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Monday, 6 October 2014

Vince Cable learns to be useful - Politics.co.uk

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"The Tories are reinventing themselves as Ukip but without the beer, while the Labour party is offering us French Socialism, but without the sex." Lib Dem conference Analysis: Vince Cable learns to be useful Vince Cable has spent much of the last four years being a thorn in his leader's side. But now, as today's autumn conference speech in Glasgow shows, things have changed. With the general election looming the chastened business secretary has become an asset once again. Liberal Democrats pin their survival hopes on 'beating up on the Tories' Anti-Tory voters could save the party from electoral wipeout In other news Ukip still seen as a party of 'closet racists' Nigel Farage's party still has a serious image problem with voters. Comment and Analysis Comment: Human rights are just a proxy war for the political class This isn't really about human rights - it's about eurosceptics versus quangos and lawyers The lord chancellor is dismantling the rule of law Grayling has been cut down in a mesothelioma ruling and is about to launch a savage assault on human rights: he is not fit for the position of lord chancellor	Advertise your job vacancies here Charity welcomes new projects to help people with mental illness get into work The charity Rethink Mental Illness has welcomed the launch by the Government of four new projects, aimed at helping people with mental health problems get into work. Unite for quality education on World Teachers’ Day Leaders of trade unions representing teachers and lecturers throughout the UK and Ireland have issued a joint letter to mark World Teachers’ Day. Politicians must commit to seriously tackling child poverty to address achievement gaps in education Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT: 'The NASUWT promotes the vision for world class schools for all children, regardless of their background'. MRSA Action UK remembers all those lost to MRSA and healthcare associated infections on World MRSA Day It is World MRSA Day today and our colleagues from the USA, MRSA Survivors’ Network, have described MRSA as a pandemic and called on healthcare colleagues to take the lead from the UK approach with detection and interventions to bring MRSA under control. World MRSA Day - October 2nd - should remind us that antibiotic resistance is a threat to medicine as we know it MRSA Action UK are at the Infection Prevention 2014 conference in Glasgow. Ending ‘severe’ suffering in lab animals is essential - and it’s achievable New ‘Road Map’ promotes approaches that will reduce suffering.

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Friday, 3 October 2014

Week in Review: Winter is coming - Politics.co.uk

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There are less welcoming places than a Conservative party conference, but they are all in war zones. This year's gathering in Birmingham had all the comfort of a metal railing on a winter's day. There would be billions more cuts, reductions in working age benefits, clamp-downs on free speech, welfare cards for claimants and the Human Rights Act would be scrapped. There was as much emotional warmth as a Victorian marriage.

Remember 2006, when Cameron made his first speech as Tory leader? It may as well have been a lifetime ago. He called for "sunshine to win the day". He warned the party it was alienating voters by banging on about tax cuts and Europe. "Our party's history tells us the ground on which political success is built," he told delegates. "It is the centre ground. Not the bog of political compromise. Not the ideological wilderness, out of the fringes of debate. But the solid ground where people are."

Just like his predecessors, William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard, he started on the centre and moved steadily right-wards. By the time 2014 rolled around he was arguably further to the right than Howard.

The Tories pledged £25 billion in spending cuts for the next parliament and unwrapped an empty hole where £7.2 billion in taxes should be. So somehow a Conservative government will need to cut public services and welfare by £32.2 billion. "Now I'm not going to pretend that will be easy," George Osborne told delegates, "but nor is it impossible". It may not be impossible but he should be clear what he's doing: hollowing out British public service provision. All that will remain are tatters and private sector contracts. The effect on the armed forces alone will be chilling.

Tax rises have been all but ruled out, leaving the chancellor with few options for how to match his actions to his promises. But the manner in which he started the task was revealing. He protected pensioners, who are more likely to vote Tory, and set his sights on working-age benefits. The people working and still struggling to make ends meet – supposedly those the Tory party wishes to help – would be penalised first and hardest.

