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Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Tories rebrand themselves the 'Workers' Party' - Politics.co.uk

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"There are six people writing the manifesto and five of them went to Eton; the other went to St Paul’s." Up the Workers Tories rebrand themselves as the 'Workers' Party' The Conservative Party rebrand themselves the "Workers' Party" in an attempt to change their image as a party for the rich. Harriet Harman New Labour-Daily Mail battle sees both sides trade accusations of paedophile support Harriet Harman lashes out at the Daily Mail, in an attack which sees her accuse the paper of publishing photos of "very young girls" The dead cat strategy: How Tories hope to win the next election Labour can expect to see plenty more dead cats thrown on their table over the next year and a half. Rough sleeping Rough sleeping soars under the coalition Rough sleeping in England rises by more than a third since the coalition government came into power, despite David Cameron's promises to tackle the issue. Romanian immigration Analysis: Has the lack of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants burst the Ukip bubble? Now that the party's prediction of a tidal wave of immigrants has proved unfounded, will the public continue to listen to it? Airlines report no surge in migrants from Romania and Bulgaria Fears that Bulgarians and Romanians would flood into the UK when work restrictions were lifted at the start of the year prove unfounded, after airlines and coach companies find no increase in traffic from the two countries. Hunting ban Comment: The ban on hunting harms animal welfare Animal rights groups don't have a shred of evidence about the effect the ban on hunting with dogs has on wildlife	Advertise your job vacancies here Charity calls for better crisis care in response to new suicide statistics New figures show suicide rates are still worryingly high. NHS IT scheme: “let’s hope Government has learnt from previous mistakes” New NHS data-sharing scheme involving medical records is being delayed by six months. The IET comments here. Proposed amendments to VAT online filing will not cure human rights breach CIOT: “Failing to cure the breach will result in more litigation, incurring more costs for the Exchequer." NASUWT calls on Secretary of State to recognise damage inflicted on teachers NASUW remains deeply concerned about the adverse impact of the Coalition Government’s policies on teachers. Latest ONS Figures Highlight Continuing Construction Recovery According to figures from the Office for National Statistics published today, construction output in Q4 rose by 0.2% compared with Q3 and was 4.4% higher than a year earlier. CIHT welcome targeted review of transport network resilience CIHT welcome David Cameron's plan for targeted review of the resilience of the transport network to extreme weather events.

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Monday, 24 February 2014

Michael Gove slammed for punishing kids with sport - Politics.co.uk

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"It will entrench lasting fear and loathing for sport amongst children and young people" Michael Gove Michael Gove slammed for punishing children with sport Thousands of people sign a petition against Michael Gove's decision to punish children with exercise, after leading athletes, head teachers and even Conservative supporters spoke out against the plans. No migrant surge Airlines report no surge in migrants from Romania and Bulgaria Fears that Bulgarians and Romanians would flood into the UK when work restrictions were lifted at the start of the year prove unfounded, after airlines and coach companies find no increase in traffic from the two countries. Scottish Independence War for oil: Cameron and Salmond trade blows over the North Sea David Cameron and Alex Salmond hold Cabinet meetings just seven miles from each other, as the prime minister tries to neutralise arguments about oil income Scottish independence debate: North Sea oil is next battleground Both the London and Edinburgh governments prepare to decamp to Aberdeen on Monday Week in Review: Alex Salmond is born slippy Salmond sings from the same old hymn sheet, while Clegg gets down-and-dirty. In other news... Miliband pessimistic over PMQs reform prospects Ed Miliband refuses to rule out attempting to reform prime minister's questions – but admitted doing so would be "incredibly hard" An appeal for help: Funding cuts pushing GPs 'into crisis' General practices pushed into "crisis" which will see 34 million patients fail to get an appointment in 2014 'Another stitch-up': Snooping state makes half a million private data requests every year Britain's intelligence agencies could receive a rebuke from the snooping watchdog after it emerged there were over half a million requests for access to private data in 2012. Comment and Analysis WATCH: The five greatest Bill Hicks moments As the 20th anniversary of his death approaches we look back on Bill Hicks' five greatest moments Comment: The EU-US treaty which enforces privatisation Without a squeak from parliament or the press, a treaty is being negotiated which would make it almost impossible to reverse privatisation	Advertise your job vacancies here Charity calls for better crisis care in response to new suicide statistics New figures show suicide rates are still worryingly high. NHS IT scheme: “let’s hope Government has learnt from previous mistakes” New NHS data-sharing scheme involving medical records is being delayed by six months. The IET comments here. Proposed amendments to VAT online filing will not cure human rights breach CIOT: “Failing to cure the breach will result in more litigation, incurring more costs for the Exchequer." NASUWT calls on Secretary of State to recognise damage inflicted on teachers NASUW remains deeply concerned about the adverse impact of the Coalition Government’s policies on teachers. Latest ONS Figures Highlight Continuing Construction Recovery According to figures from the Office for National Statistics published today, construction output in Q4 rose by 0.2% compared with Q3 and was 4.4% higher than a year earlier. CIHT welcome targeted review of transport network resilience CIHT welcome David Cameron's plan for targeted review of the resilience of the transport network to extreme weather events.

