Domestic abuse jumped 30% during World Cup
Research by Manchester Police uncovered that cases of domestic abuse increased by nearly 30% during the World Cup – on England match days.
The police force launched a special campaign to tackle domestic abuse recently.
Its page on domestic abuse explains:
Domestic abuse can take the form of psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional abuse and can affect anybody, regardless of gender, age, race, sexuality or social background.
A column by Janet Street-Porter also revealed more stats yesterday.
A special hotline set up for victims to seek help received 653 calls during June, an increase of 15.7% on last year.
On June 27, the day that Germany trounced England 4-1, 353 incidents were recorded, the highest number this year apart from January 1.
(via @TomBage)
Why Labour shouldn’t spell out spending cuts
Over the past few weeks there have been growing demands that the five leadership contenders set out their plans to balance to budget/eliminate the deficit.
Commentators, including many on the left, seem convinced that until Labour sets out how it would close the deficit, or even “what you would cut”, the party will have no credibility in attacking the coalition’s policies.
Is this actually right?
I’m happy to persuaded on this one, but it seems to me to be both misguided politically and possibly dangerous economically.
continue reading… »
Isn’t David Miliband flip-flopping?
Here is David Miliband from the first Labour leadership hustings, hosted by the New Statesman (from 4m 37 secs):
I’m campaigning on the manifesto that we actually stood on. And the manifesto that we stood on said that we had a defense review in 2006… [interrupted by audience].
I’m sorry but I’m not the kind of person who is going to stand on the manifesto in May and in June tell you I want to tippex out bits of it. I think that’s very important.
That sounds like someone who thinks the party was making the right choices and taking the right decisions going into the election.
And yet this is Davd Miliband just a few days ago:
In his strongest criticism of the former prime minister, Miliband claimed Brown failed to turn his technical skill in handling the banking crisis into a moral crusade, with the result that voters did not know which side the party was on.
…
Far from correcting them, failings – tactics, spin, high-handedness – intensified; and we lost many of our strengths – optimism born of clear strategy, bold plans for change and reform, a compelling articulation of aspiration and hope.“We did not succeed in renewing ourselves in office; and the roots of that failure were deep, not recent, about procedure and openness, or lack of it, as much as policy.”
Seems that David Miliband wants to have his cake and eat it too.
He can’t be the candidate who says that nothing was seriously wrong with the last 13 years at one event, and then later say the party had lost its way.
Which one is it going to be?
It’s tabloid correctness gone mad!
It’s been less than a week since Tim launched ‘Operation Cloaca‘ and already it seems we have an urgent need to come up with a suitable collective noun for multiple cloacas as no less than four newspapers – The Daily Mail, Express, Star, and the increasingly comic-like Daily Telegraph – have all run the same bullshit story.
Council forces schools to rearrange exams and cancel lessons to avoid offending Muslims during Ramadan – Daily Mail
Council tells schools to rearrange exams and cancel swimming for Ramadan – Daily Telegraph
HEADTEACHERS TOLD TO STOP SEX ED LESSONS DURING RAMADAN – Daily Star
SCHOOLS FORCED TO DELAY EXAMS TO AVOID INSULTING MUSLIMS AT RAMADAN – Daily Express
BBC mis-represents Muslim swimming story
contribution by Expose the BNP
On the front page of the BBC website today is this story: “Schools told ‘no swimming in Ramadan’ for Muslim pupils”
In fact this is a recycled “news” story from three years ago, when it was the front page of the Daily Express on Feb 21, 2007, under the headline: “MUSLIMS TELL US HOW TO RUN OUR SCHOOLS“.
Here is the Express front page itself.
Far from wanting to ban swimming during Ramadan, the Muslim Council of Britain makes it clear that: “In general, participation in swimming is an acceptable activity whilst fasting”
It seems entirely unacceptable for the BBC to jump on the anti-Muslim bandwaggon in such a poorly researched and ill-thought-out manner – let alone to recyle 3-year-old news from the Daily Express.
The BBC’s story comes barely a week after an Express front page claimed: “Muslims face pool cover-up”, about Muslims wanting swimming pool windows to be blacked out.
This was demolished and lampooned on the “Now” show (22min in) this weekend, and also here.
Legal Aid cuts are designed to hit most vulnerable in society
contribution by Sundip Meghani
In yet another shocking example of how the least well-off in our society are now the Government’s lowest priority, new Tory legal aid minister Jonathan Djanogly has scrapped the legal aid training/contract grant scheme.
The scheme, which was introduced by Labour in 2002 and costs the average UK taxpayer around eight pence per annum, helped to create more than 750 new legal aid solicitors over the last 8 years.
Legal aid lawyers are really the only professionally qualified people who can actually help those in desperate need for legal advice; from immigration matters and family breakdown, to citizen’s advice bureau and welfare centres, from criminal law and actions against the police, to debt and social housing problems.
continue reading… »
The coalition’s plan now is to dismantle the NHS
The Coalition, now in its most confident phase, is starting the process of changing the fabric of Britain to reflect its shared beliefs.
