Thursday 4th February 2016

[StephenDolan]

Morning all.

After my moan about PoliticsHome the other day I've been visiting less and less. Today I think I'll stop altogether. The top political story of the day is.... drumroll....

Comedian would vote for the SNP instead of Labour. https://www.politicshome.com/party-poli ... ote-labour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HindleA]

Morning

Here we go:-


http://www.cityam.com/233751/reform-thi ... ts-in-half" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Reform think tank proposes radical cuts to disability budget by cutting benefits in half

http://www.reform.uk/publication/employ ... or-change/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.reform.uk/publication/workin ... -benefits/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/f ... er-cameron" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Young working-class homeowners 'down 20% under Cameron'

[HindleA]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35488204" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Age UK energy deals with E.On to be examined by Ofgem

[Willow904]

Morning

Here we go:-


http://www.cityam.com/233751/reform-thi ... ts-in-half" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Reform think tank proposes radical cuts to disability budget by cutting benefits in half

http://www.reform.uk/publication/employ ... or-change/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's really annoying, isn't it? Some people are signed off work because they have conditions that could kill them if they attempt to do any work. Giving them unconditional support is just about as far removed from "failing" such people as you could possibly get. We have more people on incapacity benefit than we used to because, thanks to improvements in the NHS, fewer people die of their illnesses and thanks to wider awareness, more people with mental health conditions are getting the help they need. How could anyone term either of these developments a bad thingl

[HindleA]

Deleted.

[rebeccariots2]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35488204

Age UK energy deals with E.On to be examined by Ofgem

This deal / relationship has been going on a very long time. It was brought in while I was working for them. At the beginning there was a clear reduced price that was offered to pensioners signing up I believe - but that was back in the days when energy companies were doing all their new signing ups and competing hard with each other. After a few years the terms changed and I think it was fairly well known that the deal wasn't that great anymore ... for customer that is. It seems to have been working OK for Age UK if the amount of money cited is correct.

[rebeccariots2]

BBC Radio 4 Today ‏@BBCr4today 59m59 minutes ago
EU renegotiation “was never going to” lower immigration to UK says Alan Johnson, leader of Labour In for Britain

[rebeccariots2]

Labour Press Team ‏@labourpress 14m14 minutes ago
Cameron promised to keep the free bus pass but he cut the buses instead @DanielZeichner http://goo.gl/iLOZ5g" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It really annoys me that the Labour Press statements never give a link to the source they are about. What would it take to put a link to the campaign for better transport's report that is out today ....? I thought that was a standard thing to do.

[HindleA]

Agreed.

http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/beech ... -wiped-out" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rebeccariots2]

This tells you a lot more than the Labour press statement.

BBC News EnglandVerified account
‏@BBCEngland
Rural bus services face being wiped out by council budget cuts, campaigners warn http://bbc.in/1X4M8ko" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... The Campaign for Better Transport says reductions in local authority funding had already resulted in thousands of bus services being reduced or cancelled in recent years.
According to its research, people in Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Somerset, Dorset, West Berkshire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, North Yorkshire and Lancashire will be among the worst affected.
Oxfordshire County Council says it is looking to save nearly £4m by cutting subsidies to more than 100 routes. It told the BBC it had been left with no choice but to include buses in the services it was cutting, because of an overall reduction in government funding to councils.
Martin Abrams, from the Campaign for Better Transport, said: "Up and down the country utterly devastating cuts are now being inflicted on our vital bus services on a par with the swingeing and misguided cuts the government and Dr Beeching made to our rail network which decimated services back in the 1960s."...

[rebeccariots2]

What a farce! PM's EU deal unravels as it emerges migrants from some countries will get HIGHER child benefits than UK families
David Cameron's EU deal is set to allow migrants with children overseas to be paid British child benefits at rates in line with the local cost of living
Some migrants could receive more than British workers with families in UK
Falls well short of manifesto pledge to stop child benefit being sent abroad
For more on Cameron's EU reforms visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itain.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can imagine the comments BTL.

[rebeccariots2]

From today's Waugh Zone email - he's going with the spirit of farce ...

... And there’s one bit of stage management the Eurosceps have long predicted: they say Boris looks like he’s going to come on board after the PM yesterday offered that pledge to do more on UK Parliamentary sovereignty. Again, critics smell a rat, not least given the UK doesn’t have a constitution to match Germany’s constitutional court.

