Easter Weekend - 25th-28th March 2016

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 5:07 pm

ephemerid wrote:Re. Ian Lavery.

There is a very efficient deconstruction (and demolition) of the accusations made against Lavery by James Lyons and Hopi Sen, with particluar reference to Sen's scurrilous Storify piece.

zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/what-has-ian-lavery-done-wrong.html

Of course, Tim Fenton is a bit of a leftie-scourgie-type. Love him.

I hope that Ian Lavery is able to prove that the inferences/allegations made against him are wrong.

And I really hope that a certain individual does not return to instruct me further on what I should think.

This is also worth reading. Notice again how many of the facts that constitute the allegations against Lavery are in fact denied.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 5:14 pm

Oh bog off Hugo.

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 5:24 pm

ephemerid wrote:Oh bog off Hugo.

Thanks.

To a lawyer and someone who can read a balance sheet, your linked defence, and that of Lavery, seem wholly unsatisfactory. The emphasis over and over again that this comes from the Evil Murdoch Press reads as an attempt to throw sand in the reader's eyes. Perhaps there are satisfactory answers, we'll see. Ask RoT (who can read a set of accounts) what he thinks.

Politics is not a sport. You don't just side with someone on your team, regardless of what they do.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 5:37 pm

SpinningHugo wrote:
ephemerid wrote:Oh bog off Hugo.

Thanks.

To a lawyer and someone who can read a balance sheet, your linked defence, and that of Lavery, seem wholly unsatisfactory. The emphasis over and over again that this comes from the Evil Murdoch Press reads as an attempt to throw sand in the reader's eyes. Perhaps there are satisfactory answers, we'll see. Ask RoT (who can read a set of accounts) what he thinks.

Politics is not a sport. You don't just side with someone on your team, regardless of what they do.

If Lavery has done something wrong, I assume the matter will be passed to tbe police, in which case I think it better not to discuss it on a public forum.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 5:44 pm

Happy Patronising Monday.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 6:15 pm

This is what happens when you try to hold an academy school to account... good luck parents

Reporter Tom Belger asks why no one will speak to him over Halewood Academy's controversial sixth form closure

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liv ... y-11100105

Plenty of comments below the line!

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 6:16 pm

HindleA wrote:Happy Patronising Monday.

Bless you my son.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 6:25 pm

HindleA wrote:Happy Patronising Monday.

I haven't got time to laugh, really, A.

I have to learn how to read a balance sheet. Maybe Roger, being the only person on Plant FTN who can, might teach me.

Time for my thick pills, I think. Or are they the dense ones today? AAARRRGGGHHH I'm soooo stoooooopid!

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 6:33 pm

Willow904 wrote:
If Lavery has done something wrong, I assume the matter will be passed to tbe police, in which case I think it better not to discuss it on a public forum.

To be fair, Willow, I have commented on this here as the issues I've mentioned and linked to are already in the public domain.

Ian Lavery is a stalwart defender of many of the things I care about, and - as I have said repeatedly - hope he has done nothing wrong.

Until or unless the matter is referred to the police or the courts, I don't see how commenting on what others write about it and having an opinion on that writing is wrong. It is certainly being talked about a lot elsewhere, especially on social media and on blogs.

If one of our lovely admin people thinks we should not discuss it, fair do's.
Meanwhile, I insist on expressing the view that Hopi Sen is a twerp.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 6:35 pm

@ephemerid

I'm more surprised to learn that auditors and the certification officer are equally unable to read a spreadsheet

. One matter related to Lavery is apparently now in legal proceedings, though, so I will take my own advice and not speculate on the matter further.

Edited to add, having read your following comment, I completely agree that there is no harm in hoping someone isn't guilty of something they have been accused of or posting links. That wasn't what concerned me.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 6:44 pm

Balance sheets?

Left that stuff behind a while back...got bigger battles to fight right now.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 6:44 pm

The BBC seem to have the 1966 election film on a loop, it's back again.

