Government admits cutting benefits won’t increase employment
On Monday, Labour MP Nic Dakin said in the House of Commons:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what evidence he used to determine that planned changes to housing benefit for those out of work for over 12 months will increase employment levels.
Guess what he got in response…
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It’s time Alan Johnson was replaced by Cooper or Balls
For a party leader who promised an end to ‘Punch and Judy politics’ – Cameron was so full of ad hominems yesterday at PMQs that even Telegraph commentators were embarrassed for him.
But despite the government’s rapidly falling approval ratings – Labour is dismally failing to convince the public it has a solid handle on the economy.
And there’s only one person to blame for that: Alan Johnson.
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Govt approval falls to lowest ever: -25%
The government’s approval ratings fell to their lowest yet, at -25% (31% approve, 55% disapprove), according to YouGov yesterday night.
Voting intentions were: Con 36%, Lab 43%, LD 9% – but they are within the margin of error. If the numbers remain there then the government is in serious trouble.
It’s also worth noting that approval ratings for the government’s cuts vary strongly according to age.
18-24 (-22%)
25-39 (-15%)
40-59 (-17%)
60 + (+12%) according to YouGov (ht @FaisalIslam)
Stating the obvious: a campaign focus on how the elderly are going to be affected by the cuts could seriously undercut government support.
Video: Jeremy Hunt’s lecture protest
.
via @aaronjohnpeters
Press Association reported:
Student demonstrators interrupted a debate with Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt at the London School of Economics. About 30 demonstrators chanted “Minister of Culture, Tory vulture” and “Tory scum” at the central London event.
The Cabinet minister was speaking to journalist Ray Snoddy when the event was interrupted.
Some protesters such as Guy Aitchison weren’t too comfortable with usage of ‘Tory Scum’ as a chant either.
When the police march against job losses – we should join in #solidarity
contribution by Steve Sumpter
I have been very vocal in condemning the police for their actions at the student protests late last year. I wrote in some detail about police violence and about their alleged use of an old van as bait for protesters.
But if and when members of the police go on strike and march in protest against budget cuts and loss of jobs, I think those of us in the anti-cuts movement should be protesting alongside them.
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Obama’s approval rises; did compromise help?
The Associated Press reports today that Obama’s approval ratings have jumped up sharply after the Christmas holidays.
It found that 53% of Americans approve of how Obama is doing his job, his best numbers for over a year.
And, compared with just after the November elections, more now express confidence that Obama and the new Republican-controlled House can work together to solve the country’s most urgent problems, chief among them the struggling economy.
…
Most people, according to the poll, now are putting their faith in Republicans to implement the changes needed to fix the economy. But a majority also now view the Democrats favorably, an oddity just two months after voters dealt Obama’s party what he called “a shellacking” in congressional elections.
And here lies the problem for Obama – while the Republican party has tried to obstruct most of his agenda, it seems voters prefer the view that both parties are working together to solve the nation’s economic problems.
On the other hand, it could simply indicate that voters are rewarding Obama for the legislative victories of the last few months. But the parallel rise in fortunes of Republicans somewhat contradicts this.
Voters want someone to get them out of the mess the country is in. They’re impatient with Obama and don’t pay much attention to what is happening in Congress.
So on the one hand Obama needs to get his agenda pushed through, on the other hand getting bogged down in long fights with Republicans depresses his stock.
It’s going to be a difficult two years from here.
The limited remorse of Bob Diamond
Short of getting photographed waving a wad of freshly minted tenners at the queue outside Wirral Jobcentre, it is difficult to see how Bob Diamond could top yesterday’s performance before the Treasury select committee.
An outburst like that would not have made it into the screenplay for ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’. Not even villainous celluloid banker Gordon Gekko would have had the nerve to deliver such a display of high-handed arrogance and delusional contempt for public opinion.
It’s not liberals deluded about Islam – it’s conservatives
contribution by Matt Hill
Are liberals deluded about the rise of British Islam? That’s what Ed West, a blogger at The Telegraph, alleges in response to an article I wrote arguing that a negligible growth in the numbers of British Muslims offers little to be worried about.
Several writers in recent years have also argued that European liberals are unwitting co-conspirators in the overthrow of everything they hold dear.
I don’t want Britain to become a Hizb ut-Tahrir wet dream any more than they do; I’m just not losing any sleep over it.
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Israel keeps Palestinian ‘Gandhi’ imprisoned
Amnesty International has condemned an Israeli military appeal court’s decision to extend the prison sentence of a Palestinian non-violent activist, convicted over his involvement in organizing protests in the occupied West Bank.
Abdallah Abu Rahma, head of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in the West Bank village of Bil’in, had his sentence extended from 12 months to 16 months by the Israeli Military Court of Appeals at Ofer in the West Bank on Tuesday, after the prosecution argued that his initial sentence was too lenient.
Detained since December 2009, Abdallah Abu Rahma, a school teacher, was supposed to be released on 18 November 2010, but has been kept in detention at the military prosecution’s request. He has now been in prison for 13 months.
Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
By extending Abdallah Abu Rahma’s sentence the Israeli authorities appear to be seeking not only to punish him further in a case where the prosecution’s evidence was questionable to begin with, but to deter others from participating in legitimate protests.
Amnesty International believes Abdallah Abu Rahma to be a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and assembly. As such we call for his immediate and unconditional release.
Abdallah Abu Rahma was found guilty of “organizing and participating in an illegal demonstration” and “incitement” by an Israeli military court on 24 August 2010. He was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment on 11 October 2010.
Following the extension of his sentence, he will now serve an additional three months in prison, with the possibility of an administrative release after two months, in which case he would be forbidden from participating in any demonstrations.
In September 2007 the Israeli High Court of Justice issued a ruling instructing the Israeli military authorities to reroute the fence/wall in Bil’in to give the villagers access to more of their land, but this ruling has yet to be implemented.
From a press release
Why Labour’s triangulation on welfare is a strategic error
At his press conference on Monday, Ed Miliband got asked about which cuts he accepted, and replied that Labour has accepted the need for welfare cuts.
Miliband aims to position Labour against the government making excessive cuts, and against the unrealistic lefties who oppose all cuts. By supporting cuts to a sacred cow like welfare, he shows Labour’s credibility and prevents attacks from hostile journalists. And it sort of worked in its own terms, judging by the next day’s newspaper coverage of his press conference.
But this kind of triangulation on welfare is a big strategic error.
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» Revealed: govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote
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» Violence in the office
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» The world is entering the third phase of the crisis, warns ILO
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