Theresa May strode on stage confidently to unveil plans for a radical restriction on free speech. The home secretary was introducing so-called extremism Asbos. She talked a good game about British values, but the proposals were terrifyingly vague. Communists, anti-abortion campaigners and many Christian preachers would be included under the definition as it stands. Anyone holding what the government considered to be 'extreme' views would need police authorisation before posting messages on social media. You did not read that wrong. That was what she proposed.

Iain Duncan Smith announced plans to pay out benefits to people on special cards which could only be used in certain shops and on certain products. The evidence is that payments on a card system, which have long been used for failed asylum seekers, create hunger, social stigma and isolation. This does not appear to have dissuaded him from expanding their use and quite possibly did the opposite.

Chris Grayling voiced the first warning that the Tories would distance Britain from the European Convention of Human Rights and scrap the Human Rights Act. When the plans were published toward the end of the week they were slightly more moderate than he had suggested, but the central message was clear: citizen's protections against state power were to be significantly watered down. Legal safeguards would be weakened. Subjective assessments of an individual's 'rights and responsibilities' would be factored into appraisals of their legal entitlements.

Of course, by the time he had a chance to unveil his plans, Grayling was again being slapped down by the high court – an event now so predictable you could use it to tell the time. The lord chancellor had constructed a fake consultation on compensation for mesothelioma sufferers, so he could strip them of 25% of their pay out. Evidence emerged during the trial that he may have done so in a secret agreement with the insurance companies. Even for many Conservative commentators, the justice secretary is now an object of scorn and ridicule.

Cameron's closing speech to the conference was celebrated as a more upbeat effort than that of his ministers. This, apparently, was the good cop. Positivity was really a euphemism for tax cuts, which were promised to middle-earners, although the rich will disproportionately benefit.

Cameron's speech was relatively well delivered. It is not an art form he excels at and this was one of his better performances. In fact, the conference was marked by middling politicians projecting themselves much better than usual, specifically in the form of Osborne, who somehow looks younger than when he entered government, and May, who is developing a surprising habit of dominating a stage.

But the press reaction was not really about the performances. The truth it's already on an election footing. It has entered that stage in the electoral cycle when it becomes a semi-autonomous offshoot of the Conservative party press office. Consider for a moment what would have happened to Ed Miliband if he had made £7.2 billion of uncosted promises. They would dined out on him like sharks on a bloody stump. When Cameron did it, it was celebrated as the eloquence of a statesman.

If Miliband had provided one solitary reason to look forward to a Labour government last week, it would have seemed very unjust. But he didn't, so it was merely irritating.

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"Rights have to be balanced with responsibilities" Human Rights Act Comment: Human rights are just a proxy war for the political class This isn't really about human rights - it's about eurosceptics versus quangos and lawyers The lord chancellor is dismantling the rule of law Grayling has been cut down in a mesothelioma ruling and is about to launch a savage assault on human rights: he is not fit for the position of lord chancellor IDS plan How IDS' plan will starve and stigmatise people on benefits The evidence is clear: paying benefits on a card punishes the most vulnerable	Advertise your job vacancies here MRSA Action UK remembers all those lost to MRSA and healthcare associated infections on World MRSA Day It is World MRSA Day today and our colleagues from the USA, MRSA Survivors’ Network, have described MRSA as a pandemic and called on healthcare colleagues to take the lead from the UK approach with detection and interventions to bring MRSA under control. World MRSA Day - October 2nd - should remind us that antibiotic resistance is a threat to medicine as we know it MRSA Action UK are at the Infection Prevention 2014 conference in Glasgow. Ending ‘severe’ suffering in lab animals is essential - and it’s achievable New ‘Road Map’ promotes approaches that will reduce suffering. Largest lenders in 2013: the top 20 Today, we publish data showing the most active mortgage lenders in 2013. ABI publishes 'UK Insurance Key Facts 2014 Insurers paying out in excess of £450 million every day to UK customers – ABI publishes ‘UK Insurance Key Facts 2014’. Engineering dominates top ten graduate starting salaries Students graduating from engineering courses are likely to be amongst the highest graduate earners, according to The Times Good University Guide 2015.