Night all. Am off to the doctor again tomorrow, she's been concerned about what's causing the late onset cluster ocular migraines and is checking for temporal arteritis [inflammation of artery and blood vessels to the head and brain] as symptoms are present.
Part of me hopes it is, as that would mean it wasn't anything more sinister, but it would mean long term steroids to ward off sight loss and stroke.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 6:51 pm

yahyah wrote:The BBC seem to have the 1966 election film on a loop, it's back again.

Night all. Am off to the doctor again tomorrow, she's been concerned about what's causing the late onset cluster ocular migraines and is checking for temporal arteritis [inflammation of artery and blood vessels to the head and brain] as symptoms are present.
Part of me hopes it is, as that would mean it wasn't anything more sinister, but it would mean long term steroids to ward off sight loss and stroke.

Oh yahyah. That's really shitty.

I hope you get some sleep tonight and all goes well tomorrow.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 6:57 pm

Wow.

Lauded academy chain to be stripped of its schools after critical finance report

http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... nce-report

An academy chain responsible for five secondary schools that was praised by David Cameron and Michael Gove is to be stripped of all its schools, according to sources close to the Department for Education (DfE).

The Perry Beeches academy trust is to have its five academies and free schools in Birmingham handed over to a new academy trust following a critical financial investigation.

A report by the Education Funding Agency (EFA), published before Easter, showed financial shortcomings at Perry Beeches, including third-party payments made to chief executive Liam Nolan on top of his £120,000 salary as executive headteacher. The EFA’s call for urgent action triggered an official notice from the DfE, which detailed “serious concerns about financial management, control and governance” at the trust.

The five Perry Beeches schools are expected be “rebrokered” by the DfE and pass to a new chain, the West Midlands academies trust, which is headed by David Kershaw, a Labour cabinet member of Coventry council.

A Whitehall source said: “This shows the academy system is working, with the EFA identifying issues and regional schools commissioners intervening and rebrokering effectively, as part of a robust system of oversight.”

That Whitehall source is amazing - this came to light only after the EFA were told about it by a whistleblower!

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 6:58 pm

Just continuing yahyah.... new MP Jack Ashley.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:08 pm

HindleA wrote:Just continuing yahyah.... new MP Jack Ashley.

He would have had something to say about recent events, for sure.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:13 pm

Jenny Lee returned.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:34 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:Balance sheets?

Left that stuff behind a while back...got bigger battles to fight right now.

I was joking........

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:37 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:Wow.

That Whitehall source is amazing - this came to light only after the EFA were told about it by a whistleblower!

This is exactly the same sort of doublespeak crapola that this government excels at.

DWP spokesthings are bad, but this is just ridiculous.

They're all SPADs, Roger. Long gone are the days when a minister would actually explain what's going on.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:38 pm

http://news.sky.com/story/1668062/us-fi ... er-centres" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

US Firm Could Take Over Young Offender Centres
An American company accused of managing prisons riddled with violence, corruption and drugs could soon be running two UK centres.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:40 pm

HindleA wrote:Jenny Lee returned.

Didn't she do "Rockin' around the Christmas tree"?

(Have we got an emo-thingie for tongues in cheeks?)

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:41 pm

ephemerid wrote:
RogerOThornhill wrote:Balance sheets?

Left that stuff behind a while back...got bigger battles to fight right now.
I was joking........

I guessed but it was partly aimed at someone else...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:44 pm

Evening all. (Knee bend x three).

Re the financially embarrassed academy chain that is now going to be 'rebrokered' (the Tories giving us a whole new lexicon). I'm staggered by the Whitehall double speak response and keep returning to the thought that this has happened at a time when academies are under relatively close scrutiny as the Tories want to push their whizzy new system onto every school (parent, teacher, governor, local authority). Imagine what it could / will be like when the interest dies down a bit and such schools and monitoring of them go into 'coast' mode - because they will.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:45 pm

Sorry Jennie,I was only 4

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:51 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:Evening all. (Knee bend x three).