Friday, 21 February 2014

Week in Review: Alex Salmond is born slippy - politics.co.uk

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It's strange to think that in three short years Britain could be out the EU and minus a Scotland.

Perhaps historians will one day describe this period, which often seems subdued and lacking in big political ideas, as a fundamental turning-point in British identity.

It was recess this week, so news was sparse. Flooding is still happening, but everyone has tired of talking about it. There were historic protest movements in Ukraine and Venezuela, but that was overseas so the broadcasters politely tried to avoid the subject.

Instead, what little news there was concerned the slow, unhurried movement of vast tectonic political plates. Underground, there was movement – potentially serious, game-changing movement – on the EU and Scottish independence questions.

Alex Salmond issued a long-awaited kick-back against the double whammy he received last week from George Osborne and Jose Manuel Barroso. He had all weekend to think up how to defend himself from the propositions that currency union was undesirable and EU membership impossible.

Alas, there was precious little new content in the speech. He did not answer the specific questions raised by the interventions and by the end he'd resorted to the cut-and-paste emotive rhetoric about 'Westminster bullying' which he usually deploys. He's a slippery customer. He always has been.

The polls showed the Osborne/Barroso interventions had little effect. The 'yes' camp is very slightly gaining ground. But most analysts believe these developments will really come into play towards the end of the referendum campaign. Referendums tend towards the status quo in the final six weeks, as the negative campaigning really cranks into gear. It's then that fears about currency and the EU will derail the Salmond bandwagon, if at all.

There was intervention of another variety later on, when David Bowie, speaking through his "representative on earth" Kate Moss at the Brit awards, asked Scotland to "stay with us". The comment was made marginally less convincing by the fact that Bowie isn't actually with us at all. He's in America. But anyway. Rocks gods don't face the same level of scrutiny as mere mortals.

You'd have thought that the comment, which was as far away from Osborne's threatening tone as possible, would have been met with a resigned nod of the head, even among those intent on ignoring it. But no, Bowie was savaged online by Scot Nats, as they took to Facebook with promises to burn their Ziggy Stardust vinyls.

It'll get more heated as we approach September. The current tone will look positively genteel by then.

Meanwhile, the great EU debate lumbered on for another interminable week.

A panel of five judges defied the European court of human rights by backing whole-life sentences, in a move which pleased Tory back benchers immeasurably, but did rather pour cold water on the argument that Britain is a helpless slave of Brussels.

Clegg committed himself to leading the 'party of IN', as it says in the sexy new Lib Dem website. Your tolerance for this phrase will depend mostly on whether or not it reminds you of Monty Python's Knights of Ni. If, like me, you cannot disassociate them, you will not be able to take it seriously.