And No.10 admitted to us at Lobby that the 1972 European Act - which make EU law supreme over UK law - remains in place. Add in the fact that this 'new law' will be unveiled only at the time of the EU summit, even though it could be unveiled now, and you see why there's fresh irritation among some Tory MPs that they're being taken for fools.

Michael Gove, who’s tasked with delivering the beefed up sovereignty plan, is ‘torn between personal loyalty to the prime minister and his conscience’, The Times says.

IDS, who yesterday looked like he was sucking on a Toxic Waste supersour sweet, is of course a proper Outer. And he could break ranks rather than opine about his loyalty issues. Robert Peston said on ITV last night IDS could speak out before the summit, not after it...

The new 'sovereignty' bill is pure stage management - utterly inimical to and stupid alongside membership of the EU. They all know that ... once again they treat the electorate like a bunch of fools (and I use that word 'bunch' deliberately as it seems to be Cameron's choice for showing contempt towards a group of people).

[Willow904]

Interesting post last night from mbc1955 about Harry Leslie Smith and a possible Guido Fawkes trashing. Zelo St blog on Alex Wickham asking HLS's publishers about who contributes to his Twitter feed here http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/ ... usted.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I find it interesting that this blog attracted a number of anonymous commenters BTL mostly along the lines of 'I'm not a Tory shill but what's wrong with this?' Or 'I'm a leftwinger but I think the question needs to be asked'. More than one used very similar words indeed to the Louise Mensch tweet questioning how he can tweet so much/fast when he says he needs a magnifying glass to read.

This seems to me to be swiftboating. It wouldn't surprise me if the word has gone round (plenty of links between Guido and the Murdoch press etc, not to mention that YBF rabble) that this question should be thrown around as much as possible to raise doubt about HLS.

It's also a typically right wing style of attack, as seen used by our own PM in the Commons yesterday, to take a fact and use it to misrepresent the truth. E.g. Constantly repeating Andy Burnham saying that increasing spending on the NHS was irresponsible (he said increasing it at the expense of social care was irresponsible). In this case, HLS said he needed a magnifying glass to read newsprint. When online he can simply increase the size of the text.

I find it a bit rich of Mensch, who recently made a BBC programme about being the victim of trolling, to take part in an attack on a 92 year old who fought in WW2 and has shown more energy than most people half his age in trying to change things for the better.

The attacks on HarrysLastStand by Mensch were pretty faux, asking people to be "shocked" about things which weren't presented as facts, but as possibilities - "isn't it shocking a twitter account could be used by more than one person". Um..no. Pretty obvious really. Happens all the time. "Isn't it shocking and ageist that someone could exploit Harry to put out left wing propaganda?". Um...isn't it ageist to suggest someone is unable to make an informed decision about who they allow to tweet on their behalf, just because they're old? Next she'll be saying that Harry had some help from an editor writing his book! Or that the publishers spent money promoting it on social media! None of which makes Harry any less a real person who cares about the NHS. If everyone in politics was limited to only communicating their ideas and beliefs in their own words with no help, Cameron would have nothing to say. Who tweets for Cameron? And of course, it's only a possibility that other people tweet for Harry anyway. Does Mensch really think Harry didn't choose to tell his story, didn't choose to attend a Labour conference? Such attacks are really poisonous and really disrespectful of this person's choice to campaign for Labour.

[HindleA]

Well put

[Eric_WLothian]

Morning all.

After my moan about PoliticsHome the other day I've been visiting less and less. Today I think I'll stop altogether. The top political story of the day is.... drumroll....

Comedian would vote for the SNP instead of Labour. https://www.politicshome.com/party-poli ... ote-labour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wow... stop the presses... independence supporter to vote SNP...

From an article on the STV Hogmanay show:

For those fortunate enough to miss the programme, it is worth explaining that Nicola Sturgeon, her mother Joan and sister Gillian appeared on Elaine C Smith’s “Burdz Eye View of Hogmanay”...

Although politics was not discussed, many could not help but notice that STV had concocted something akin to “Natvision”.
The hostess is a prominent supporter of independence, who played a high-profile role during the referendum (Elaine C Smith was on Yes Scotland’s advisory board). The only other guest, the comedienne Janey Godley, was also prominent on the Yes side.
Some 37 viewers were sufficiently irritated that they went to the bother of making a complaint to the TV watchdog Ofcom after watching the Sturgeon clan discuss the delights of first-footing, Black Buns, lumps of coal and other Scottish New Year rituals.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/tom-peterk ... -1-3993856

You're right - a totally pointless story. (Does anybody really care what comedians and actors think)?
The Scotsman article is quite amusing - worth a read

[Willow904]

What a farce! PM's EU deal unravels as it emerges migrants from some countries will get HIGHER child benefits than UK families
David Cameron's EU deal is set to allow migrants with children overseas to be paid British child benefits at rates in line with the local cost of living
Some migrants could receive more than British workers with families in UK
Falls well short of manifesto pledge to stop child benefit being sent abroad
For more on Cameron's EU reforms visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itain.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can imagine the comments BTL.

