

This refers to Greek debt held by the ECB, which he says cannot be restructured because it would be monetary financing of a state.
Incredible! That's exactly what is wrong with the Euro - the ECB cannot lend to states, only to private banks. However, all other currencies operate on the basis that the central bank is not only the lender of last resort to private banks, it is also the means of funding the government, along with taxes, via bond issues and purchases. Euro states can only offer bonds to markets, not the ECB, so are constantly held to ransom by 'investors'.

The ECB is really standing alongside the markets to extort the wealth of Greece, to the benefit of bankers fearing 'contagion' i.e. the real value of their assets being exposed.

What happens if Greece leaves the Euro and defaults? Won't private banks be facing even bigger losses? Or only some of them? From what I've read Deutsche Bank is vulnerable to Greek default. Except I've also read that Deutsche Bank is over-exposed to troubles in the derivatives market. Could a Greek exit from the Euro provide cover for the German government to bail out the bank at tax payers expense, blaming the Greeks for a bailout that was needed anyway because of the kind of shenanigans the Britsh banks got up to? A bit convoluted, I know, but I don't see Greece being successful within the Eurozone without some degree of debt relief, so am struggling to see why the Euro creditors are so set against this element of the package proposed by the Greek government. It's like they want Greece to crash out of the Euro even though Grexit will have huge negative repercussions across the EU.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 10:31 am

frightful_oik wrote:Just listened to Redwood on Toady with his Laffer Curve nonsense. Not challenged once by Montague. Wankers!

Apparently again made the claim that having the top rate of tax at 45p raises more money than it does at 50p - something demolished many times now as fictional.

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 10:49 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
frightful_oik wrote:Just listened to Redwood on Toady with his Laffer Curve nonsense. Not challenged once by Montague. Wankers!
Apparently again made the claim that having the top rate of tax at 45p raises more money than it does at 50p - something demolished many times now as fictional.

or, at very best, there is zero evidence for. i am fairly shocked that they let him say that unchallenged.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 11:00 am

Had to chuckle this morning at a tweet of a right wing press outlet's headline calling Jeremy Corbyn a 'firebrand'.

They are totally unreconstructed in their perspective and descriptions aren't they ... when, if ever, will they move on a bit?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 11:10 am

Ben Chu ‏@BenChu_ 49m49 minutes ago
30% remain in poverty after entering employment say @ONS in an unusually pertinent piece of analysis: http://visual.ons.gov.uk/in-work-poverty/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 11:16 am

I've forgotten who it is here who's smitten by Varoufakis, but this is for them.

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
link courtesy of G finance blog.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 11:16 am

Morning

http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/med ... et-for-it/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Will wages fill the tax credit gap? Don’t Budget for it

Gavin Kelly Resolution Foundation

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 11:19 am

Nick Pearce, IPPR ‏@IPPR_NickP 19m19 minutes ago
To disabuse yourself of all the rubbish written about tax credits and the NMW-Living Wage, read this by Gavin Kelly: http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/med ... et-for-it/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

Nor – contrary to endless media repetition – is the Living Wage set at a level that would permit households to cope without in-work support. Its calculation is predicated on full take-up of tax credits, housing benefit and so on. If in-work support is cut then, as night follows day, the Living Wage will rise. For example, if we exclude in-work support then the level of the London Living Wage leaps from £9.15 to £11.65; 80 per cent higher than the current minimum wage. Anyone thinking that something like this might happen anytime soon needs to take a long walk.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 11:20 am

Sorry HindleA. We've snap-cross-posted. Great minds eh.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 11:21 am

gilsey wrote:I've forgotten who it is here who's smitten by Varoufakis, but this is for them.

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
link courtesy of AS blog.

