Thursday, 27 March 2014

Goodbye Tony - politics.co.uk

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"It's a Bible quote which was the family motto. That was very important to him."

Goodbye Tony

Painting Tony Benn: 'He went to sleep while I was drawing him'

Andrew Tift, who painted Tony Benn's portrait, recalls his experience with "a genuinely nice man"

"He was always very interested in just talking to people."

The socialism of humanity: A tribute to Tony Benn

WATCH: Tony Benn - Will and Testament

The prisoner book ban

Prison staff lash out at Chris Grayling over book ban

Grayling's case for prison book ban starts to unravel as prison staff say there was no problem dealing with parcels

Campaign against Grayling's prison book ban backed by prison staff, as justice secretary's argument starts to unravel

Censorship online

The internet censorship programme you're not allowed to know about

Filtered: The system around what gets censored is hard to establish

The legal battle to find out precisely what is being included in internet filter programmes

Clegg vs Farage

As-it-happened: Clegg v Farage live from the spin room

Ukip supporters will be welcoming this high-profile platform for their leader, Nigel Farage

Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage are in a room somewhere arguing about Europe. Join us for live coverage from the spin room

Boeing Statement on ANA Widebody Airplane Selection

Boeing is pleased that ANA today announced the selection of 40 Boeing widebody airplanes for its strategic fleet renewal.

Why east London needs a new bridge

London is expanding east and needs a new bridge connecting north and south.

IET Award finalist in Marks and Spencer’s Leading Ladies campaign

Roma Agrawal is hitting headlines alongside big names such as Annie Lennox and Rita Ora, after Marks and Spencer chose the 30-year-old structural engineer as one of their ‘Leading Ladies’.

RSPCA warns of rabies threat from illegally imported puppies

MPs discuss measures to halt imported European puppies.

RSPCA rescue cat helps make sure diabetic owner is feline fine

A rescue cat left dumped in a box outside a shop has proved to be the purrrrrrfect pet by raising the alarm when her young owner’s blood sugar levels dip to dangerous levels.

Government’s zero hours proposals fail to protect low paid workers

Responding to the Government’s proposal to outlaw ‘exclusivity’, the LITRG argues that proposals fail to grasp what is actually needed to bring sustainable protection for low paid workers on zero hour contracts.

3M Appoints Spandex as Master Distributor for Architectural Finishes

Next day availability on more than 500 patterns, ideal for shop fitting, interior decoration and refurbishment projects.

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Wednesday, 26 March 2014

PMQs special - politics.co.uk

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"Books represent a lifeline behind bars, a way of nourishing the mind and filling the many hours that prisoners spend locked in their cells."

Read all about it: Prisoner book ban latest

Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan join literary heavyweights in attack on prison book ban

Salmon Rushdie joins campaign against prison book ban

The most famous authors in Britain join together to demand Chris Grayling reverses his prison book ban

Prison book ban: The questions Chris Grayling must answer

Chris Grayling: the questions the justice secretary still needs to answer

Last night, Chris Grayling wrote a piece for Politics.co.uk defending his ban on prisoners being sent books. Today, we highlight the questions raised by his response.

Alan Bennett joins prison book ban campaign

Alan Bennett is set to intervene in the prisoner books debate

Justice secretary barely keeps his head above water as he's hit by multiple crises

Comment: Grayling has shown his true colours with prison book ban

Comment: The ban on sending prisoners books is part of my rehabilitation revolution

Prison book ban: Grayling hits back at critics

Comment: Why has Grayling banned prisoners being sent books?

An electric PMQs

PMQs verdict: Miliband's smile froze on his lips

Tory backbenchers were delighted by David Cameron's performance in this week's PMQs

Ed Miliband thought he was on to a winner - but somehow the Labour leader missed yet another opportunity to make David Cameron look stupid

PMQs as-it-happens

PMQs as-it-happens

All the twists and turns of this week's session, with Politics.co.uk's live blog.

'We're getting hammered': The never-ending misery of energy bosses

Lots of bright ideas? Not really

Facing a maelstrom of public anger from consumers, politicians and the press, energy bosses are getting desperate

Meanwhile...