The Mail is going to go full 'kipper' I take it. With major popular newspapers campaigning for out, is it possible Cameron could actually lose this stupid referendum? I'm really rather worried about what might happen to this country if we actually left the EU. I tried to convince my dad that on immigration, leaving the EU is only half the battle, you then have to get a party against immigration, like Ukip, into government and what's the chances of that, but he was adamant that the mere possibility of being able to stop immigration was worth it as at the moment in the EU we have no choice. My dad campaigned against joining the Common Market back in the day, even went on marches. It's all muddled up in his head with protecting British jobs for British people, protecting pay, all the old union arguments from years ago. He's completely unaware of how these days belonging to the EU protects workers rights in this country, he's unaware of the attacks on pay and conditions that the Tories have been proposing and promoting, how they would outlaw unions if it wasn't so clearly in breach of the democratic rights EU member states are expected to adhere to. There could be a lot of people out there like my dad who genuinely believe voting out is in the interests of working class people. It's very worrying. My mum's always been a liberal, so at least she's likely to vote in, as the Libdems are pro-EU.

[RogerOThornhill]

Morning.

I notice Shell are the latest after BP to announce failing profits.

Falling profits means lower corporation tax to come.

Now...anyone think it might have been wise when the oil price dropped to stick a few pence on fuel duty to get some more money for the Exchequer?

Just sayin'...

Incidentally I notice someone else was "just saying'" this morning. They need to understand that "them" does not mean "us". Context and grammar are so important...

[AnatolyKasparov]

The comments beneath that Fenton piece on smearing HLS are so transparent, aren't they? "As a genuine left winger......." - yeah, right

[Willow904]

Morning.

I notice Shell are the latest after BP to announce failing profits.

Falling profits means lower corporation tax to come.

Now...anyone think it might have been wise when the oil price dropped to stick a few pence on fuel duty to get some more money for the Exchequer?

Just sayin'...

Incidentally I notice someone else was "just saying'" this morning. They need to understand that "them" does not mean "us". Context and grammar are so important...

Not just wise, but what Osborne committed to do when he temporarily suspended the fuel price escalator when prices were high. It's almost as if he doesn't want to collect tax to spend on public investment and services......oh, that's right, he doesn't

[nickyinnorfolk]

Morning all.

After my moan about PoliticsHome the other day I've been visiting less and less. Today I think I'll stop altogether. The top political story of the day is.... drumroll....

Comedian would vote for the SNP instead of Labour. https://www.politicshome.com/party-poli ... ote-labour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As you say, scraping the barrel a bit in the bash Labour stakes. Anyway, Janey Godley? Who she? (as Private Eye would put it)

It's hardly surprising Godley is SNP - it's the easy option unless she wants to be monstered by the Cybernats. Her compatriot comedienne, Susan Calman, described two years ago the flak she got for making some jokey comments on the News Quiz about the Indy ref:

Being honest, I think the whole process surrounding Scottish independence is funny. There’s more propaganda, from both sides, than North Korea produces in a decade … I’ve talked about a lot of things in my comedy career – my sexuality, capital punishment, depression, cats.

But nothing, and I mean nothing, has ever created such a sh*t storm of aggression than when I’ve talked about Scottish Politics.

The Scotsman reported:

The Glaswegian comedienne has written a blog lamenting the aggression, bullying and sense of humour failure that many believe has characterised online discussion of the Scottish political scene.

In her blog, Ms Calman pledged to “keep laughing” about Scottish politics despite the poisonous criticism she received for daring to make fun of the referendum debate on BBC Radio 4’s News Quiz.

On the programme, hosted by Sandi Toksvig, Ms Calman made some light-hearted observations about the SNP’s policy shift that has seen the party abandon the euro in favour of the pound after independence.

Also subject to Ms Calman’s gentle mickey-taking were Conservative ministers and the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander (“like a ginger Supergran”).

Ms Calman made the point that the Scottish people needed to know what independence would mean for Scotland.