I think it's ephemerid who has owned up to finding him swoonable.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 11:23 am

mikems wrote:
— Steve Collins (@TradeDesk_Steve)
July 6, 2015

ECB Noyer: Greece Debt To Eurosystem Cannot Be Restructured

This refers to Greek debt held by the ECB, which he says cannot be restructured because it would be monetary financing of a state.
Incredible! That's exactly what is wrong with the Euro - the ECB cannot lend to states, only to private banks. However, all other currencies operate on the basis that the central bank is not only the lender of last resort to private banks, it is also the means of funding the government, along with taxes, via bond issues and purchases. Euro states can only offer bonds to markets, not the ECB, so are constantly held to ransom by 'investors'.

The ECB is really standing alongside the markets to extort the wealth of Greece, to the benefit of bankers fearing 'contagion' i.e. the real value of their assets being exposed.

The central bank has to be solvent, and thought to be solvent by the markets, I can understand that. And the IMF's position, because it can't really let Greece off too much given that it usually lends to much poorer countries.

The people who have to write off the debt are the other member states. Greeces owes Germany 60bn Euros, France 42bn, Itay 37bn, Spain 25bn.

Should have done this before.

mikems · Post by **mikems** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 11:43 am

Willow - I don't think Greece will or can leave the Euro. And I don't believe for one second that Germany wants them to. As to what happens next, I think it has to be debt renegotiation and write off and a change of rules in the Eurozone governing bonds and debt balances across the area.

The last major crisis - when Spanish and Italian bonds became almost worthless, the ECB created new mechanisms whereby governments could borrow emergency funding from a newly created fund. They always said it was impossible, just as they now say debt write off is impossible. But, in reality, it is better than uncontrolled crisis running amok through the financial system again, so is more likely than anything else in my opinion.

Tubby - the real problem is imbalances between the German and peripheral economies, exacerbated by the lack of redistributive mechanisms and investment plans in the Euro area as a whole. All that is left to the 'markets'. But that is why countries are massively in debt to the more advanced countries. The article linked in the wrong font is a good explanation of this.

The ECB will always be solvent, because it controls its own currency. It is forcing insolvency onto the governments that no longer control their own currencies.

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 12:21 pm

' Piketty: Germany is just such a state. But wait: history shows us two ways for an indebted state to leave delinquency. One was demonstrated by the British Empire in the 19th century after its expensive wars with Napoleon. It is the slow method that is now being recommended to Greece. The Empire repaid its debts through strict budgetary discipline. This worked, but it took an extremely long time. For over 100 years, the British gave up two to three percent of their economy to repay its debts, which was more than they spent on schools and education. That didn’t have to happen, and it shouldn’t happen today. The second method is much faster. Germany proved it in the 20th century. Essentially, it consists of three components: inflation, a special tax on private wealth, and debt relief.

ZEIT: So you’re telling us that the German Wirtschaftswunder [“economic miracle”] was based on the same kind of debt relief that we deny Greece today?

Piketty: Exactly. After the war ended in 1945, Germany’s debt amounted to over 200% of its GDP. Ten years later, little of that remained: public debt was less than 20% of GDP. Around the same time, France managed a similarly artful turnaround. We never would have managed this unbelievably fast reduction in debt through the fiscal discipline that we today recommend to Greece. Instead, both of our states employed the second method with the three components that I mentioned, including debt relief. Think about the London Debt Agreement of 1953, where 60% of German foreign debt was cancelled and its internal debts were restructured.'

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

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 1:35 pm

mikems wrote:Willow - I don't think Greece will or can leave the Euro. And I don't believe for one second that Germany wants them to. As to what happens next, I think it has to be debt renegotiation and write off and a change of rules in the Eurozone governing bonds and debt balances across the area.

The last major crisis - when Spanish and Italian bonds became almost worthless, the ECB created new mechanisms whereby governments could borrow emergency funding from a newly created fund. They always said it was impossible, just as they now say debt write off is impossible. But, in reality, it is better than uncontrolled crisis running amok through the financial system again, so is more likely than anything else in my opinion.

Tubby - the real problem is imbalances between the German and peripheral economies, exacerbated by the lack of redistributive mechanisms and investment plans in the Euro area as a whole. All that is left to the 'markets'. But that is why countries are massively in debt to the more advanced countries. The article linked in the wrong font is a good explanation of this.

