A compassionate campaigner for good? Really?
As predicted, Gordon Brown appeared alongside Linda Bowman yesterday in their entirely deceitful attempt to suggest that Mark Dixie wouldn’t have been caught under the Tories’ plans for changes to the way the DNA database is maintained.
It was Alan Johnson though that really stole the show:
Linda Bowman is a remarkable and brave woman who has suffered the most unspeakable tragedy yet still manages to be a compassionate campaigner for good.
Quite so.
continue reading… »
The Digital Economy Bill: who did what
The public whip tells us that the parties voted the following ways on the Digital Economy Bill. Astonishing that just nine Tory MPs (less than one in twenty) bothered to vote on such controversial legislation.
Well done to those Lib Dems who turned up for their unanimous opposition, although due to their low turnout they were outnumbered by the rebel Labour MPs.
continue reading… »
Alan Greenspan and the death of libertarian economics
US Economist Alan Greenspan has been giving his testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, criticised for failing to implement rules that would have curbed an overstretched banking system.
As the Telegraph reported:
In one of the most heated moments of his testimony, Brooksley Born, who chaired the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for three years from 1996, blasted: “The Fed utterly failed to prevent the financial crisis. Failed to prevent the housing bubble, failed to prevent the predatory lending scandal.”
Greenspan, who chaired America’s central bank from 1987-2006, said that he hadn’t “regulate[d] sub-prime mortgages because, by 2005, more than half of such home loans were being originated by institutions outside of the central bank’s control.”
For a man otherwise known for his strong libertarian, anti-governmental regulation and pro-laissez-faire views this was a shock.
continue reading… »
Polls show public support for national service
YouGov’s tracker poll yesterday showed a Tory lead of 9pts. My view is the Tory lead stands at around 7% – and the daily swings are mostly within the 3pts range of that figure.
Anyway, the poll also asked a few other questions. It was surprising to see so much support for Tory plans for a national service.
But in addition, about the only policy in which the public think the Tories can improve things is immigration.
It has been suggested that Britain should introduce a ‘national citizen service’ plan. This would be a modern, non-military version of national service, with all young people spending 2 months working on social action projects, such as looking after the elderly. In principle, do you think this is a good or bad idea?
Good idea: 77%
Bad idea: 14%
Don’t know: 9%
If a ‘national citizen service’ plan were to be introduced for young people, do you think it should be a voluntary plan for only those who wish to take part, or compulsory for all young people to take part?
Voluntary: 29%
Compulsory: 64%
Don’t know: 7%
Do you think the following will or will not happen if the Conservatives win the coming election?
The quality of education in state schools will improve
Will: 26%
Will not: 46%
Don’t know: 28%
The number of crimes committed each year will fall
Will: 20%
Will not: 52%
Don’t know: 28%
Fewer immigrants and asylum seekers will enter Britain each year
Will: 43%
Will not: 34%
Don’t know: 23%
Britain’s economy will grow stronger
Will: 34%
Will not: 37%
Don’t know: 29%
Responding to the BNP’s claims in Peckham
contribution by Tom Chance
A new BNP presence mobilised local anti-fascists in Bermondsey recently by delivering a spiteful leaflet.
It warned that immigration might lead Bermondsey to “end up like Peckham and Camberwell”.
A picture showed a west African shop front. Having surveyed nearly a thousand households in Peckham in the past six months, I can see the power of this appeal because the character of Peckham town centre was by far the most frequently raised issue.
But how to respond to the BNP whipping up racial explanations?
continue reading… »
Is NI a ‘tax on jobs’? Evidence suggests otherwise
Does David Cameron know anything about the labour market of northern Finland? It seems not, judging from this:
If we put up National Insurance contributions on every job, employers will have to pay more for them. That’s bound to be a tax on jobs…Putting up the cost of employment will lead to fewer jobs being created and it will probably lead to jobs being lost.
But do NI contributions really affect jobs? This is where Finland comes in. In 2003, the Finnish government wanted to boost employment in the northern part of the country. So it abolished some equivalents of our NI for firms in northern regions. This saved the average firm there around 4% of its wage bill.
Did this create jobs? The beauty of this plan was that it gave us a natural experiment. Because the tax cut only applied to firms in part of the country, it‘s possible to compare these to firms elsewhere in the country, to see if the lower “tax on jobs” created employment.
continue reading… »
Tory “efficiency savings” would cancel their school reforms
Here’s Tory adviser Peter Gershon, explaining how they are going to save £12 billion:
“Firstly, a new Government should stop any major new spending on IT projects and cancel existing projects which are not worth completing.”
