That Tories even care about ‘fairness’ is new to politics
contribution by Owen
That the CSR is regressive isn’t anything remotely close to a surprise – it would be very difficult to make deep cuts to universal public services and not impact on the poorest, who depend on them the most.
What is interesting, though, is the fact that the government has tried to dispute the IFS’s analysis and claim that the cuts are progressive and fair.
Sure, they’re doing it through Nick Clegg, but as Stephanie Flanders at the BBC has highlighted, the fact that a Conservative-led government is trying to make the argument in these terms is distinctly unusual.
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Govt scraps NHS targets, waiting lists double
The number of patients waiting months for tests to detect cancer and other killer diseases has almost doubled since NHS waiting targets were scrapped, according to the Government’s own figures.
Latest data show more than 5,700 people waiting in excess of six weeks for MRI scans, ultrasounds and other tests. Cancer charities and patients’ groups said they were “shocked and alarmed” at the rapid increase in the numbers being forced to wait before they are even diagnosed.
Until they were scrapped in July, the waiting targets had stipulated that treatment for any disease should start within 18 weeks of a patient seeing their GP. This put pressure on hospitals to carry out tests quickly, so that patients could be diagnosed and booked in for surgery or other treatment.
Last night John Healey, the shadow health secretary, accused the Government of “putting both patients and the NHS at risk”.
Let’s NOT make Labour’s stance on the deficit confusing again
If you need an example of why discipline and clear messages are so important in politics – the Labour party’s fumbles over the financial crisis is a good example of how not to go about it.
Now, some are advocating we repeat those mistakes again.
What was significant about Ed Balls’ Bloomberg speech during the Labour leadership election was that he wanted to put the Tories on the defensive, not Labour. They’re the ones in government, not Labour!
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Nobel winner attacks Coalition economics
Writing in yesterday’s Sunday Mirror Christopher Pissarides accuses the Chancellor of exaggerating the risk of a government bond crisis like Greece’s.
If Britain did face a bond crisis it would be very serious:
But in my view Britain is a long way from such a threat, and the Chancellor has exaggerated the sovereign risks that are threatening the country.
He also makes an important point about the way the government is ”taking risks with the economic recovery.” This point is being rather over-simplified in most of the coverage of this article and which follows on from a rather too simple version of the economic debate.
Prof Pissarides isn’t arguing simply that the cuts will throw us into new recession. The debate isn’t just between those who think austerity is the road to recovery and those who think it will cause disaster.
It’s also possible that we will avoid two successive quarters of negative growth (the technical definition of a recession) but have a long period of growth that is too low to create jobs or prosperity.
If that were to happen we wouldn’t, strictly speaking, be in a double-dip recession, but most people wouldn’t notice a great deal of difference.
Prof Pissarides’ comment about how the Spending Review relates to these possibilities is spot-on:
Economists are divided on whether the cuts will move us back to recession, the “double dip”, or just slow down the recovery. But no one doubts that the Chancellor is taking risks with the recovery.
Finally, Prof Pissarides comments on the benefit cuts are particularly important. He is often described as favouring lower benefits for unemployed people (though his views are a bit more complicated than that) but he argues that this is the worst time to cut them:
The cuts are projected to add another half to one million people to the dole. This will make it a lot more difficult for the unemployed to find jobs. It is situations like these that welfare benefits play their most valuable role.
Why I’m boycotting the 35 businesses who support the cuts
Last week, 35 deluded business leaders wrote to the Telegraph to praise George Osborne’s vicious spending review.
I’m joining those who have decide to boycott every single company that those business leaders represent.
There are two reasons for this:
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O’Grady: ‘I bet Tories laughed at Bambi too’
This skit by Paul O’Grady on George Osborne and his cuts is ace.
“I bet the Tories laughed when Bambi’s mother got shot too,” he says.
via @bevaniteellie
How small technicalities are used against workers’ rights
contribution by Jon Stone
On Friday John McDonnell MP’s private members’ bill the “Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill” was put before the Commons.
The bill amends existing legislation on strikes to prevent employers using minor technical errors in balloting and reporting processes to win court injunctions banning strikes.
Using the courts system to crush industrial action has come into vogue in the past few years. For illustration, I list five examples.
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Flashback: when Liam Fox accepted support from Big Pharma
contribution by Ben Six
A few months ago, the charity Atlantic Bridge was found guilty by the charity commission of being too party political.
It’s worth noting that in May 2003, Liam Fox, then Shadow Secretary for Health, put on a conference organised by his Atlantic Bridge think-tank.
Titled “Scientific Research and Medical Provision”, it featured a representative from Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline who, possibly embittered by their most recent court case, spoke out on “threats to development” (“regulation” and “militant activists”).
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Labour jumps ahead of Tories in Mail poll
A Mail on Sunday / BPIX poll out today puts Labour ahead of the Conservative for the first time since party conferences.
It shows support for Labour at 37%, Tories at 35% and Lib Dems at 10%.
“It puts Mr Miliband ahead of Mr Cameron for the first time since the lead he enjoyed in the afterglow of his Labour leadership victory last month,” says the Mail on Sunday.
Other results below, though Labour still has a problem convincing the electorate on the economy.
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London’s increasing debt: what will Boris do about it?
The Mayor put on an upbeat performance on Wednesday by claiming that the cuts could have been worse and London had benefited as a result of Crossrail and the tube upgrades being protected.
The reality is that Transport for London (TfL) is facing the same cut in its grant as the rest of the country, with the significant exception of £890m ring fenced for the tube upgrade.
However, Londoners have been given the green light to continue its previous plans to go massively into debt in order to pay for Crossrail and the tube upgrades.
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