Monday 16th November 2015
Posted: Mon 16 Nov, 2015 7:11 am
Morning all.
Remember Hunt saying the Tories would provide the NHS with the funds they needed? Before the election of course. Either they know what the cumulative effect of their various policies is - in which case they are just nasty liars. Or they don't even understand the ramifications of their policies and how they effect other bits of policy, spend and people - and are incompetent, nasty liars.5) NHS SMALL PRINT
The Times has a fascinating story on the small print of the introduction of the single state pension in April, with health chiefs warning it will create a ‘huge stealth cut’ of £1bn to the NHS. The abolition of the second state pension will remove the 3.4 per cent national insurance rebate that employers offering final salary schemes currently receive.
The NHS is the largest such employer, with 1.4 million staff and a pensionable pay bill of £41.4 billion, meaning the Treasury will claw back an extra £1.1 billion next year, according to NHS Employers. Will the Chancellor do anything in the autumn statement or spending review to respond?...
I found this history interesting as it helps make the connections between the evolution of the Islam religion with political history and how it shaped the Wahhabism of today that appears to underpin IS' use of terrorism. And I believe it's possible that IS is using terrorism as a tool, rather than really believing in it as a route to religious martyrdom. Many of the suicide bombers are recent converts or Westernised. It's hard not to get the impression they are being recruited in the manner of a cynical religious cult like the moonies. Meanwhile IS' aims appear to be more banal. They want to capture or recapture territory they feel is theirs and the defeated army of Saddam Hussein is undoubtedly involved in a lot of the traditional fighting on the ground in Iraq. If the recent terrorist attacks are to be viewed as traditional terrorism, then their purpose would be to put pressure on governments that have it in their power to give the terrorists what they want. The question, then, is what is it that they want, in targeting Russia and France? Do they want to frighten them out of bombing Syria, or do they want to encourage them to bomb it more? Without understanding the fundamental nature of IS, it's difficult to tell. Is it a religious extremism hellbent on creating some apocalyptic war with the West, hoping increased intervention from the west will create more IS soldiers willing to fight a religious war or are the terrorist attacks the last throw of the dice of a rather more secular movement that is finding itself being beaten back on two fronts hoping that western powers will get cold feet if the war is dumped on their doorstep? If I knew the answer to that, I could form an opinion on the question of "to bomb or not to bomb". As it is, I haven't a clue what the right thing to do would be, but my instinct is that with the US and Russia bombing anyway, there seems little point in the UK joining in at this late stage. What difference could we make? Better to concentrate on providing back up and support to the Iraqi government and Iraqi Kurds where goals are clearer. Cameron's obsession with bombing Assad 2 years ago, makes me doubtful about his motives in bombing Syria and I feel it would be preferable if he is prevented from getting involved after his disastrous intervention in Libya.Although IS is certainly an Islamic movement, it is neither typical nor mired in the distant past, because its roots are in Wahhabism, a form of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia that developed only in the 18th century.
As much as it suits Western Governments to paint this as purely a problem of Islamic fundamentalism (and, in the main, it is) the West does bear some culpability in this affair/ We, especially the British, have a long and murky history of interference in the Middle East (Blair's Iraq adventures being only the most recent) and many of the issues are a direct result of that interference; the "Islamic State" they claim to be fighting for is the one promised to them by the British Government's agent, one T.E. Lawrence, for their help in the Great War, a promise reneged upon in the aftermath of that conflict. It is astonishing, 100 years on, how we still live with the ripples of the First World War, with conflicts from the Balkans eastward having their roots in it.Willow904 wrote:Meanwhile IS' aims appear to be more banal. They want to capture or recapture territory they feel is theirs ........
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... rs-england" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;The Labour-controlled Welsh government has launched a bold and pointedly political recruitment campaign to attract junior doctors across the border from England.
Just weeks before planned strike action in England over a hugely controversial new contract, the Welsh health minister, Mark Drakeford, has released a recruitment video claiming his devolved government had a “partnership approach” to negotiations.
Drakeford is emphasising that the NHS was “born in Wales” and argues that the service there is all about getting care to the people who most need it – not to those who can afford to pay or know the right people.