Stop any major new spending on IT projects. Hmm. Anyone spotted the problem yet? Any flagship Tory policies which require major new spending on IT projects?
Ah yes. Michael Gove’s schools policy, which involves letting parents set up new schools will, like every other school vouchers programme round the world, need a big new IT database if it is going to work.
This was, indeed, predicted a couple of years ago:
“Now we come to the money side of things. Each child is going to carry with him or her a voucher. This voucher is effectively a small business grant, which will be issued in denominations of about £5,000. Small grant schemes like this are known to be a fraudster’s paradise, so there will need to be some pretty heavy checking and verification of all the education vouchers. Added to that, the system will need to be pretty versatile and flexible because children have an annoying habit of changing schools in the middle of the school year, meaning (presumably) that their education vouchers will need to be pro-rated. At this point, we presumably find out that different education authorities have different numbers of days in the school year, which is the sort of annoying little detail that causes wildly disproportionate trouble when you find out about it late in the day.”
So either the Tory proposals to make efficiency savings don’t add up, or they are going to have to cancel their entire schools policy. Something tells me they haven’t quite thought this one through.
Election sexism watch (episode 1)
Introducing a new, month-long series, where I’ll be keeping a watchful eye on the meeja* and picking out some of the sexist-shite coverage of the General Election campaign.
Episode 1
From Andrew Pierce in yesterday’s Daily Mail:
Ugly rumours may cost Cash the cutie dear
Joanne Cash, the Conservative Party Alister, has been tipped for Cabinet office if she wins the marginal seat of Westminster North.
Tatler magazine has named her as one of the ten Tories to watch and Vogue included her as one of the top 50 women of the age.
Small wonder, then, that Ms Cash is pre-eminent among the telegenic Cameron cuties whom the Tories will be hoping to wheel before the cameras in the weeks ahead.
If Conservatives win; women’s rights will suffer
The upcoming election will likely have a major effect on what is traditionally a matter of conscience on which the parties don’t take a position: abortion.
While the political parties don’t officially have a line, it is clear that the Conservatives are more in favour of restricting abortion than Labour.
The LibDems are somewhere in between. Based on the 2008 votes on abortion in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, and making the assumption that the votes of the parties in the Parliament that is now ending is a good guide to the same in the next Parliament, we can say that the probability of a Conservative MP voting to restrict abortion from twenty-four to twenty-two weeks is 0.83; for Labour, the figure is 0.2; for the LibDems, 0.42.
I am taking the figures from the Public Whip for the votes for 22, 20, 16 and 12 weeks.
continue reading… »
Polls: Voters still doubt Cameron’s abilities
The Times/Populus poll yesterday illustrates the extent to which how many undecided voters are still out there.
It also shows there remains a deep scepticism associated with David Cameron himself.
The newspaper reports today:
Roughly a third of voters are either undecided or say they may yet change their minds. Two fifths of voters believe that while it is time for a change from Labour they are not sure that it is time for a change in favour of the Tories.
A big majority of the doubters believe that the Conservatives have not made a strong enough case for a change from Labour and half think that Mr Cameron is too inexperienced to be prime minister.
Within that group 45 per cent disagree with Tory proposals to reduce the planned increase in national insurance contributions
But the polls don’t exactly bode well for Gordon Brown himself either. They show he remains a very unpopular candidate and a significant percentage of voters want a change from him. It’s just that Cameron is not the convincing face of that change.
You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or RSS feed. You can also get them by email and through our Facebook group.
» The real agenda behind Telegraph’s abortion investigation
» How Scotland Yard monitors prying bloggers and journalists
» When disabled people want to work – employers can hold the back
» Revealed: the reality behind Workfare and why it doesn’t work
» Job snob? No, I’ve got the T-shirt
» Why country-by-country reporting matters to our wellbeing
» If Unions want to become stronger, they need to modernise
» Why work “reforms” in Spain are a warning for workers across Europe
» Five things you need to know about the NHS bill
» Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier. More Racist.
» Laziness levels in Britain getting lazier, wails government
|
62 Comments 15 Comments 23 Comments 8 Comments 24 Comments 19 Comments 16 Comments 83 Comments 203 Comments 85 Comments |
|
LATEST COMMENTS » pjt posted on Workfare - what does the evidence show? » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Chaise Guevara posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Chaise Guevara posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Oliver posted on Job snob? No, I've got the T-shirt » Brummie Protestor posted on Workfare - what does the evidence show? » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Hannah posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » mr_hopkinson posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Amy Finlayson posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » pagar posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Oliver Conner posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Ferret Dave posted on Workfare - what does the evidence show? |