“At the moment it is just two people shouting, ‘Aye, we will have it’ and someone going ‘No, we won’t’,” she said.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/s ... -1-2914670" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RogerOThornhill]

I notice that Ofsted are putting the boot into the largest academy chain AET.

Ofsted: England’s largest multi-academy trust is ‘failing too many pupils’

http://schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-england ... ny-pupils/

England’s largest multi-academy trust is failing too many pupils, with “mediocre” secondary academies, unacceptably low attendance and poor children doing particularly badly, Ofsted has warned.

Following a focused inspection of some of Academies Enterprise Trust’s 67 schools last November, the inspectorate has published a highly critical letter describing the trust’s performance and progress.

See if you can spot what the problem might have been from this data - the second column is when the schools that were transferred in 2014 were taken over by them.



Seven schools taken on in 2012 were handed back in 2014...anyone in the DfE going to admit that this was forcing them to expand too quickly? Not likely.

[rebeccariots2]

Think Trains Are Bad Now.jpg (42.47 KiB) Viewed 6999 times

Red Box ‏@timesredbox 41m41 minutes ago
"Two decades after its creation, the privatised railway is flourishing" says @claire4devizes http://www.thetimes.co.uk/redbox/topic/ ... vatisation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

She really knows how to sell a message, eh.

[rebeccariots2]

Andy Slaughter MP Retweeted
Ian Katz ‏@iankatz1000 26m26 minutes ago
Committee of MPs says it heard "overwhelming evidence" that Saudi led coalition violated intl law using UK weapons

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... ns-disease" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Phil Brehaut has Parkinson’s. Threatening to cut his benefits won’t help him back to work

[Tubby Isaacs]

Think Trains Are Bad Now.jpg

Red Box ‏@timesredbox 41m41 minutes ago
"Two decades after its creation, the privatised railway is flourishing" says @claire4devizes http://www.thetimes.co.uk/redbox/topic/ ... vatisation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

She really knows how to sell a message, eh.

I'm guessing "victim of own success" gets a run out.

[rebeccariots2]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... ns-disease
Phil Brehaut has Parkinson’s. Threatening to cut his benefits won’t help him back to work

Absolutely awful.

Stupid question coming ... why don't organisations such as the Parkinsons Society and medical specialists in the field make some kind of judicial challenge - as this isn't a condition that you can simply 'recover' from - as the assessor appeared to believe - why aren't people with a diagnosis who have already found themselves unable to carry on working taken out of the work related activity group? The hideous contradictions in what has been imposed on this man and wife show just how stupid and completely unrelated to evidence this scheme is. There must be other such diseases and conditions that - failing some amazing medical breakthrough

[ohsocynical]

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/f ... er-cameron

Young working-class homeowners 'down 20% under Cameron'

It's all going to plan then. He will be pleased.

[StephenDolan]

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/f ... er-cameron

Young working-class homeowners 'down 20% under Cameron'

It's all going to plan then. He will be pleased.

Perhaps some of the press pack accompanying HiVizOs at Sandbach can ask him about this when he talks about how marvellous Help To Buy is.

[ohsocynical]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35488204

Age UK energy deals with E.On to be examined by Ofgem

This deal / relationship has been going on a very long time. It was brought in while I was working for them. At the beginning there was a clear reduced price that was offered to pensioners signing up I believe - but that was back in the days when energy companies were doing all their new signing ups and competing hard with each other. After a few years the terms changed and I think it was fairly well known that the deal wasn't that great anymore ... for customer that is. It seems to have been working OK for Age UK if the amount of money cited is correct.

I think I'd better check out our bills because we signed up with EON through Age UK quite a few years ago. It was a good deal at the time but I do have problems getting my head around tariffs and the like, so once I got settled in with them, failed to keep an eye on what I'm paying. I'd assumed the deal was permanent. My bad. I should have known better.

Naughty of them, because as you get older ... or in my case as I've got older, I have less and less energy or the will to want to cope with it.

[citizenJA]

Well put

Yes, Willow and RobertSnozers write well.
The deliberate sophistry, lying disingenuous attacks on those with integrity sicken me.

[citizenJA]

Good-morning, everyone

[ohsocynical]

What a farce! PM's EU deal unravels as it emerges migrants from some countries will get HIGHER child benefits than UK families
David Cameron's EU deal is set to allow migrants with children overseas to be paid British child benefits at rates in line with the local cost of living
Some migrants could receive more than British workers with families in UK
Falls well short of manifesto pledge to stop child benefit being sent abroad
For more on Cameron's EU reforms visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itain.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can imagine the comments BTL.