The DPM is preparing for a full knock-down, down-and-dirty fight over the new EU commissioner, once Baroness Ashton steps down. David Cameron will be under pressure to get a Tory backbench favourite in there - someone who seems to be disproportionately angry about everything, like Liam Fox. He could find himself caught, once again, between his backbenchers and his coalition partners.

In a separate move, the deputy prime minister decided to challenge Nigel Farage to a one-on-one debate on the EU. For 24 mistaken hours, Farage did not reply, but got his comms bods to say that Cameron and Ed Miliband should be invited.

He was unwise to dither. It was an invitation which needed to be accepted promptly. The worst possibility thing would be for Farage to seem as if he was not game for a fight.

By the next day, he accepted. It's the political match of the century: stands-to-reason-dog-and-duck common-sense vs eurocrat-robotics. How could anyone resist?

Neither side will emerge victorious, except to their own followers, who speak altogether different languages. It'll be like someone throwing two pebbles at each other. But Farage is the one with the most to lose.

Best of News

Minister under fire for encouraging women to take up 'feminine' cheerleading

Team GB's curling win: But 1.8 million more men than women do sport at least once a week

Women should be open to doing more "feminine" sports like cheerleading, sports minister says

Coalition ended flooding victims' council tax exemption

Labour goes on the offensive over flooding, again

Ministers should tell councils not to force flood-hit families to pay their council tax, Labour says

And now... another big proposal for NHS reform

Here we go again... the last big attempt at NHS reform prompted huge political opposition

GPs should be given more powers to coordinate care in the NHS, a think-tank suggests

Controversial NHS database delayed amid privacy fears

Curse of NHS IT : Database delayed for six months

The curse of NHS IT projects strikes again, after a controversial plan for a database of patient information was put on hold amid public concern about the system

Nichols touches a nerve: Cameron defends 'moral' welfare reforms

This photo shows Archbishop Vincent Nichols quite clearly leaning to the left

Coalition's welfare reforms offer "new hope" to people stuck on benefits, David Cameron insists, in a direct response to criticism from Archbishop Vincent Nichols

Labour tries to split Tory party with stop-and-search reform

Police: Still disproportionately targeting black and Asian youths with stop-and-search

Labour offers cross-party cooperation with Theresa May in her bid to reform police stop-and-search, as it tries to drive a wedge between the home secretary and the prime minister

Maria Miller's fate in MPs' hands as expenses scandal awaits next scalp

Culture secretary Maria Miller has denied any impropriety in her expenses claims

David Cameron could lose one of his prized four female Cabinet ministers if MPs condemn culture secretary Maria Miller over her expenses claims

Best of Comment and Analysis

Comment: Anti-immigrant policies are damaging Britain on the world stage

Peter Harris: 'Immigration can be regarded as a superior means of bolstering British power in an increasingly competitive global environment'

Those who really value Britain's strength and influence should be pushing for a more liberal approach to immigration.

WATCH: Labour's Brit Awards tragedy

Neil Kinnock: Can't quite believe he's doing this

There was a time, kids, when politicians thought it was a good idea to associate with pop stars

WATCH: The nightmare of a society ruled by women

Oppressed Majority has proved a massive viral hit

This short film about life for men in a society ruled by women is provoking debate around the world

This is your brain online: What Twitter's Duggan verdict reaction taught us

Carl Miller: As Twitter unfolds in these different ways, a story emerges about society's reaction to this important case

Brutal officialdom or 'feral' youth? Different views of Britain emerged online after the Mark Duggan verdict.

Comment: Prince William should wake up to his double standards on animal protection

Mimi Bekhechi: If the prince wants his views about wildlife preservation taken seriously, he needs to get with the times and stop hunting animals

The Duke of Cambridge reportedly wants to get rid of Buckingham Palace's ivory - but what about the wild boar he recently shot?

Comment: The inside story of how our student union censored atheist posters

Cloe Ansari: 'Religion remains a subject that is either questioned at our own risk or not touched on at all'

Last week, London Southbank student union apologised for censoring the atheist society's posters. Here, society president Cloe Ansari tells us her side of the story.