The ECB will always be solvent, because it controls its own currency. It is forcing insolvency onto the governments that no longer control their own currencies.

The underlying problem is the imbalance- though Germany has forked out a fortune in structural funds for years to Greece and others.

The ECB can in theory print lots more money for Greece etc, but the currency would become too weak. Italy and Spain and their banks have been judged solvent, FWIW. Greece was in a different league of terrible.

The country more than other done over was Ireland.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 2:34 pm

I think a good move for Tsipras to stand down Varoufakis. He was poisonous among the creditors, though the provocation of him was extreme.

France and the IMF (who are better than the Eurozone members at the moment) might have proposed this, and if so there'll be some quid pro quo.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 2:43 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
gilsey wrote:I've forgotten who it is here who's smitten by Varoufakis, but this is for them.

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
link courtesy of AS blog.
I think it's ephemerid who has owned up to finding him swoonable.

It was indeed me, Ms.Riots.

Thank you gilsey. He was stunning as a young man - and he's very attractive now.

I think I need a lie down......

Before I collapse in a swooning heap, I'm letting you know that there is a new post on TGS's blog if any of you are interested.
I'm writing a series entitled the Essential Guides to Tory Britain. Number 1 is "How to be ill".

Toodlepip.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 3:40 pm

More vindication for the best Education Secretary for 50 years. Olympic legacy duly blown.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/j ... rs-plummet" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just three of the 26 Olympic sports – athletics, cycling and gymnastics – have seen statistically significant increases in participation since 2012-13, with 15 other sports recording a fall.

The Sports Think Tank survey also revealed a strong preference for “fresh thinking and independent input” into the government’s looming green paper process. Strikingly, less than 10% thought the government’s primary school sports premium, the £150m scheme that was the eventual replacement for the schools sport partnerships axed by Michael Gove, was effective.

Ofsted were positive about School Sports Partnerships.

First "key finding"

Collaborative planning across a number of schools and at a strategic level is
increasing the capacity of individual schools to improve the quality and quantity
of PE and sport.

Gove duly bribes schools to leave their LAs and hands them a (reduced) budget.

This is worse than the horlicks he made of careers advice.

ScarletGas · Post by **ScarletGas** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 3:40 pm

G'Day,

I must admit I am in somewhat of a dilemma over our potential continued membership of EU.

Until retirement I was the Vice-President of an American multi national company responsible for activities outside of the Americas. As such I spent a considerable amount of my time working and travelling around Europe. This experience convinced me of the significant business benefits of belonging to the EU.

Since leaving the full time business world (although I do some occasional consultancy work) I have spent quite a bit of time in Greece every year. This is mainly on the islands and varies between one week and three months pretty much every year. Doing so has meant I have made many friends amongst the Greek (and ex pat) community and have seen both their family life and day to day activities. This experience has given me a different perspective of activities of the EU,particularly over the past few months.

My quandary is here is questioning whether the EU is (or should be) a fundamentally business/financial organisation or a community in the real sense of the word. It seems to me to be confused about is purpose in life.

Now we can all point the finger at Greece because it is clear they have made some pretty awful decisions financially.This,however, is also true of Brussels. I have to say though that some of the more lurid tales of undoubted propaganda coming from Brussels and Berlin are just that and one should not forget that this crisis was made in Athens mainly just as our crisis was made mainly in the square mile.

How the EU respond to what potentially is developing from a financial into an humanitarian crisis during the coming days will be interesting.If they continue to play hardball I suggest this will colour the judgment of both myself and a great many people as to our continued involvement in this organisation.

Mrs Merkel had better play her hand very carefully this week otherwise she could be facing an even bigger problem further down the line. I guess its make your mind up time!

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 3:49 pm

Whatever the EU is, we'd have to do what it decides in very important areas. Leaving it is a bad idea.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 4:07 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:Whatever the EU is, we'd have to do what it decides in very important areas. Leaving it is a bad idea.

Absolutely.

