Taxpayers’ Alliance: take from the poor to give to the rich
The Taxpayer’s Alliance have a new report out about how to reform welfare.
They claim to have spent a lot of time on the report, and it includes detailed calculations for things like the computation of negative income tax (if rG – T >= 0, then N = M – rG + T and so on).
It is an attempt to simplify the benefits system and improve financial incentives for people to take a job, while reducing the overall cost of the system.
The way that it seeks to do this is by making lots of middle and lower income taxpayers considerably worse off.
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The scandal of no prosecution over Ian Tomlinson’s death
contribution by Helen
Today, the CPS ruled that no charges would be brought against the police officer who assaulted Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests last year.
Tomlinson died shortly afterwards, but the incident in which he was struck by a police baton and pushed to the ground by an officer, was captured on camera and released to the public.
After the G20 there followed a shameful campaign of misinformation and attempted secrecy by the police, who initially claimed that they were prevented from giving Tomlison medical treatment by a “hail of bottles” thrown by protestors.
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Where do Lib Dems really stand on gay marriage?
Recently, Simon Hughes spoke to this issue in a video interview, then widely reported – e.g. by gay media outlet Pink News – that Hughes had indicated that gay marriage will happen in this parliament.
However, that is a rather optimistic assessment of what Hughes actually said. Indeed, Hughes actually dampened expectations that gay marriage would be adopted as a matter of Lib Dem party policy, let alone coalition policy.
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Victory for violence against women campaign
Well, credit where it is due.
Yesterday, Amnesty’s End Violence Against Women campaign sent out this mail:
Dear Supporter,
I’m delighted to tell you that on Friday the Home Secretary, Theresa May, announced that she would extend the current No Recourse pilot project until March 2011. This enables women trapped in violent relationships by the ‘no recourse’ rule to access protection from which they would otherwise have been turned away.
Even better, she said that she would then be working on a permanent solution. The Home Secretary made this pledge despite the cuts climate, saying “some things are too important”. This is great news.
We will, of course, continue to try to work with the government to ensure that the project addresses some of the weaknesses in the current pilot, but this announcement is a major step forward that will give hundreds of women safety over the coming months, and beyond. Definitely something to celebrate.
This is good news for hundreds, maybe thousands of women across the country.
The ‘No Recourse’ rule was particularly harsh to immigrant women.
As the WRC explains:
Many women come to the UK, often legally, in the hope of improving their lives. They may come on temporary work permits, student visas or spousal visas. Some women come to the UK to marry. The ‘no recourse to public funds’ rule says that a woman in this position – even if she’s married to a British citizen – is not entitled to certain state benefits, including housing benefit and income support.
But these are the benefits a woman must be able to claim to get a place in a refuge if she needs to escape violence. As a result, many newly-married women in the UK are trapped in violent marriages and even if they do muster the courage to seek help from the authorities, they are simply turned away.
While this was a campaign that many Labour MPs (especially John McDonnell) supported and campaigned on, the last Labour government (to their shame) didn’t say much on this issue.
(via the F Word)
Watch: Did Osborne entrap Clegg over Iraq?
By now we all know of the minor controversy yesterday when Nick Clegg was supposedly representing a “personal view” when he called the invasion of Iraq “illegal”.
On a technical point, the DPM is supposed to be representing the government and so can’t necessarily express his own party’s view on the issue.
But that aside – there’s something very curious about yesterday’s incident.
Watch the video below and keep an eye on George Osborne’s face right till the end.
(video via Hadleigh Roberts)
Did you catch Osborne’s look at the end? Have you ever seen a more smug face?
But more importantly – why does he point at Jack Straw with that smug smile quite a few seconds after Clegg has clearly strayed away from party line?
You can see William Hague’s face in response – slightly wincing but smiling because he knows the shitstorm that will ensue as a result of Clegg’s statement. But Osborne… it’s like he knew this was going to happen.
Says Hadleigh Roberts:
Maybe the smug look was not because of the line against Jack Straw, it was in fact a sting operation to embarrass the Deputy Prime Minister.
Entirely possible!
Though Sunder Katwala thinks there’s something more obvious at work here:
Poor Nick may have just been agreeing with George – yet George thinks quite the opposite and has always been among the staunchest defenders of the Iraq war in both public and private.
Unless, it seems, there’s a political point to be scored.
But isn’t Osborne also somewhat strengthened by leaving Clegg hanging out to dry after that exchange? That was a lot of political point scoring in one go.
How close is Michael Gove to the New Schools Network?