For several years, David Cameron has heavily criticised the way the devolved government in Cardiff has run the health service and it was a key battleground during the election campaign...
Pretty strong stuff from John Prescott. Labour seems determined to stick by Ed Miliband's original assessment of the Syria situation, with Hilary Benn as well as Diane Abbott echoing Jeremy Corbyn's sentiment in the last couple of days - that the UK should only get involved via UN agreement and that our joining in with the bombing Syria will change little. The situation in the Middle East has never been so complicated and yet there has never been so much consensus among traditional enemies that IS has to be stopped. There appears to be a window of opportunity for real dialogue among major players, but only with a huge amount of compromise on all sides.From Afghanistan, to Iraq and Libya, Britain and the US stoked the unrest that allowed ISIS to emerge and thrive.
So we must stop all military involvement. Sending a drone to kill Mohammed ‘Jihadi John’ Emwazi may appeal to our baser instincts of vengeance.
But it will be seen in the Middle East as a state-sponsored execution.
Britain and the US as judge, jury and executioner. Just like ISIS .
I think it will intensify the Tories' attack on the the Welsh NHS tbh. But then they are / were always going to ratchett that attack up to mega volume before the Assembly elections in May next year. We've been expecting that. They will be joined by Plaid, Ukip and the Lib Dems as well.RobertSnozers wrote:Clever. If this approach disarms the Tories' attack lines on the Welsh NHS it will be well done.rebeccariots2 wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... rs-england" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;The Labour-controlled Welsh government has launched a bold and pointedly political recruitment campaign to attract junior doctors across the border from England.
Just weeks before planned strike action in England over a hugely controversial new contract, the Welsh health minister, Mark Drakeford, has released a recruitment video claiming his devolved government had a “partnership approach” to negotiations.
Drakeford is emphasising that the NHS was “born in Wales” and argues that the service there is all about getting care to the people who most need it – not to those who can afford to pay or know the right people.
For several years, David Cameron has heavily criticised the way the devolved government in Cardiff has run the health service and it was a key battleground during the election campaign...
Well Hunt should have seen that one coming. I did.
Quite extraordinary what this couple are going through - and the actions of people helping them.Ian Dunt @IanDunt 45m45 minutes ago
'I won't let the govt stop me being with my wife': one couple takes on the UK's most intrusive immigration policy http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analy ... th-my-wife" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
Its not Hodges this time no (he has actually been relatively restrained over Paris) but the if anything even more dismal and parasitical Tom Harris.yahyah wrote:Desperate stuff from the Telegraph. Not Hodges this time.
''Jeremy Corbyn doesn't even have the decency to be angry about the Paris terror attacks
The Labour leader is moving further and further from popular public opinion''
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... tacks.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Why should anger be placed above other emotions to denote someone's decency ?
Religious leaders like the Dalai Lama and the Pope would likely suggest we concentrate on other emotions, like compassion for those involved, as anger often causes physical and mental problems for the person feeling it.
The right wing really are stooping to the lowest depths on this.
You can say that again...Delivering services through private providers requires the Government to be confident that contractors are both working in the public interest and making effective use of public money. In this regard, the Government’s recent record is mixed. Following several high-profile failures in recent years – for example, Olympic security and offender tagging – the Public Accounts Committee noted that ‘problems with contracting are widespread, long-standing and rooted in the culture of the Civil Service’. The NAO has also expressed concerns about the Government’s ability to establish a ‘true and fair view of financial activity’ in academy schools and issued an adverse opinion on the DfE’s accounts as a result.
To increase the likelihood that decentralisation in England will be successful, we recommend that Whitehall adopt a principled approach to decentralisation, laying out the criteria which will govern devolution deals, and that the Treasury remain involved in the implementation phase of these deals.
I was reading about 'virtue signalling' the other day - coincidentally just about the time of the fuss about people wearing or not wearing poppies...AnatolyKasparov wrote: The hard left are often accused of "virtue signalling", sometimes with some basis. But the worst exponents of it right now seem to be the Blairite rump.