And not all the EU wants to drive the Greeks into penury (the French don't, for example)

I still remain (perhaps naively) hopeful that senior people in Brussels will see sense (as even the IMF seem to have done)

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 4:33 pm

The national leaders are the really powerful ones in the EU, and especially in a situation like this one which wasn't foreseen.

I would think Brussels insiders have been incredulous at the woeful diplomacy of especially Schauble. A friend of mine was working in the EU when Cameron did his veto bollocks. He and I assume others were gobsmacked by his awful negotiating tactics- if indeed he ever intended to reach an agreement at all.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 5:16 pm

ScarletGas wrote:G'Day,

I must admit I am in somewhat of a dilemma over our potential continued membership of EU.

Until retirement I was the Vice-President of an American multi national company responsible for activities outside of the Americas. As such I spent a considerable amount of my time working and travelling around Europe. This experience convinced me of the significant business benefits of belonging to the EU.

Since leaving the full time business world (although I do some occasional consultancy work) I have spent quite a bit of time in Greece every year. This is mainly on the islands and varies between one week and three months pretty much every year. Doing so has meant I have made many friends amongst the Greek (and ex pat) community and have seen both their family life and day to day activities. This experience has given me a different perspective of activities of the EU,particularly over the past few months.

My quandary is here is questioning whether the EU is (or should be) a fundamentally business/financial organisation or a community in the real sense of the word. It seems to me to be confused about is purpose in life.

Now we can all point the finger at Greece because it is clear they have made some pretty awful decisions financially.This,however, is also true of Brussels. I have to say though that some of the more lurid tales of undoubted propaganda coming from Brussels and Berlin are just that and one should not forget that this crisis was made in Athens mainly just as our crisis was made mainly in the square mile.

How the EU respond to what potentially is developing from a financial into an humanitarian crisis during the coming days will be interesting.If they continue to play hardball I suggest this will colour the judgment of both myself and a great many people as to our continued involvement in this organisation.

Mrs Merkel had better play her hand very carefully this week otherwise she could be facing an even bigger problem further down the line. I guess its make your mind up time!

Mr Riots worked and lived in Greece as a young man ... has always had a very soft spot for it and its people ever since ... and tries to go back regularly. Mrs Merkel and co have already decided him that he wants out of Europe now ... never thought he would reach that point but he has. I haven't quite got there yet ... but this kind of behaviour and looming TTIP is certainly going to make me think very hard pre referendum.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 5:36 pm

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

Terminally ill benefit claimants asked when they expect to die, MP says

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 5:48 pm

HindleA wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... ie-mp-says

Terminally ill benefit claimants asked when they expect to die, MP says

Beyond disgusting. And it's Frank Field that has raised it ...

The claimant, once found by the doctor to be terminally ill, is not supposed to meet any qualifying period for a claim, and should get the highest rate of claim.

In a letter sent to Duncan Smith on 30 June, Field writes: “My constituents tell me that despite submitting a DS 1500 form drawing attention to a terminal illness, they have been asked directly to their face whether they think they will soon die and by what date they expect to be dead. In one case my constituent’s mother was asked by when she expected her daughter to die and in front of her daughter.”

He continued: “This has left my constituents feeling understandably very upset. They tell me they are appalled by the hardness of the questioning and its intrusiveness.”

The DWP said: “Claims from people with a terminal illness are fast-tracked using ‘special rules’, where we pay the highest rate of care immediately without a face-to-face assessment.

“All claims are dealt with fairly, sensitively and compassionately by specially-trained staff – they do not ask specifics around life expectancy.”

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 5:58 pm

To be fair to Gove, the "dynamic" West London Free School promoted sport. Albeit for the headmaster and his mates.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:02 pm

Ministers consider shelving personal liability cap for long-term care costs
Senior figures in the social care sector say the idea of ‘pausing’ cost cap, due to be brought in next April, is being discussed urgently in Whitehall
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... care-costs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They are truly surpassing themselves on compassion and broken manifesto commitments today.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:05 pm

Ah well at least we avoid "Labour's death tax".