It seems to me that every single thing he suggests or says he wants to see happen, is guaranteed to stoke up more distrust and hatred of immigrants.

It has to be deliberate.

[ohsocynical]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... ns-disease
Phil Brehaut has Parkinson’s. Threatening to cut his benefits won’t help him back to work

Billy Connelly has Parkinsons...Each time you see him on TV he's a little more disabled. He's stiffer, unable now to play his banjo. It's progressive. And to deny the effects of diseases like it is beyond belief.

For a long time I've wondered if watching a celebrity who has a progressive disease; seeing them still performing [because even an interview is performing when you're a celebrity,] and chirpily [I don't mean that to sound disrespectful] saying that it isn't going to stop them 'working' gives a skewed impression?

[citizenJA]

The comments beneath that Fenton piece on smearing HLS are so transparent, aren't they? "As a genuine left winger......." - yeah, right

Exactly.
'It pains me to say it because I'm loyally left-wing...'
Doubtful about loyalty or left-wing.
The only pain is reading fakes' lies.
It's particularly bad again, that kind of junk below the line.
It seems to come in waves.

It's useful for liars to use this tactic because most people like to get along with others and exchange information with each other. Fake left-wingers interjecting lies are meant to derail the conversation and it does.

[ohsocynical]

What a farce! PM's EU deal unravels as it emerges migrants from some countries will get HIGHER child benefits than UK families
David Cameron's EU deal is set to allow migrants with children overseas to be paid British child benefits at rates in line with the local cost of living
Some migrants could receive more than British workers with families in UK
Falls well short of manifesto pledge to stop child benefit being sent abroad
For more on Cameron's EU reforms visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itain.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can imagine the comments BTL.

The Mail is going to go full 'kipper' I take it. With major popular newspapers campaigning for out, is it possible Cameron could actually lose this stupid referendum? I'm really rather worried about what might happen to this country if we actually left the EU. I tried to convince my dad that on immigration, leaving the EU is only half the battle, you then have to get a party against immigration, like Ukip, into government and what's the chances of that, but he was adamant that the mere possibility of being able to stop immigration was worth it as at the moment in the EU we have no choice. My dad campaigned against joining the Common Market back in the day, even went on marches. It's all muddled up in his head with protecting British jobs for British people, protecting pay, all the old union arguments from years ago. He's completely unaware of how these days belonging to the EU protects workers rights in this country, he's unaware of the attacks on pay and conditions that the Tories have been proposing and promoting, how they would outlaw unions if it wasn't so clearly in breach of the democratic rights EU member states are expected to adhere to. There could be a lot of people out there like my dad who genuinely believe voting out is in the interests of working class people. It's very worrying. My mum's always been a liberal, so at least she's likely to vote in, as the Libdems are pro-EU.

Like you I'm leaning towards the idiot Dave causing us to leave the EU.

Even more horrifying is what happens afterwards. With boundary changes and other nasty schemes unless something drastic happens I'm pretty sure the Cons plan on staying in power for the long term, and the Conservative party as it stands is incapable of sorting out the country when/if it happens.

I don't know how the city, big corporations etc. views our leaving. One can only hope that if they see their overpaid jobs and lucrative markets threatened, they'll finally get the message and do something.
They are the ones with the power. They have more to lose than we have.

[ohsocynical]

What a farce! PM's EU deal unravels as it emerges migrants from some countries will get HIGHER child benefits than UK families
David Cameron's EU deal is set to allow migrants with children overseas to be paid British child benefits at rates in line with the local cost of living
Some migrants could receive more than British workers with families in UK
Falls well short of manifesto pledge to stop child benefit being sent abroad
For more on Cameron's EU reforms visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itain.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can imagine the comments BTL.

The Mail is going to go full 'kipper' I take it. With major popular newspapers campaigning for out, is it possible Cameron could actually lose this stupid referendum? I'm really rather worried about what might happen to this country if we actually left the EU. I tried to convince my dad that on immigration, leaving the EU is only half the battle, you then have to get a party against immigration, like Ukip, into government and what's the chances of that, but he was adamant that the mere possibility of being able to stop immigration was worth it as at the moment in the EU we have no choice. My dad campaigned against joining the Common Market back in the day, even went on marches. It's all muddled up in his head with protecting British jobs for British people, protecting pay, all the old union arguments from years ago. He's completely unaware of how these days belonging to the EU protects workers rights in this country, he's unaware of the attacks on pay and conditions that the Tories have been proposing and promoting, how they would outlaw unions if it wasn't so clearly in breach of the democratic rights EU member states are expected to adhere to. There could be a lot of people out there like my dad who genuinely believe voting out is in the interests of working class people. It's very worrying. My mum's always been a liberal, so at least she's likely to vote in, as the Libdems are pro-EU.

