FlyTheNest

Anushka Asthana ‏@GuardianAnushka 12m12 minutes ago Richmond, London
Great spot by @DaveHill: Boris Johnson praise for Sadiq Khan stance on Islamist terror in 2005: http://gu.com/p/4tb5b/stw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; #londonmayor2016

Debbie Abrahams ‏@Debbie_abrahams 7m7 minutes ago
The late Michael MEACHER MP proposed a PMB in 2013 on clamping down on Tax Evasion that Govt talked out! So much for their commitment!

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Extraordinary

Wadebridge West (Cornwall) result:
LDEM: 43.5% (+19.2)
CON: 25.6% (-39.9)
LAB: 16.0% (+5.8)
IND: 8.0% (+8.0)
GRN: 6.8% (+6.8)

StephenDolan wrote:Morning all.

Richard Murphy excellent on Today, dismantled the tax secrecy argument put forward. Let's hope this stays a hot topic.

rebeccariots2 wrote:

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Extraordinary

Wadebridge West (Cornwall) result:
LDEM: 43.5% (+19.2)
CON: 25.6% (-39.9)
LAB: 16.0% (+5.8)
IND: 8.0% (+8.0)
GRN: 6.8% (+6.8)

And good I think. We need the Lib Dems to comeback in the south west - and it shows the level of disillusion with the Tories. Tim Farron tweeted about it last night - I don't begrudge him excitement at this result. Cornwall used to have one of the good Lib Dem MPs which it was sad to lose.

Mirror Politics ‏@MirrorPolitics 5m5 minutes ago
Strike row NHS chief bragged how he gave up weekend work ...and it was 'fantastic'
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/st ... ed-7758685" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

Zac Goldsmith did not declare family interest in green grant cuts
Tory mayoral candidate asked questions in parliament about cuts that affected brother Ben’s investments in solar energy firm

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

The Conservative mayoral candidate asked questions in parliament about cuts in green grants that affected solar energy companies owned by his younger brother, but did not declare an indirect interest.

Zac Goldsmith put down six questions between November 2011 and February 2012 after the government announced it would slash subsidies to the solar industry. Goldsmith warned MPs that there was panic in the industry over ministers’ plans.

His younger brother, Ben, a venture capitalist, had personally invested in one solar energy firm Engensa, which described the cuts as unacceptable. Ben Goldsmith’s investment fund, WHEB, also owned a quarter of Engensa’s software partner, PassivSystems, a firm valued at £40m in 2014.

refitman wrote:Oops!

Zac Goldsmith did not declare family interest in green grant cuts
Tory mayoral candidate asked questions in parliament about cuts that affected brother Ben’s investments in solar energy firm

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

The Conservative mayoral candidate asked questions in parliament about cuts in green grants that affected solar energy companies owned by his younger brother, but did not declare an indirect interest.

Zac Goldsmith put down six questions between November 2011 and February 2012 after the government announced it would slash subsidies to the solar industry. Goldsmith warned MPs that there was panic in the industry over ministers’ plans.

His younger brother, Ben, a venture capitalist, had personally invested in one solar energy firm Engensa, which described the cuts as unacceptable. Ben Goldsmith’s investment fund, WHEB, also owned a quarter of Engensa’s software partner, PassivSystems, a firm valued at £40m in 2014.

Britain ‘lagging behind developed world’ on child poverty, Unicef report reveals

Unicef’s deputy executive director for the UK said the country ‘can and must do better‘ and should be ‘more ambitious’ for its children

She was cheered as she fumed how David Cameron had "stripped us of everything" through years of austerity cuts - including a Women's Aid refuge that had stood for 40 years but will shut in two weeks.

"We were told a lie," she stormed. "We were told we had to take austerity. We were told that we had to lose our jobs, our libraries, our swimming baths.

"Cameron? He did not look after the vulnerable - he made sure the rich got richer and richer".
Pro- Brexit MEP Mr Hannan kept trying to bring the debate back to his pet subject of the EU - saying it was raiding British taxes.

The woman was having none of it.

She shouted over him: "It's a lie!".

At that point host David Dimbleby told staff to remove the roaming microphone which was picking up the woman's comments.

