#RoyalWedding, #RoyalWedding
The commentary on Twitter is a fantasic cross-section of Britishness. Add your own two-line couplets, crowdsourced or composed, in the comments.
#RoyalWedding, #RoyalWedding
Look how quick the news is spreading
I’m really pleased for Kate and Will
But will the tax payers foot the bill?
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Woolas in court today to overturn judgement
Former Labour immigration minister Phil Woolas will begin a legal bid to overturn a ruling that he should be banned from politics for three years.
He is seeking a judicial review of the ruling of a special election court, which stripped him of his Commons seat.
It found he had made false statements in his campaign to hang on to his Oldham East and Saddleworth seat.
Last week the High Court rejected his initial request for a judicial review, but Mr Woolas is making a fresh bid.
He is due at the Royal Courts of Justice at 1400 GMT and the case is likely to continue into Wednesday.
Report shows we can’t afford to cut spending on education
The OECD have done a report on who participates in education, how much is spent on it and how education systems operate across different countries.
One interesting finding should inform the higher education debate.
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Telegraph tries to smear ‘UKuncut’ protests
The Daily Telegraph today has a story on Thom Costello, the alleged founder of UKuncut, which is organising a national of action against Tax Avoidance on 4th December.
He is the brilliant Oxford graduate with a burgeoning career in television, including a stint on Melvyn Bragg’s The South Bank Show. But Thom Costello can also be unmasked as the ringleader of an anti-capitalist movement that is bringing chaos to high streets across Britain.
Mr Costello, 22, has already orchestrated a protest against Vodafone, shutting down about a tenth of its stores over claims the company has evaded a £6 billion tax bill. His organisation UK Uncut is now planning a mass day of action next month, which has such major retailers as Boots, also accused of tax avoidance, in its sights.
You can tell they’re worried.
As an “unmasking” it’s pretty lame – his name was already mentioned in the Independent by Johann Hari in October.
But the Telegraph doesn’t realise this is a decentralised protest as part of a broader decentralised movement. There isn’t just one person behind UKuncut and there isn’t just one person coordinating across the country.
There are different people in Manchester, Liverpool, London, Birmingham who coordinate with people once a date has been decided.
As with the broader movement to defend public services, the olden days are gone where the right-wing press could smear a few people and undermine the entire movement.
The success of Mr Costello’s campaign has caused consternation in British boardrooms. As many as 30 of Vodafone’s stores were forced to shut temporarily by activists in just three days of protests earlier this month.
Mr Costello, 22, is using the social networking sites Twitter and Facebook to mobilise activists. The night before a protest he posts UK Uncut’s latest plans on the internet
I love consternation in boardrooms that indulge in massive tax avoidance.
But these protests aren’t planned the night before – we already know the next big day is Saturday 4th December.
Thanks for the publicity Telegraph – you’ve just helped this movement against tax avoidance grow bigger.
A short guide to the financial crisis
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, it’d be difficult to find a finer example of modern democracy’s total inability to control the monster it’s created.
The US journalist MattTaibbi has another installment on how the major US banks’ rip-off is now crushing homeowners with the club of the state.
On the micro level, here’s how the scam worked:
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Police take down FitWatch; bloggers angry
For years Fit-Watch were a thorn on the side of the Met Police.
They were a roughly formed group of people who wanted to “resist and oppose the tactics” of the Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT).
FIT have been notorious for harassing protesters, although they were remarkably well behaved at the G20 demonstration last year.
FitWatch.org.uk sought to record and detail their experiences of dealing with FITs. Yesterday their website was abruptly taken down.
On their Twitter account last night they posted this message:
Fitwatch blog has been suspended for “attempting to pervert course of justice”. Will post more info soon. #demo2010 #fitwatch #policestate
The Guardian’s Paul Lewis later confirmed:
Police requested #fitwatch domain hosts – JustHost.com – to take down the blog. No evidence of court order.
The PoliceStateUK account said the site was taken down by police after a posting regarding the student demo, which can still be viewed on Google Cache.
Various other sites have now replicated that posting in protest., including Police State UK blog.
If true, it’s rather worrying the Police took down that post without any explanation, without warning and without a court order.