I voted no way back when, but I think we're better staying in for all the reasons you list.
At the time the thought of any country having a say in our affairs made me anti and there was a lot of talk about losing our coinage - which I still hate the thought of - but I've since learned that the original idea was to discourage any more European wars which ended up embroiling the entire world.

I do worry that the original concept has been lost and it's all rather top heavy, but the alternative doesn't bear thinking about...

[ohsocynical]

Think Trains Are Bad Now.jpg

Red Box ‏@timesredbox 41m41 minutes ago
"Two decades after its creation, the privatised railway is flourishing" says @claire4devizes http://www.thetimes.co.uk/redbox/topic/ ... vatisation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

She really knows how to sell a message, eh.

Look at the age of her. Probably in nappies when the railways were privatised.
And I bet she was never taken on a cheap day return to the zoo or seaside which is something most poor families can't even afford now.

[citizenJA]

What a farce! PM's EU deal unravels as it emerges migrants from some countries will get HIGHER child benefits than UK families
David Cameron's EU deal is set to allow migrants with children overseas to be paid British child benefits at rates in line with the local cost of living
Some migrants could receive more than British workers with families in UK
Falls well short of manifesto pledge to stop child benefit being sent abroad
For more on Cameron's EU reforms visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itain.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can imagine the comments BTL.

It seems to me that every single thing he suggests or says he wants to see happen, is guaranteed to stoke up more distrust and hatred of immigrants.

It has to be deliberate.

Yes, it is deliberate, Cameron's staged displays are provocations. His government deliberately sets about bringing the worst out in people in order to keep us confused, less likely to focus on their failures in leadership. Tory government has had six years of only marginal support from the people. What does the Tory party have to recommend itself to the electorate? Even many Tory voters probably don't agree with much of what current government does, on a policy by policy basis. A lot of Tory voter support is theirs due to mistaken attachment born of fear. It's not wishful thinking on my part raising this probability. It's hard as hell to understand what's probably happening here. How does an effective opposition confront and defeat the money, mendacity and ownership of power channels current Tory government possess?

[AnatolyKasparov]

And even if somebody else does contribute towards the HLS Twitter account, so what? Why, exactly, is it such a big deal??

[nickyinnorfolk]

And even if somebody else does contribute towards the HLS Twitter account, so what? Why, exactly, is it such a big deal??

Well, quite. I think it's more likely that Harry is perfectly capable of composing his own tweets, and as has been pointed out it's very easy to enlarge the type for Twitter etc, as opposed to struggling to read newsprint. Even if someone else possibly typed a tweet on his behalf, no doubt it would be something already discussed and agreed on. Harry's as sharp as a tack. Trying to imply he's being manipulated in some way because of his advanced age is pretty horrible.

[citizenJA]

What a farce! PM's EU deal unravels as it emerges migrants from some countries will get HIGHER child benefits than UK families
David Cameron's EU deal is set to allow migrants with children overseas to be paid British child benefits at rates in line with the local cost of living
Some migrants could receive more than British workers with families in UK
Falls well short of manifesto pledge to stop child benefit being sent abroad
For more on Cameron's EU reforms visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itain.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can imagine the comments BTL.

The Mail is going to go full 'kipper' I take it. With major popular newspapers campaigning for out, is it possible Cameron could actually lose this stupid referendum? I'm really rather worried about what might happen to this country if we actually left the EU. I tried to convince my dad that on immigration, leaving the EU is only half the battle, you then have to get a party against immigration, like Ukip, into government and what's the chances of that, but he was adamant that the mere possibility of being able to stop immigration was worth it as at the moment in the EU we have no choice. My dad campaigned against joining the Common Market back in the day, even went on marches. It's all muddled up in his head with protecting British jobs for British people, protecting pay, all the old union arguments from years ago. He's completely unaware of how these days belonging to the EU protects workers rights in this country, he's unaware of the attacks on pay and conditions that the Tories have been proposing and promoting, how they would outlaw unions if it wasn't so clearly in breach of the democratic rights EU member states are expected to adhere to. There could be a lot of people out there like my dad who genuinely believe voting out is in the interests of working class people. It's very worrying. My mum's always been a liberal, so at least she's likely to vote in, as the Libdems are pro-EU.