Thursday, 2 October 2014

IDS benefits card plan - the evidence - Politics.co.uk

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"You don't feel good; you don't feel you are useful.They think about you like a spare person" The IDS plan How IDS' plan will starve and stigmatise people on benefits The evidence is clear: paying benefits on a card punishes the most vulnerable End of the line for Nick Griffin The ignoble end: Nick Griffin expelled from BNP Nick Griffin's time as a major player in the British National party (BNP) comes to an ignoble end after he's expelled for causing "disunity" Yesterday's speech The big give-away: Cameron pledges raft of new tax cuts David Cameron throws tax sweeteners to lower and middle-income earners, as he closes the Conservative conference with a decidedly more upbeat message to voters Forbidden for so long, Cameron unveils the Tories' forbidden Viagra Promising tax cuts - the ultimate turn-on for the Tories and vote-winner for the electorate - guaranteed this speech would be a success for David Cameron. Cameron speech verdict: Where is all this money suddenly coming from? Cameron is like a Robing Hood who refuses to steal from the rich	Advertise your job vacancies here MRSA Action UK remembers all those lost to MRSA and healthcare associated infections on World MRSA Day It is World MRSA Day today and our colleagues from the USA, MRSA Survivors’ Network, have described MRSA as a pandemic and called on healthcare colleagues to take the lead from the UK approach with detection and interventions to bring MRSA under control. World MRSA Day - October 2nd - should remind us that antibiotic resistance is a threat to medicine as we know it MRSA Action UK are at the Infection Prevention 2014 conference in Glasgow. Ending ‘severe’ suffering in lab animals is essential - and it’s achievable New ‘Road Map’ promotes approaches that will reduce suffering. Largest lenders in 2013: the top 20 Today, we publish data showing the most active mortgage lenders in 2013. ABI publishes 'UK Insurance Key Facts 2014 Insurers paying out in excess of £450 million every day to UK customers – ABI publishes ‘UK Insurance Key Facts 2014’. Engineering dominates top ten graduate starting salaries Students graduating from engineering courses are likely to be amongst the highest graduate earners, according to The Times Good University Guide 2015.

Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Cameron speech special edition - Politics.co.uk

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"For me, this is personal" Cameron speech The big give-away: Cameron pledges raft of new tax cuts David Cameron throws tax sweeteners to lower and middle-income earners, as he closes the Conservative conference with a decidedly more upbeat message to voters Sketch Forbidden for so long, Cameron unveils the Tories' forbidden Viagra Promising tax cuts - the ultimate turn-on for the Tories and vote-winner for the electorate - guaranteed this speech would be a success for David Cameron. Comment Cameron speech verdict: Where is all this money suddenly coming from? Cameron is like a Robing Hood who refuses to steal from the rich Elsewhere at conference Blind faith: The Tory brain is ignoring reality The great Conservative brain has decided to ignore the truth. It is focusing delegates' thoughts on something much more amorphous: a blind confidence in the party's ability to win. As Grayling gives his speech, an independent report paints a different picture The justice secretary wins warm cheers for his 'lights-out' policy, but experts warn it will increase self-harm	Advertise your job vacancies here World MRSA Day - October 2nd - should remind us that antibiotic resistance is a threat to medicine as we know it MRSA Action UK are at the Infection Prevention 2014 conference in Glasgow. Ending ‘severe’ suffering in lab animals is essential - and it’s achievable New ‘Road Map’ promotes approaches that will reduce suffering. Largest lenders in 2013: the top 20 Today, we publish data showing the most active mortgage lenders in 2013. ABI publishes 'UK Insurance Key Facts 2014 Insurers paying out in excess of £450 million every day to UK customers – ABI publishes ‘UK Insurance Key Facts 2014’. Engineering dominates top ten graduate starting salaries Students graduating from engineering courses are likely to be amongst the highest graduate earners, according to The Times Good University Guide 2015. NASUWT challenges minister to empower teachers The NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK, has urged the Education Secretary to tackle the bureaucratic command and control structure in schools which is disempowering teachers.