Comment: How much does the war on drugs costs you?

Jason Reed: 'We've found ourselves going off-piste and lacking in any degree of continuity in the conduct of existing drug law enforcement'

Experiments overseas provide vital clues for how to price cannabis and use it to reduce the deficit.

NUT strike: Why performance-related pay for teachers doesn't work

Performance related pay: Does it improve grades?

Teachers are right to strike over performance related pay: studies show it simply doesn't work.

Why east London needs a new bridge

London is expanding east and needs a new bridge connecting north and south.

IET Award finalist in Marks and Spencer’s Leading Ladies campaign

Roma Agrawal is hitting headlines alongside big names such as Annie Lennox and Rita Ora, after Marks and Spencer chose the 30-year-old structural engineer as one of their ‘Leading Ladies’.

RSPCA warns of rabies threat from illegally imported puppies

MPs discuss measures to halt imported European puppies.

RSPCA rescue cat helps make sure diabetic owner is feline fine

A rescue cat left dumped in a box outside a shop has proved to be the purrrrrrfect pet by raising the alarm when her young owner’s blood sugar levels dip to dangerous levels.

Government’s zero hours proposals fail to protect low paid workers

Responding to the Government’s proposal to outlaw ‘exclusivity’, the LITRG argues that proposals fail to grasp what is actually needed to bring sustainable protection for low paid workers on zero hour contracts.

3M Appoints Spandex as Master Distributor for Architectural Finishes

Next day availability on more than 500 patterns, ideal for shop fitting, interior decoration and refurbishment projects.

Expectant elephant speared in Amboseli

In what may be one of the saddest incidences of poaching in recent times, an expectant elephant has been speared to death within the Amboseli ecosystem.

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Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Prison book ban: Day three - politics.co.uk

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"Let's face it, Chris Grayling has shown his true colours with this policy"

Read all about it

Prison book ban: The questions Chris Grayling must answer

Chris Grayling: the questions the justice secretary still needs to answer

Last night, Chris Grayling wrote a piece for Politics.co.uk defending his ban on prisoners being sent books. Today, we highlight the questions raised by his response.

Comment: Grayling has shown his true colours with prison book ban

Sadiq Khan: 'Grayling isn't interested in a rehabilitation revolution'

The justice secretary has given up on drug-free wings, but he's pushing book-free wings

'No backing from any quarter': Grayling in crisis

Locked up: Justice secretary Chris Grayling faces multiple crises

Justice secretary barely keeps his head above water as he's hit by multiple crises

Comment: The ban on sending prisoners books is part of my rehabilitation revolution

Chris Grayling: It was never the case that prisoners were simply allowed unlimited parcels – books or otherwise

Offenders need to behave well if they are to earn privileges

Prison book ban: Grayling hits back at critics

Chris Grayling and Nick Clegg take a seat in the library while they talk to inmates at the Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institute last January.

Justice secretary hits out at critics of decision to ban prisoners receiving books, saying the rule is necessary to improve rehabilitation rates

Comment: Why has Grayling banned prisoners being sent books?

Frances Crook: 'Book banning is in some ways the most despicable and nastiest element of the new rules'

The justice secretary's decision to punish reading is as nasty as it is bizarre

RSPCA rescue cat helps make sure diabetic owner is feline fine

A rescue cat left dumped in a box outside a shop has proved to be the purrrrrrfect pet by raising the alarm when her young owner’s blood sugar levels dip to dangerous levels.

Government’s zero hours proposals fail to protect low paid workers

Responding to the Government’s proposal to outlaw ‘exclusivity’, the LITRG argues that proposals fail to grasp what is actually needed to bring sustainable protection for low paid workers on zero hour contracts.

3M Appoints Spandex as Master Distributor for Architectural Finishes

Next day availability on more than 500 patterns, ideal for shop fitting, interior decoration and refurbishment projects.

Expectant elephant speared in Amboseli

In what may be one of the saddest incidences of poaching in recent times, an expectant elephant has been speared to death within the Amboseli ecosystem.