Yes, this is important, your post explaining your dad's position, his thinking. I can understand his concerns, many share them.
People are forced into IN or OUT, yes or no, good or evil - it's not just the EU referendum I'm writing about, of course.
Nuances are lost. We're actively prevented from choosing something created through cooperation instead we've only 'you're either with us or against us'. It doesn't have to be this way. It's not easy though.

[nickyinnorfolk]

Think Trains Are Bad Now.jpg

Red Box ‏@timesredbox 41m41 minutes ago
"Two decades after its creation, the privatised railway is flourishing" says @claire4devizes http://www.thetimes.co.uk/redbox/topic/ ... vatisation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

She really knows how to sell a message, eh.

Look at the age of her. Probably in nappies when the railways were privatised.
And I bet she was never taken on a cheap day return to the zoo or seaside which is something most poor families can't even afford now.

Claire Perry is, to put it bluntly, thick. Witness this exchange from 2012, which appears in the footnotes of Perry's Wiki page:

Victoria Derbyshire: What is puzzling is, under Labour debt equals bad, under the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats national debt equals?
Claire Perry: We have cut Labour’s deficit, Victoria, by a quarter.
Derbyshire: I’m talking about debt.
Perry: Well it is the same thing.
Derbyshire: It is not the same thing!

Plus that genius Gideon Osborne appointed her to the Treasury before she became an MP.

[frightful_oik]

QT tonight:

Conservative energy secretary Amber Rudd MP, Labour's former shadow chief secretary to the treasury Shabana Mahmood MP, leader of Ukip Nigel Farage MEP, president of the Liberal Democrats Baroness Brinton and the Daily Mail's soon to be political editor-at-large Isabel Oakeshott.

Poor old Nige. It's February already and this is his first QT of the year. Not on BBC!

[yahyah]

Morning all.

After my moan about PoliticsHome the other day I've been visiting less and less. Today I think I'll stop altogether. The top political story of the day is.... drumroll....

Comedian would vote for the SNP instead of Labour. https://www.politicshome.com/party-poli ... ote-labour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Who on earth is Janey Godley ?

[ohsocynical]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... ns-disease
Phil Brehaut has Parkinson’s. Threatening to cut his benefits won’t help him back to work

Billy Connelly has Parkinsons...Each time you see him on TV he's a little more disabled. He's stiffer, unable now to play his banjo. It's progressive. And to deny the effects of diseases like it is beyond belief.

For a long time I've wondered if watching a celebrity who has a progressive disease; seeing them still performing [because even an interview is performing when you're a celebrity,] and chirpily [I don't mean that to sound disrespectful] saying that it isn't going to stop them 'working' gives a skewed impression?

To extend my thoughts further.

If Billy Connelly had been just a banjo player in a band, he'd be out of work now.
Much depends on what your career is or was when you become ill and the length of time you can carry on and 'fight' it. Then there's financial standing. Not having to worry quite so soon about finances when you have a slowly progressing illness must make a huge difference to the mental state which in turn affects physical well being.

IDS took six months off to look after his wife who had breast cancer.
No danger of losing his home.
Well paying job kept open for him.
Wife independently wealthy, so able to afford extra help around the home.
No stress coping with Social Security for financial help.

Still earth shattering. But what a difference.

[citizenJA]

And even if somebody else does contribute towards the HLS Twitter account, so what? Why, exactly, is it such a big deal??

Well, quite. I think it's more likely that Harry is perfectly capable of composing his own tweets, and as has been pointed out it's very easy to enlarge the type for Twitter etc, as opposed to struggling to read newsprint. Even if someone else possibly typed a tweet on his behalf, no doubt it would be something already discussed and agreed on. Harry's as sharp as a tack. Trying to imply he's being manipulated in some way because of his advanced age is pretty horrible.

Mensch writes all her own material. Not many want to write the content she puts out. Those that do are usually anonymous or Dan Hodges.

[seeingclearly]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... ns-disease
Phil Brehaut has Parkinson’s. Threatening to cut his benefits won’t help him back to work

Absolutely awful.