Re the financially embarrassed academy chain that is now going to be 'rebrokered' (the Tories giving us a whole new lexicon). I'm staggered by the Whitehall double speak response and keep returning to the thought that this has happened at a time when academies are under relatively close scrutiny as the Tories want to push their whizzy new system onto every school (parent, teacher, governor, local authority). Imagine what it could / will be like when the interest dies down a bit and such schools and monitoring of them go into 'coast' mode - because they will.

Timing of the leak is 'interesting' - I wonder whether Whitehall civil servants are as enthusiastic about the idea of full academisation as No 10 is?

If they're having trouble sorting out 5,000 academies, think what it'll be like with another 16,000. Wouldn't mind betting that external auditors of trusts get told to look rather more closely at arrangements and make sure they comply with not only charity accounts legislation but also the academies handbook.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 7:56 pm

James Kirkup Retweeted
Tom London ‏@TomLondon6 60m60 minutes ago
Advice for those Labour MPs who are hell-bent on deposing @jeremycorbyn

Recruit hundreds of thousands of new members who agree with you

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 8:04 pm

ephemerid wrote:
HindleA wrote:Jenny Lee returned.

Didn't she do "Rockin' around the Christmas tree"?

(Have we got an emo-thingie for tongues in cheeks?)

Might have done. Brenda Lee did it too

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 8:13 pm

HindleA wrote:Sorry Jennie,I was only 4

So was my daughter, and my son was born May 2nd that year. I was a bit tied up around the time of that election

Vordy · Post by **Vordy** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 8:36 pm

Just found this on Boy George's brother.I know he no longer practices but cannot remember this prior to 2010 election.Talking about Gideons brother of course>

George Osborne's brother 'prescribed drugs to friends'

A doctor who is the brother of shadow chancellor George Osborne prescribed anti-psychotic drugs to a friend displaying symptoms consistent with the side-effects of cocaine, a disciplinary hearing was told today.

Source:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... iends.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TTFN and a Happy Easter to All.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 8:42 pm

Lyn Brown Retweeted
Alan Gibbons ‏@mygibbo 28m28 minutes ago
Nearly 350 libraries closed in Britain over six years http://www.itv.com/news/granada/2016-03 ... six-years/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 8:46 pm

Vordy wrote:Just found this on Boy George's brother.I know he no longer practices but cannot remember this prior to 2010 election.Talking about Gideons brother of course>

George Osborne's brother 'prescribed drugs to friends'

A doctor who is the brother of shadow chancellor George Osborne prescribed anti-psychotic drugs to a friend displaying symptoms consistent with the side-effects of cocaine, a disciplinary hearing was told today.

Source:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... iends.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TTFN and a Happy Easter to All.

I think he was recently struck off.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 8:54 pm

British pensioner who tried to swim to a cruise liner when it left port without her is rescued a third of a mile out to sea clinging on to her HANDBAG
Susan Brown saved from water off Madeiran coast in early hours of Sunday
Believed to have chased cruise liner the Marco Polo after row with husband
Pair booked flights home but she was convinced he was back on board
When ship passed the airport she decided to make chase carrying handbag
Rescued by fishermen 1,600ft out and is now in hospital with hypothermia

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z44EGyp71t" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Descendant of Maggie?

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 9:08 pm

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ge ... ck_Message" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mr Webb, now policy director at pensions advisors Royal London, told the Mirror: "The stealth element in all of this is the impact on public services.

"If you are a worker, yes you will pay more National Insurance from next week but you will also get a bigger state pension.

"In schools and hospitals, they'll have to pay more in but the government hasn't given them any more to pay it with.

"It's a several billion pound bill for public services starting next week, and by and large they haven't been given money to pay it.