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:07 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Mr Riots worked and lived in Greece as a young man ... has always had a very soft spot for it and its people ever since ... and tries to go back regularly. Mrs Merkel and co have already decided him that he wants out of Europe now ... never thought he would reach that point but he has. I haven't quite got there yet ... but this kind of behaviour and looming TTIP is certainly going to make me think very hard pre referendum.

Just on the point of TTIP, non-EU members are likely to be in at as well. The EU/US aren't going to say "We've agreed a load of conditions ourselves, you guys just pick out the bits you want."

Not to get the Troika off the hook, but Greece is by far the most responsible for its state. Very good article on that here-

https://www.opendemocracy.net/openecono ... k-politics" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You don't run up debts like that and have the international community running to your aid with a nice Keynsian loan so that you can grow your way out of debt.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:10 pm

UK Stats Authority has written back to J.Portes concerning DWP press releases concerning stats on sanction and on the Work Programme.Can be downloaded here :-

http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/r ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:20 pm

Chris Bryant MP retweeted
[Restricted] Animal ‏@politic_animal 26m26 minutes ago
[Restricted] Animal retweeted Kirsty Blackman
Head. Desk. Grayling.

Kirsty BlackmanVerified account
‏@AbdnNorthKirsty
Just raised with the Speaker that I got this response on what legislation is England only. Scotland Bill is included!

And there were several 'England and Wales' inclusions too ...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:22 pm

Ian Lucas ‏@IanCLucas 25m25 minutes ago
Why are Tory MPs from Wales selling us down the river? #EVEL is an outrage.

Because it's all about power for the Tories ... that's why. Forget the people and country you are actually supposed to represent.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:23 pm

HindleA wrote:UK Stats Authority has written back to J.Portes concerning DWP press releases concerning stats on sanction and on the Work Programme.Can be downloaded here :-

http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/r ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good spot. Replies to Warwick Mansell and Kevin Brennan too.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:28 pm

Boris Johnson: cut top rate of income tax but only if firms pay living wage
London mayor backs calls to cut top rate from 45p to 40p but says ‘business has got to start paying people a wage they can live on’
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... iving-wage" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wasn't that a Labour election manifesto policy?

And isn't Osborne about to crib another from Labour re scrapping the inherited non dom status?

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:34 pm

Johnson is doing the "tax credits muck up the market" bollocks.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:41 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:Johnson is doing the "tax credits muck up the market" bollocks.

Is that some kind of medieval dance step? (or possibly Greek in origin?)

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:43 pm

Minor telling off by Uk Stats for Nick Gibb and others, but does say they didn't misrepresent stats.

We have some constructive suggestions that might minimise the possibility of
misinterpretation.

 Commenting on the limitations would make it clearer to Ministers and to other users
that the statistics could not be used to infer a causal link between school type and
either attainment or rates of improvement.
 Making informed references to DfE’s and other research findings, and reflecting these
in the choice and presentation of analyses would enable the user to make valid
comparisons.
 Presenting informative commentary that takes account of the Authority’s report
Official Statistics, performance measurement and targets3 would enhance the
trustworthiness, quality and value of these National Statistics.

I look forward to seeing these improvements incorporated into future National Statistics
publications. I have replied separately to the correspondence we received on this issue, and
the exchange of correspondence has been published on the Authority’s website

You think Gibb and all are going to do this?

The stats, if you follow through the DfE logic, would say there was no point in an LA school becoming a converter academy.

Could have saved everyone a lot of trouble.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:45 pm

https://fullfact.org/factcheck/economy/ ... work-46226" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regarding the lies about the benefit cap

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 06 Jul, 2015 6:57 pm

AndrewSparrow retweeted
Lewis Goodall ‏@lewis_goodall 54m54 minutes ago Rendlesham, England
Peter Mandelson told me that Labour has "gone to sleep" since the election: http://bbc.in/1LNVCg6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; #newsnight

Mandelson the undead should go for a long long sleep himself.

WTF is he on about now?