Stupid question coming ... why don't organisations such as the Parkinsons Society and medical specialists in the field make some kind of judicial challenge - as this isn't a condition that you can simply 'recover' from - as the assessor appeared to believe - why aren't people with a diagnosis who have already found themselves unable to carry on working taken out of the work related activity group? The hideous contradictions in what has been imposed on this man and wife show just how stupid and completely unrelated to evidence this scheme is. There must be other such diseases and conditions that - failing some amazing medical breakthrough

The Parkinsons Disease Society is one of the few charities that retained independence and didn't sell out to becoming some kind of government provider. This has enabled it to secure at least some recognition of the impact of PD on patients and families, and to retain an independent link to parliament. Even so the lack of awareness is shocking, the medication and treatment regimes are almost as bad as the disease, and typically the gold standard treatment gives approximately 2.5 hours of relief before wearing off. This means it is a highly fluctuating condition, and people don't go out unless their meds have switched them on. So assessors only see them when they are mobile, but a couple of hours on they could be immobile. Take too much and the side effects are horrendous. An alternative is a sort of pacemaker for the brain, it is a measure of how difficult treatment is that these are now seen as a better option. Not available to all by any means, the younger and fitter are preferred. All complicated by the best self help which is forced exercise, which of course buggers up all notions of 20 metre rules. But the impact on the individual is huge, as anyone who has a parky friend knows. This is just one very misunderstood disease, there are hundreds of them, and we have vaguely medical people assessing things that experienced consultants find hard to make decisions on. Yes some concessions have been obtained for people with PD but to think that trickles down to Maximus workers is unrealistic, as it is there is no evidence that their own, and DWPs guidelines are invoked until after mandatory reconsideration phase, which means many people either waiting long periods of time for appeals or giving up altogether. The gateways then also disappear.

There are many people with similarly difficult to diagnose conditions with tangible and visible disability and impairment, and who have question marks, or possible or probable attached to their diagnosis, these are very vulnerable cases, their conditions can't be verified, tbh it is a mess, and all the lobbying won't rescue them from removal of benefits and any signposted adaptations and even their motability vehicles. For many of these ambiguous cases postmortem will perhaps clarify things, but that is too late.

For those facing PIP assessment with medically ambiguous histories and very real daily needs the future looks quite frightening. How do you prove that you can become virtually immobile and in need of assistance to some barely trained repurposed OT who hasnt got a clue about what he/she is seeing? The point is you can't, because they are already trained to think that your claim is potentially fraudulent.

[ohsocynical]

And even if somebody else does contribute towards the HLS Twitter account, so what? Why, exactly, is it such a big deal??

Well, quite. I think it's more likely that Harry is perfectly capable of composing his own tweets, and as has been pointed out it's very easy to enlarge the type for Twitter etc, as opposed to struggling to read newsprint. Even if someone else possibly typed a tweet on his behalf, no doubt it would be something already discussed and agreed on. Harry's as sharp as a tack. Trying to imply he's being manipulated in some way because of his advanced age is pretty horrible.

The last time I spoke to a relative, she told me one of her jobs was to be the 'eyes', of blind and partially sighted people when they were taking a written exam.
They would dictate their answers to her and she'd write it down word for word.

We all know Mensch is a nasty piece of work. Sadly a lot of Tweeters are too.
It is easy to jump the gun at times when something strikes a chord, but her posts are calculated and just plain nasty. She has form.

[citizenJA]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... ns-disease
Phil Brehaut has Parkinson’s. Threatening to cut his benefits won’t help him back to work

Billy Connelly has Parkinsons...Each time you see him on TV he's a little more disabled. He's stiffer, unable now to play his banjo. It's progressive. And to deny the effects of diseases like it is beyond belief.

For a long time I've wondered if watching a celebrity who has a progressive disease; seeing them still performing [because even an interview is performing when you're a celebrity,] and chirpily [I don't mean that to sound disrespectful] saying that it isn't going to stop them 'working' gives a skewed impression?

To extend my thoughts further.

If Billy Connelly had been just a banjo player in a band, he'd be out of work now.
Much depends on what your career is or was when you become ill and the length of time you can carry on and 'fight' it. Then there's financial standing. Not having to worry quite so soon about finances when you have a slowly progressing illness must make a huge difference to the mental state which in turn affects physical well being.

IDS took six months off to look after his wife who had breast cancer.
No danger of losing his home.
Well paying job kept open for him.
Wife independently wealthy, so able to afford extra help around the home.
No stress coping with Social Security for financial help.

Still earth shattering. But what a difference.

IDS believes he has the right to nice things and others need to accept their place, suffer, go without and die. It's unpalatable for that belief system to be expressed in that straightforward way. Mainstream media write those suffering, going without and dying have failed in some way and deserve nothing better. It's the only way IDS keeps what he's taken, by making people believe those deserving can have a place like his.