What a curious beast is the New Schools Network, the "independent charity" that championed the plans for "free schools" now being rushed through Parliament by Education Secretary Michael Gove. Click on the group’s online form to "Sign up for more information" and a message appears:
We may pass relevant details to the Department for Education so they can provide assistance. If this is a problem please email us on…
How many other "independent charities" pass your details to government unless you email to object?
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Nick Clegg disowned by government at PMQs!
Extraordinary farce today. James Lyons at the Daily Mirror just tweeted:
Clegg wasnt speaking on behalf of Government at PMQs, says Number 10
This was followed up by Paul Waugh at the Evening Standard:
Clegg PMQs fiasco gets worse. No.10 at Lobby briefing says Clegg was speaking “in a personal capacity”.
Speaking in a personal capacity, while being Deputy Prime Minister? How… amusing?
Update: There is now speculation that the No 10 spokesperson will have to clarify their remarks.
Update 2: James Lyon adds:
Clegg’s despatch box declaration that Iraq was illegal “a personal view”, says Downing Street
What a blunder.
Update 3: Paul Waugh recounts a day of PR blunders and u-turns by a government that doesn’t know its arse from its elbow:
* Cameron decides to help out in the gaffe-stakes by declaring: “We were the junior partner in 1940 when we were fighting the Nazis.” Churchill spins in grave. [US entered the war in 1941]
* Michael Howard attacks Ken Clarke’s “foolish” claims that prison numbers are less important to crime levels than economic booms
* Tories brief that Cable’s graduate tax is not going to happen in the way he thinks
* Lansley U-turn on death tax upsets backbench Tories
Update 4: Clegg’s spokesperson responds:
Clegg’s spokesman puts out a statement saying Clegg was only expressing ‘long held view’ on Iraq and govt awaits Chilcott
Long held by many of us, but does that include the Tories? Or is that the new Coalition position?
Will Labour MPs now admit invading Iraq destabilised the UK?
It was probably the most damning indictment of the Iraq war. And yet not enough has been said about it.
Owen at ThirdEstate says it’s confirmation blindness and he’s right: us lefties have been saying it for so long that when it’s stated again – we just mutter something like ‘we told you so, you fucking cretins‘ and move on. But it’s worth stating again:
In straightforward, devastating testimony, Eliza Manningham-Buller told the Chilcot inquiry how she had warned about what sensible – but mostly frightened to speak out – senior Whitehall officials believed in 2003: that the invasion of Iraq would increase the terrorist threat to the UK.
Is Trident about to be ditched?
contribution by Tim Fenton
The issue of defence is moving swiftly right now: I’d barely written about the lobby groups in favour when Liam Fox, minister with special responsibility for keeping foot out of mouth, held forth at the Farnborough air show and said this about the UK’s defence programme:
The defence programme is entirely unaffordable – especially if we try to do what we need to do in the future while simultaneously doing everything that we’ve done in the past
Fox has also been urging defence contractors and suppliers to “improve value for money to the taxpayer”, amid rumours that the capital cost of the Trident Missile System, formerly paid by the Treasury, would have to come out of his budget – if the system were to be replaced.
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2010 already ‘hottest ever’ for 9 countries
Moscow is on track for its hottest July in history, according to the Russian Weather Service, with a state of emergency to be declared for 19 Russian provinces.
The heat has got so bad that a record number of Russians have been drowning in swimming accidents as they take to the water to escape the heat. Over 1200 Russians drowned in June, with another 233 dying between July 5 and 12.
The heatwave in Russia is also leading to panic buying and widespread shortages of essential goods.
The same report by meterologist Jeff Masters found that:
A withering heat wave of unprecedented intensity brought the hottest temperatures in recorded history to six nations in Asia and Africa, plus the Asian portion of Russia, in June 2010.
…
..six nations in Asia and Africa set new all-time hottest temperature marks in June. Two nations, Myanmar and Pakistan, set all-time hottest temperature marks in May, including Asia’s hottest temperature ever, the astonishing 53.5°C (128.3°F) mark set on May 26 in Pakistan. Last week’s record in Russia makes nine countries this year that have recorded their hottest temperature in history, making 2010 the year with the most national extreme heat records.
Last week the US NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) posted its State of the Climate, Global Analysis for June.
The report said that June was the fourth consecutive month that was the warmest on record for the combined global land and surface temperatures (March, April, and May were also the warmest).
“This was the 304th consecutive month with a combined global land and surface temperature above the 20th century average.” – says the report.
[hat tip Climate Progress].
Yesterday the Times reported that ExxonMobil gave $1.5 million to climate deniers and industry front groups known for working to create doubt about global warming and to attack the integrity of climate scientists.
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