But...but...they're better than those pesky council run schools surely - everyone knows that!Warning Notice Letter to the Board of Directors of the Seckford Foundation Free Schools Trust in respect of Saxmundham Free School and Beccles Free School
Under Article 59 of the Articles of Association, the Secretary of State is able to issue a Warning Notice to the Directors of the Academy Trust if she is satisfied that the standards of performance of pupils is unacceptably low at any of the academies.
The purpose of this warning notice is to inform you, as the Directors of the Academy Trust, that the Secretary of State is satisfied that the standards of performance of pupils at Saxmundham Free School and Beccles Free School are unacceptably low. Unless the Directors take the actions listed below, the Secretary of State may appoint Additional Directors as she sees fit.
Yes, there was. Now, what was his name? Ian? Iain something-or-other. It's on the tip of my tongue. Bald chap...yahyah wrote:''Cabinet ministers will be asked today to take the axe to six-figure payoffs and pensions in a move that could save the taxpayer billions of pounds. Sick pay could also be slashed''
If they do, inhuman Tories showing their true colours again.
Will it apply to MPs ?
Wasn't there a Tory who told the media he took months off Parliament when his wife had cancer ?
UKIP DISTRIBUTE ‘FAKE JEREMY CORBYN LEAFLET’ IN OLDHAM BY-ELECTION
http://politicalscrapbook.net/2015/11/u ... -election/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is the government that sneers at suggestions of rent controls ... but only in the private sector it seems ... they want to and will impose them in the social housing sector.How ‘pay to stay’ housing will penalise disabled people like my daughter
Stacie Lewis
My daughter is severely disabled and I have cancer. Not only is there is hardly any housing for us, George Osborne’s pay to stay scheme will double our rent
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... ge-osborne" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
RDeckard 13m ago
Few things make me as sad and angry as how the Tories have treated people with disabilities. I really hate this Government.
How could I have forgotten it was him ?LadyCentauria wrote:Yes, there was. Now, what was his name? Ian? Iain something-or-other. It's on the tip of my tongue. Bald chap...yahyah wrote:''Cabinet ministers will be asked today to take the axe to six-figure payoffs and pensions in a move that could save the taxpayer billions of pounds. Sick pay could also be slashed''
If they do, inhuman Tories showing their true colours again.
Will it apply to MPs ?
Wasn't there a Tory who told the media he took months off Parliament when his wife had cancer ?
In fairness, Malala does it too.yahyah wrote:
That arrogant finger wagging thing they do...horrible.
Must be a multi cultural thing then.RobertSnozers wrote:Maybe they're all fans of Sebastian Vettelfrightful_oik wrote:In fairness, Malala does it too.yahyah wrote:
That arrogant finger wagging thing they do...horrible.
yahyah wrote:
That arrogant finger wagging thing they do...horrible.
Paul Waugh @paulwaugh 13m13 minutes ago
Labour hits back at UKIP 'dirty tricks' leaflet against Jeremy Corbyn in Oldham by-election.
http://huff.to/1NX06Tb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Electoral Commission seem to be particularly toothless ... if not downright gummy.... An Electoral Commission spokesman told HuffPost UK that the law only states that a candidate's 'imprint' should be on all leaflets, making clear who printed and published it.
As for headlines, "that's not something the Commission regulates"...
The problem with that leaflet is two out of three statements are largely true (although he has my full support for abolishing the monarchy).rebeccariots2 wrote:Paul Waugh @paulwaugh 13m13 minutes ago
Labour hits back at UKIP 'dirty tricks' leaflet against Jeremy Corbyn in Oldham by-election.
http://huff.to/1NX06Tb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;The Electoral Commission seem to be particularly toothless ... if not downright gummy.... An Electoral Commission spokesman told HuffPost UK that the law only states that a candidate's 'imprint' should be on all leaflets, making clear who printed and published it.
As for headlines, "that's not something the Commission regulates"...
Well, Tobes, that would suit OGRPPFGTCC perfectly, no?TobyLatimer wrote:Don't know if it is unique to local slang, but round these parts 'wagging' also means truancy i.e. "I'm not going to school today, I'm wagging it"