Disability charity publishes Easy Read summary of 2014 Budget

The national disability charity, United Response, has published an easy read summary of last Wednesday’s budget speech.

'Take action to stamp out racism' says NASUWT on World Anti-Racism Day

The NASUWT is challenging government administrations across the UK to demonstrate stronger leadership and to take action to stamp out racism.

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Monday, 24 March 2014

Prisoner book ban: 'As nasty as it is bizarre' - politics.co.uk

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"Of course prisons should have incentives schemes to reward good behaviour. But punishing reading is as nasty as it is bizarre."

Read all about it

Grayling faces writers' backlash over prisoner book ban

Chris Grayling and Nick Clegg take a seat in the library while they talk to inmates at the Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institute last January.

Outrage among prominent novelists after it emerged that prisoners had been banned from being sent books in jail

Comment: Why has Grayling banned prisoners being sent books?

Frances Crook: 'Book banning is in some ways the most despicable and nastiest element of the new rules'

The justice secretary's decision to punish reading is as nasty as it is bizarre

Budget fallout

Miliband in crisis again as left reveals frustration with Labour leader

Miliband urged to be "bolder" by left-wing critics

Left-wing campaign groups speak out against Labour party's strategy of 'playing it safe'

Tories close in on Labour lead following Budget poll boost

George Osborne basks in a well received Budget

A pair of disastrous polls for Labour see the Tories start to close the gap with the opposition, in the wake of a well received Budget

Scottish independence referendum

The myth of North Sea oil: Scots face £1K deficit growth per person under independence

Dead in the water? North Sea oil revenues are set to decline.

Scotland would be "significantly worse off" under independence, with the deficit growing by an average of £1,000 per person, according to economists

Gap closes in Scottish independence campaign as 'yes' camp gathers momentum

Danger for darling: The Better Together campaign is facing questions about its tactics

Gap between the 'yes' and 'no' campaigns in the Scottish referendum narrows to seven points, amid signs of momentum in the independence camp

Continental troubles

The 'green card' which lets Westminster take the fight to Brussels

David Cameron and Jose Manuel Barroso: A tense relationship at the best of times

Peers recommend a strengthening of national parliaments' ability to irritate the EU's commissioners

'Shadows of the 30s': Ex-military chief raises Nazi threat in fight against Army cuts

General Sir Richard Dannatt (l) has been shaking his head for years

Former head of the Army warns the Crimea crisis' "uncomfortable shadows of the 30s" are a reason for boosting the size of the British Army

Tories rebel against party's anti-immigration message

Mark Field pushes for more moderate immigration message

Signs of a fightback against the Conservative's increasingly harsh anti-immigration rhetoric, as a group of MPs join together to make the case for a more moderate approach

Expectant elephant speared in Amboseli

In what may be one of the saddest incidences of poaching in recent times, an expectant elephant has been speared to death within the Amboseli ecosystem.

Disability charity publishes Easy Read summary of 2014 Budget

The national disability charity, United Response, has published an easy read summary of last Wednesday’s budget speech.

'Take action to stamp out racism' says NASUWT on World Anti-Racism Day

The NASUWT is challenging government administrations across the UK to demonstrate stronger leadership and to take action to stamp out racism.

NASUWT comments on Ofsted changes

Yet another ad-hoc announcement by the inspectorate, causing turbulence and destabilising schools and teachers when what is needed is a coherent approach to the reform of the accountability system.

Iceland's whaling crusader attempts to ship 2,000 tonnes of fin whale meat

Iceland’s lone whaling crusader is attempting to ship 2,000 tonnes of fin whale meat out of the country despite limited market for the meat and opposition at home and abroad to the bloody trade.

Association encourage by Budget support for manufacturing and housebuilding

The Construction Products Association welcomed the Chancellor’s 2014 Budget Statement which backs British manufacturers and builders.

This email has been sent to you by Politics.co.uk because you previously registered on our site. To stop receiving emails like this please update your preferences or unsubscribe here. Politics.co.uk, South Quay Plaza 2, 183 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SH. Registered in England with company number 07092149.