G4S fined 100 times since 2010 for breaching prison contracts

Ministry of Justice data obtained by Labour shows one prison was fined on 28 occasions incurring £1m in penalties


G4S has been fined at least 100 times for breaching its contracts to run prisons since 2010, according to data obtained by Labour.

Andrew Selous, the prisons minister, revealed that almost £3m has been paid in fines since David Cameron came to power, after Labour made repeated requests to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The data showed that one prison alone, HMP Rye Hill, has been fined on 28 separate occasions and incurred £1m in penalties.

Louise Haigh, Sheffield Heeley MP and a shadow civil service minister, said Labour had to “prise this vital data out of the hands of a desperately reluctant MoJ”.

[She also said] " .... the fines being paid by G4S are pitifully small and constitute nothing more than a slap on the wrist. At the Medway youth jail, where an undercover investigation revealed endemic child abuse, G4S only received a meagre £700 fine." (Guardian - my emphasis)

Inquest hears financial reasons seemed to be behind decision for a mother to have a natural birth despite her objections. Her baby died days later

PorFavor wrote:I've been reflecting on the Zac Goldsmith situation. It was a terrible mistake (for them) for the Conservatives to decide to tarnish the image of their "white knight". Uncharacteristic cock-up on the election front. What were they thinking of?

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Part of me wonders if Zac is deliberately trashing the Crosby brand, to show that sort of politics "doesn't work" in the capital at least.

That is probably far too Machiavellian in reality, but the crassness of some of his recent blunders mean you can't help but entertain that idea just a little bit

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Part of me wonders if Zac is deliberately trashing the Crosby brand, to show that sort of politics "doesn't work" in the capital at least.

That is probably far too Machiavellian in reality, but the crassness of some of his recent blunders mean you can't help but entertain that idea just a little bit

yahyah wrote:Afternoon.

Anyone else having trouble loading comments on the readers' edition of AS's blog ?

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Part of me wonders if Zac is deliberately trashing the Crosby brand, to show that sort of politics "doesn't work" in the capital at least.

That is probably far too Machiavellian in reality, but the crassness of some of his recent blunders mean you can't help but entertain that idea just a little bit

yahyah wrote:Afternoon.

Anyone else having trouble loading comments on the readers' edition of AS's blog ?

Rebecca wrote:

yahyah wrote:Afternoon.

Anyone else having trouble loading comments on the readers' edition of AS's blog ?

I'm having trouble loading any comments on the guardian atm.

How are you feeling now btw?

Rebecca wrote:

yahyah wrote:Afternoon.

Anyone else having trouble loading comments on the readers' edition of AS's blog ?

I'm having trouble loading any comments on the guardian atm.

How are you feeling now btw?

yahyah wrote:

Rebecca wrote:

yahyah wrote:Afternoon.

Anyone else having trouble loading comments on the readers' edition of AS's blog ?

I'm having trouble loading any comments on the guardian atm.

How are you feeling now btw?

Hi Rebecca.

Not too well. Have had regular attacks of scintillating scotoma, head pain & numbness, vertigo, nausea and sensory problems all week. Several days solidly now.

Am awaiting [hopefully] a call from the doctor for advice. Am on higher dose slow release propranolol for prophylaxis but it isn't working. Thoroughly fed up with it all. This is as bad as when I ended up at casualty.

GeorgeMonbiot ‏@GeorgeMonbiot 1m1 minute ago
Sorry about the comments being switched off. It's a problem across the site, which I'm told will be fixed soon. So sharpen your nibs ...

DISASTROUS intake figures are set to plunge Tudor Grange Academy Redditch into financial crisis.

The controversial school – which, against the pleas of parents pushed through a two-tier system into the town instead of sticking with the borough’s current three tier set up – has just 19 pupils due to start in September 2016 for its Year 7 intake – out of a total of 180 available places.

The figures, from the county council, are only marginally better at Year 9 – the entry point for middle schools – where out of a total of 280 places just 58 have been taken – and education watchers expect that figure could actually be in the 40s as parents move their children elsewhere.

