Ten myths about housing benefit reforms in London
Myth one: the housing benefit bill is out of control
Not all myth. London’s housing benefit bill rose from £3bn to £5bn in the seven years from 2002 to 2009, putting an extra £2bn a year into the pockets of landlords in order to help people afford a home .
Myth two: the cuts will fix the problem
Who knows? The basic problem is the increasing number of people who need housing benefits to afford to live in London. The Work and Pensions department’s own analysis showed that almost 70 per cent of growth in the benefit bill was due to more people claiming benefit . The Mayor’s research showed that the increase in the number claimants over 2002-07 almost exactly matches the shortfall in affordable rented housing .
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What if Superdrug lived up to its name?
What if Superdrug really did live up to its name, and you could pop in and pick up a gram of coke on the way home from work? Why not let anybody nipping into Boots to buy a hot water bottle cover and some Grecian 2000 purchase a bag of own-brand smack while they are about it?
Maybe Britain’s leading High Street chemist chain could consider offering ecstasy on a three for two promo, in the face of the inevitable deep discounting at Tesco.
Such are some of the intriguing possibilities that would open up if the call from erstwhile Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth for legalised intoxicants were ever to be heeded.
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Why we want to ‘recall’ Aaron Porter as NUS President
contribution by Eleanor Badcock
Yesterday, Sunny Hundal implied that so-called infighting within the student movement would detract from the burning political issues of EMA, tuition fees and cuts, in the campaign of no confidence against NUS President Aaron Porter.
The glaring omission, of course, is that the students pushing for a no confidence votes are the students who orchestrated 130,000 strong student protests against fees and cuts when Aaron Porter was ‘spinelessly dithering’ about whether he could support national days of action.
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Prosecutors urge care on retracted rape claims
Good news! The Director of Public Prosecutions has said the police need to treat “very carefully” cases of people retracting rape allegations as they may be pressured to do so.
The new guidance follows the recent case of a 28-year-old woman from Powys who was jailed for eight months for falsely retracting claims she had been raped six times by her husband.
she was eventually freed after the appeal court heard she suffered violent abuse by her husband.
The DPP Keir Starmer said such such prosecutions would now now need DPP approval.
While we must be robust in prosecuting those who seek to pervert the course of justice, cases where someone has reported a rape but then retracts the allegation must be treated very carefully and we must explore the issues behind the retraction, particularly if the victim is under pressure or frightened.
He announced a consultation exercise for the new year involving charities and special interest groups on the factors to consider before bringing a prosecution for perverting the course of justice.
The Crown Prosecution Service has also issued new guidelines for police, with examples of myths and stereotypes surrounding rape cases.
These myths include: if a woman has no physical injuries then she must have consented; a delay in reporting a rape suggests the allegation is false, because a genuine victim would report the crime immediately.
The CPS says such assumptions “have bedevilled… rape cases”, according to the BBC.
Breakthrough in drugs debate as MPs call for full decriminalisation
contribution by Peter Reynolds
Today, Bob Ainsworth MP, former Home Office drugs minister and Secretary of State for Defence, has called for the legalisation and regulation of all drugs.
He is to lead a Parliamentary debate in Westminster Hall, at 2.30pm.
Mr Ainsworth says today:
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Boris rejects rubber bullets; “propaganda victory”
London’s occasional Mayor Boris Johnson was asked yesterday by London Assembly members about more powers for the police in dealing with student protesters.
What about more draconian measures like rubber bullets or water cannons?
Boris rejected these measures because he said they would hand the protestors a “propaganda victory”.
We don’t want to hand the protesters a propaganda victory by introducing more draconian policing.
Not out of concern for protesters, or due to a point of principle against tougher policing.
Only because he wanted to avoid the bad press.
Report shows how the promise on NHS spending has been broken
contribution by Richard
Today has seen a flurry of publications from the Department of Health. First there is the response to the consultation on the NHS White Paper, which can be summed up as “we read the objections, but we are going ahead anyway”.
You have to admire the chutzpah of a document that says in one paragraph (1.14) that there was “widespread enthusiasm for the vision and principles” while in the next paragraph (1.15) it says that “a considerable number of respondents opposed the Government’s reforms altogether”.
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Watch: Johann Hari’s “worst gig”
Just something for evening amusement with Indy columnist Johann Hari on the mic in his one and only (so far) stand-up comedy gig.
There’s serious potential here!
The bit about the Dalai Lama near the end is particularly funny. The theme of the night was “My worst gig”.
Boris reported to EHRC over traveller sites
Labour Assembly member Jennette Arnold has today asked the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to investigate whether Mayor Boris Johnson has breached human rights legislation by scrapping targets for gypsy and traveller pitches in London.
A government needs assessment in 2008 found that 811 additional pitches were needed across London.
But in May this year Boris Johnson lowered the figure to 238 and in September dropped the target altogether.
The Mayor said he was taking the opportunity provided by the government’s plans to abolish regional spatial strategies – which don’t apply to London – “to review the use of targets in the London Plan”.
Jennette Arnold says in the letter:
removing the pitch targets applied to London Boroughs for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation may amount in practice to discrimination against the Gypsy and Traveller community. It could have the effect of reducing the provision of pitches made available to them by the London Boroughs, or lead to other unforeseen discrimination taking place.
Adam Bienkov at Tory Troll points out:
Spelling out his reasoning for the alteration, the Mayor states that the targets had “proved problematic” and that it could “far more effectively [be] done locally.”
Quite how this would create more provision for gypsies is not spelled out.
The number of pitches in London has fallen by 14 per cent in the last 14 years. Some boroughs, including Barnet, Havering and Enfield, have no authorised pitches.
Jennette Arnold adds:
Gypsies and travellers are a legally recognised ethnic group and the Mayor has a legal duty to have regard to their needs. His failure to stand by the findings of the needs assessment in my view amounts to unlawful discrimination.
Helena Kiely, an Irish traveller from the London Gypsy and Traveller Unit, said:
It’s hard to see what else this could be other than discrimination as all the evidence shows if it’s left to local boroughs there just won’t be authorised pitches in London. Boris is our Mayor too and he’s there to represent us, not discriminate against us in this way.
Last year the Tory councillor and Boris’ fire chief Brian Coleman said gypsies should “stay put in Ireland”.
From a press release
Why climate talks in Cancun failed miserably
contribution by Kirsty Wright
After two long and dispiriting weeks, the Cancun climate talks drew to a close in the early hours of Saturday morning. Expectations for the Cancun meeting were always low after the disaster that was Copenhagen.
So what did this supposed “deal”, that lead some to calls of “we can can can in Cancun” as the talks drew to a close, actually produce?
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