This morning, the Guardian have published a news story confirming that the police took the site down.
Update: Fit Watch’s Emily Apple tells the Guardian she is defiant.
Paul Lewis reports that around 67 websites now carry FitWatch’s original text. The Met Police aren’t confirming if they’ll take all the websites down.
Fitwatch are still on Twitter (link fixed) and Facebook.
The danger for Labour if it supports AV reform
Jackie Ashley argues this morning that it is in Labour’s strategic interests to campaign for the Alternative Vote (AV) should a referendum be held on electoral reform next year.
She argues that if it fails to do so then the party would be putting tactics before strategy.
If only the decision the Labour party faced on whether to put their full weight behind a yes vote was so simple.
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Ed Miliband rebuffs AJ on 50p tax commitment
Labour leader Ed Miliband today rebuffed shadow chancellor Alan Johnson and said he was committed to the top-rate tax of 50p.
A spokesperson for his office said: “We remain committed to it for now and for the foreseeable future.”
The need for a statement was underscored when Alan Johnson, over the weekend, said he wanted to see the top rate of tax eventually dropped again.
He told The Times on Saturday:
I am only backing 50p for the times we are in. It is not ideal; five years ago (we) wouldn’t have done it. Our policy has to be based on fairness and what encourages people to do well.
On the BBC Politics Show yesterday he was asked by Jon Soppel:
Well I’ll tell you what – just so that people can compare and contrast and make their own judgement, your quote, “I’m only backing 50p tax rate for the times we were in,” yesterday and Ed Miliband, during the campaign, “I would keep the 50p rate permanently. It’s not about reducing the deficit, it’s about fairness in our society and that’s why I’d keep the 50p tax rate.” Had you spoken to him before you said that?
Alan Johnson replied:
Well, look, you have to separate what’s going on in a leadership contest where people say all kinds of things in terms of the cut and thrust of that campaign and where we stand now. I was also being asked my opinion on the 50p tax rate.
Today, Ed Miliband’s aides insist that reversing tax rises on the poorest was a bigger priority.
But some say his statement represents a shift from his earlier firm commitment.
A poll by YouGov for Sunday on Sunday found that a massive 77% of voters would “support increasing taxation on the very rich” to reduce income inequality between the richest and the poorest.
What do I tell my son now about higher education?
contribution by Carl Legge
I’m 48 and so I did my late teens in Thatcher’s Britain. I never thought I’d say this, things were easier then if you wanted a university education.
I grew up in a council house (‘social housing’) in suburban West London. We were a poor family: Dad was a garage receptionist and Mum had done part-time work in Mac Fisheries when she was well enough.
We didn’t have many of the things that were common at the time. No colour TV, no phone, no freezer, no central heating. Money was a constant worry and topic of conversation.
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Libdem campaigning in Oldham goes extra small
Eager to win the by-election seat in Oldham and Saddleworth, the Libdems have kicked off their campaign already.
Their head of campaigns told LibdemVoice last week that, “It’s already on!“.
Political Scrapbook pointed out last night that the dodgy bar charts have returned too!
This time the Libdems have curiously decided to ignore the Conservative vote entirely and omit them, despite it being obvious the seat is a three-way-marginal now.
But it gets more amusing. Liberal Conspiracy reader Lewis Dagnall scanned in parts of their election material and sent it to us.
The ‘newspaper’ says at the top: “Delivered free to thousands of homes in our area by volunteers paid for by individual donations – at no cost to local taxpayers.”
(click the image for a larger version)
Which is very nice… though the caveat comes in super-small fine print at the back (below): “Published and promoted by P Reynolds on behalf of E Watkins (Liberal Democrat).”
(click the image for a larger version)
C’mon on Libdems – there’s no need to be coy about who is producing your leaflets is there? And why airbrush out the poor Tories?
What happened to the New Politics?
Election results in 2010
Labour: Phil Woolas / 14,186 votes / 31.9% / -10.7% change
Libdem: Elwyn Watkins / 14,083 votes / 31.6% / -0.5% change
Cons: Kashif Ali / 11,773 votes / 26.4% / +8.7% change
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