"They'll face a spending squeeze, there's no doubt about it."

It's gone way beyond "cutting waste, not frontline services", hasn't it? This is deliberate underfunding, the consequences of which must be assumed to be planned and desired as there is no way the government can pretend they're not aware of a shortfall of their own creation.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 10:01 pm

They are trying to break the system, pure and simple, but have nothing to replace it with but dreadful malfunctioning corporations.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 10:02 pm

I forgot the greedy.

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 10:02 pm

Hopi Sen has now responded btl to the response above ephemerid posted.

It is well worth reading for those still genuinely uncertain.

Temulkar · Post by **Temulkar** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 10:36 pm

Looks to me like Lavery should have declared his severance package, but everything else is just froth and noise. As for whether its redundancy instead of severance depends upon Lavery's contract with the NUM not on how its recorded in the return HS has posted. If its written in his contract that he gets a certain package on resignation or redundancy - which is standard - he is fine on that score.

Just as an aside the NUM despite only having a couple of thousand members nationally is incredibly rich financially as a legacy of being the most powerful union for most of the 20th century. The NUM, and the miners fed before it, have land endowments and deathbed bequests, as well as a 100 years of investment, so the incredulity over the union having so much money is nonsense.

As for India and Cuba, Im not saying that its connected, but thats about the time the TUC started it Unions for Cuba campaign as well as increasing links/support with the union movement in India. The NUM has a long history of supproting international links with other unions.

Temulkar · Post by **Temulkar** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 10:37 pm

And Im not a corbynite or even labour supporter so really have no axe to grind with the progress militants.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 10:53 pm

LACK of social housing and sky-high rents in Bracknell are pushing more people into homelessness according to a charity.

The number of those sleeping rough on the streets of the borough is also much higher than official figures suggest with a homeless shelter taking in more than three-times as many rough sleepers than official records show in just one night.

Local government figures claim the numbers have risen from just one recorded rough sleeper in 2010 to four in 2014 and five in 2015.
However, the Pilgrim Hearts homeless shelter took in 17 homeless people in just one night in February with around 140 volunteers helping run the scheme between January and March.

http://flythenest.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=830&start=300" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 28 Mar, 2016 11:42 pm

Jo Stevens MP ‏@JoStevensLabour 12m12 minutes ago
Jo Stevens MP Retweeted Martin Shipton
Posted without comment...... #Cardiff Central #AssemblyElections2016

Martin ShiptonVerified account
‏@ShiptonMartin
Neil Hamilton says minorities 'slur' candidate is 'a nice chap' http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/polit ... ys-ethnic-" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 29 Mar, 2016 2:09 am

FOI on UC and holidays. Seems innocuous till you think about it, basically conditionality and sanctions still apply so what seems like an improvement actually isn't.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... y.pdf.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Tue 29 Mar, 2016 2:28 am

seeingclearly wrote:FOI on UC and holidays. Seems innocuous till you think about it, basically conditionality and sanctions still apply so what seems like an improvement actually isn't.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... y.pdf.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

People have already been sanctioned for going on holiday.

There was a case recently of a young woman who works 30 hours a week and who claims a UC top-up.

She went on a holiday, having asked whether it affected her entitlement and being told it wouldn't, and returned to find she'd been sanctioned for 3 months because she was not available to work.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 29 Mar, 2016 5:31 am

Is this the case you mention?

http://samedifference1.com/2016/03/29/u ... r-working/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A slightly different scenario, but she is on UC, and working.

In both cases effectively you cannot take a holiday. even though there is legal provision for you to do so, because it would be impossible to meet the jobseeking requirements or to prove you had tried. In work or out of work.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 29 Mar, 2016 5:35 am

There are people asking about the Severe Disablement Premuim, and why nobody is talking about it. From links posted it seems this will be lost if UC is implemented as the government says it relates to care needs and should be provided by Social services.

Does anyone have any clear info on this or know where to ask?