Two-tier was introduced at the request of TGAR, followed by Ridgeway Academy, and approved by West Midlands Education Commissioner Pank Patel who discussed the implications with school leaders at a series of meetings at local MP Karen Lumley’s offices last year.

yahyah wrote:

Rebecca wrote:

yahyah wrote:Afternoon.

Anyone else having trouble loading comments on the readers' edition of AS's blog ?

I'm having trouble loading any comments on the guardian atm.

How are you feeling now btw?

Hi Rebecca.

Not too well. Have had regular attacks of scintillating scotoma, head pain & numbness, vertigo, nausea and sensory problems all week. Several days solidly now.

Am awaiting [hopefully] a call from the doctor for advice. Am on higher dose slow release propranolol for prophylaxis but it isn't working. Thoroughly fed up with it all. This is as bad as when I ended up at casualty.

Willow904 wrote:

yahyah wrote:

Rebecca wrote: I'm having trouble loading any comments on the guardian atm.

How are you feeling now btw?

Hi Rebecca.

Not too well. Have had regular attacks of scintillating scotoma, head pain & numbness, vertigo, nausea and sensory problems all week. Several days solidly now.

Am awaiting [hopefully] a call from the doctor for advice. Am on higher dose slow release propranolol for prophylaxis but it isn't working. Thoroughly fed up with it all. This is as bad as when I ended up at casualty.

Hi Yahyah. I'm glad you're expecting a call from your doctor. I've suffered from visual migraine since my early thirties and I recognise some of your symptoms but not the time frame. Visual impairment never lasts more than an hour, although the headache and nausea can last up to 48 hrs, there's a definite beginning, middle and end to a migraine, even when you get them back to back and once you know what they are they're not alarming, just draining. Having symptoms for several days solid sounds unusual to me so I hope you get offered some further investigations rather than more medication.

RogerOThornhill wrote:That went well...

Redditch’s Tudor Grange Academy facing crisis over numbers – and cash

http://redditchstandard.co.uk/news/redd ... s-numbers/

DISASTROUS intake figures are set to plunge Tudor Grange Academy Redditch into financial crisis.

The controversial school – which, against the pleas of parents pushed through a two-tier system into the town instead of sticking with the borough’s current three tier set up – has just 19 pupils due to start in September 2016 for its Year 7 intake – out of a total of 180 available places.

The figures, from the county council, are only marginally better at Year 9 – the entry point for middle schools – where out of a total of 280 places just 58 have been taken – and education watchers expect that figure could actually be in the 40s as parents move their children elsewhere.

and guess who sanctioned this...

Two-tier was introduced at the request of TGAR, followed by Ridgeway Academy, and approved by West Midlands Education Commissioner Pank Patel who discussed the implications with school leaders at a series of meetings at local MP Karen Lumley’s offices last year.

In fact, he ignored what the local people wanted which was to continue with the 3 tier system.

IFS forecasts fall in spending of 7% per pupil in England by 2020

rebeccariots2 wrote:

Willow904 wrote:

yahyah wrote: Hi Rebecca.

Not too well. Have had regular attacks of scintillating scotoma, head pain & numbness, vertigo, nausea and sensory problems all week. Several days solidly now.

Am awaiting [hopefully] a call from the doctor for advice. Am on higher dose slow release propranolol for prophylaxis but it isn't working. Thoroughly fed up with it all. This is as bad as when I ended up at casualty.

Hi Yahyah. I'm glad you're expecting a call from your doctor. I've suffered from visual migraine since my early thirties and I recognise some of your symptoms but not the time frame. Visual impairment never lasts more than an hour, although the headache and nausea can last up to 48 hrs, there's a definite beginning, middle and end to a migraine, even when you get them back to back and once you know what they are they're not alarming, just draining. Having symptoms for several days solid sounds unusual to me so I hope you get offered some further investigations rather than more medication.

Commiserations yahyah. Just to say I've had migraines since the year dot ... and I too have had periods where they have been around for days on end - varying intensity but definitely ongoing.

“Mercifully, this American president, who is the most anti-British American president there has ever been, won’t be in office for much longer, and I hope will be replaced by somebody rather more sensible when it comes to trading relationships with this country,” Farage said.