This morning a close friend, chair of a Northern Primary Care Trust, contacted me for help with an article he was writing on the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley’s, plans to shift “power” to GPs.
My friend, a former GP with 30 years experience, was flummoxed by the decision to ask primary care clinicians to become the key actors in the NHS’s economic and disease management alongside their current role as patient need managers.
continue reading… »
Gove goes from hero to zero at Daily Mail
Daily Mail comment on 8th July:
At last! After 13 years in which Labour placed social engineering and pupil-power above education, common sense is breaking out in Britain’s classrooms. Dumbed-down exams are being toughened up. Schools are being freed from political interference.
And now teachers are to get greater protection against pupils’ malicious allegations, and more power to deal with troublemakers. The Mail applauds Education Secretary Michael Gove on a promising start.
Pressure on Education Secretary Michael Gove intensified today after he was criticised by a Cabinet colleague over his mishandling of the classroom-building programme. Mr Gove will embark on a tour of the country to say sorry in person after giving schools false hope that their projects would be spared the axe.
But Lib Dem Cabinet Minister Michael Moore said told Question Time last night the education secretary had made a ‘major mistake’.
Mr Gove, who was branded a ‘miserable pipsqueak’ in parliament over a series of blunders he made with the axed £55bn scheme, will go to nine schools in Sandwell, West Midlands and one in Doncaster, South Yorkshire to say sorry.
Ouch.
via Tabloid Watch
Ken: I will refuse to work with this govt
Ken Livingstone’s team yesterday said the candidate now offered a ‘clear choice’ on how to deal with Tory cuts in contrast to his opponent Oona King.
He said that if elected he would not cooperate with the government at all to make cuts to public services.
I am not running on a basis of cooperating with this government to make cuts in public services, I am running on the basis of defending them and making life of government difficult if they are not prepared to make resources available.
His comments came on the back of an interview on the BBC Politics show yesterday.
Transcript – BBC Politics Show – 11/07/2010
Tim Donovan – ‘You could be mounting a campaign as the Labour Mayor against coalition government cuts, which ones do you think are ok to go ahead, would need to happen, which ones?’
Oona King – ‘Well I think there are things you can cut around, you know, the services that are not front line services. So as an example if you look at some of the, in housing provision, there are some housing RSL’s that are giving money to,
Tim Donovan – ‘Landlords..’
Oona King –‘ Yeah, they are giving money to issues that are not actually bricks and mortar. Now I don’t want to see that funding, I don’t want to see that activity fall but I think there are new ways of actually funding it, for instance I am looking at new partnerships, I am looking at things like social impact bonds, I am looking at ways you could stop that coming from central government funding at the moment the local authority government, but actually provide it just the same..’
Tim Donovan – ‘Ken Livingstone, what is your approach to the cuts?’
Ken Livingstone – ‘Well I have to say I think this is much more like the 1980’s than the last 10 years of Labour government when it comes to public services. I am not running on a basis of what cuts I would make. I will be working with trade unions in London and Labour councils to defend services.’
‘By the time Oona or me is elected Boris will have made every easy cuts, all that will be left will be cutting into the things that we need, and I will fight those as I fought Thatcher.
Tim Donovan – ‘Will you fight them all?’
Ken Livingstone – ‘I will fight them, which public service would we wish to get rid of, would we wish to diminish healthcare, education, policing? Do we want to put up fares?’
Tim Donovan – ‘But this is unsustainable though?’
Ken Livingstone – ‘I am not running on a basis of cooperating with this government to make cuts in public services, I am running on the basis of defending them and making life of the government difficult if they are not prepared to make resources available.’
Tim Donovan – ‘In effect return to the conflict of the 1980s?’
Ken Livingstone – ‘I’m not, I’m running to represent Londoners, not the government. I would work to make certain the government realises they would lose seats on a grand scale if they make cuts. London puts £20bn more into the national economy than we get back.’
* * * * *
The following is the latest list of London Labour Mayoral hustings meetings Ken will be attending in July (supplied by his team).
Friday, July 9th, 7pm – Clapham
Wednesday, July 14th, 7pm – Enfield
Thursday, July 15th, 7pm – Eltham
Wednesday, July 21st, 7pm – East Ham
Friday, July 23rd, 7pm – Croydon
Monday, July 26th, 7pm – Ealing
Friday, July 30th, 7pm – Tower Hamlets
Is Jon Cruddas positioning to become chair of the Labour party?
On Friday I received an early copy of David Miliband’s Keir Hardie speech from an unusual source. It’s only when I read the speech I realised why it made sense I got it from them.
The source, close to Jon Cruddas, had co-written it. No wonder Jon Cruddas called it: “the most important speech by a Labour politician for many years” – it chimes with his own sentiments and the language is similar.
So let’s try and join the dots here.
continue reading… »
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