Watch: New Tory No2AV ad plumbs new depths
This is the official No2AV broadcast ad, out today
via @theday2day
What amuses me is the narrative in the first half: ‘OMG AV will lead to more coalitions‘. Looks like Tories are willing to undermine their own message that Coalition politics is workable and good for Britain.
In the ad he says:
We just say we’re going to make these changes. Then, when we get voted in, we just blame the other lot, saying they stopped us doing it because its in the national interest.
Which is pretty much what is happening now under First Past the Post.
The banking commission report doesn’t go far enough
contribution by Ben Curtis
The battle between the government, the financial sector, and the public interest over banking reform reached a pivotal moment today with the release by the Independent Commission on Banking’s interim report.
The clear winners in this round seem to be the banks: this morning shares in Barclays were up 3.28%, for RBS 2.49%, and for Lloyds slightly less, at 0.72%. We expect this is due to the less-than-radical reform being suggested by the Commission.
continue reading… »
Camden ban on anti-royal party faces lawsuit
The anti-monarchy group Republic said it was taking legal advice today after Camden Council in London rejected its application for a republican street party that would not celebrate the royal wedding.
They say Camden council is discriminating on the grounds of political belief for banning the street party.
Camden initially gave the go ahead in March for Earlham Street in Covent Garden to be the site of Republic’s party. But with just three weeks to go the Council has refused to provide a temporary traffic order to close Earlham Street, effectively banning the event altogether.
Republic say the police and the council had confirmed last week they had no problem with the nature of the event and were happy that there were no public safety concerns.
Its head Graham Smith vowed the party would go ahead:
This is a disgraceful attack on the rights of republicans to make their voice heard and to hold a fun and peaceful event. Camden Council is allowing a few vocal residents and businesses to veto any event in central London they do not support.
Our street party is designed to be a peaceful, fun, family event with food, music and stalls. The police, local businesses and the council’s own staff have been fully supportive of our plans. We can only assume this is a politically motivated ban and we will challenge it all the way.
We are now taking legal advice to see if we can overturn this decision in the courts.
According to Political Scrapbook, Camden council have issued this statement saying they were told by local business it would “directly contradict the Royal Wedding theme in terms of their merchandise”.
“Taking into consideration the feeling of the local community the council have decided to refuse the application and Earlham Street will not be closed on 29 April 2011,” they added. Full statement here.
Outrageous.
The homophobic discrimination in blood donation just got worse
contribution by Caroline Crampton
Several years ago one of my closest friends responded to my moaning about not being allowed to give blood (for health-related reasons) by saying that he couldn’t either. Not for tangible, provable medical reasons like me, but because he’s that lethal combination of homosexual and sexually active.
When I read in yesterday’s papers that public health minister Anne Milton is shortly to announce that this ludicrous ban on homosexual men giving blood is to be lifted, I was pleased that reason had finally come to the fore.
continue reading… »
Flashmob against BP planned on Sunday
To mark the one year anniversary of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Art Not Oil, are organising ‘The Great BP-sponsored sleep-in’.
It will be a 4-minute flash mob art installation inside Tate Modern.
Imagine the turbine hall of this former power station filled with BP-branded sleeping figures, who will soon wake from their BP-sponsored coma to sound the climate alarm.
…
This family friendly event will highlight BP’s sponsorship to the public, and show that we are not prepared to stand by as the Tate helps BP greenwash its image… and allow us all a few minutes to dream of a future free from oil spills and oil sponsorship of the arts
And how will it work?
Enter the building before 2PM
Choose your sleep-in spot – café, corridor, lift, gift shop, and of course exhibits are all fair game, but please pick somewhere on Levels 1 (turbine hall level), 2 or 3 (this is where our camera crews will be to film the fun).
At exactly 2.15PM, unpack your BP branded sheet, pillow, pyjamas, night cap, sleep mask, teddy bear, alarm clock, hot water bottle or any other sleep related props (see here for ideas and downloadable props) and start the sleep-in!
Exactly 4 minutes later, the flash mob will be over as alarm clocks sound the wake-up call throughout the gallery. Take off your sponsored blindfolds and bedding, leave them behind if you wish, and head outside to…
More on their website. Also, join the Facebook event page
Why we need a public inquiry into the phone-hacking revelations
The News International statement admitting culpability over widspread phone-hacking at the News of the World – and the failure to properly investigate it even after a reporter was sent to jail – was an extraordinary development.
However, the most troubling questions are not for News International, but for the police (non-) investigation. Why the Metropolitan Police appear to have had a quiet determination not to notice evidence and to ignore leads raises more troubling questions about the effectiveness and non-partiality of the rule of law in this country.
continue reading… »
Polling brings very bad news for Tories on NHS
Just 17% of people trust Andrew Lansley on NHS ‘reforms’, a new poll by YouGov revealed today, increasing the likelihood he will be moved to a different department when the government ploughs ahead with its unpopular plans.
David Cameron had more credibility at 36%. But a full 56% of people said they did not trust him to make the right decisions on the NHS.
The news is even worse for the Libdems, with 60% of people saying they did not trust Clegg to make the right decisions on the NHS. Only 30% trust him. Ed Miliband fared the best at 39% trusting him and 49% not trusting him.
More worryingly for the government, only 27% of people say they support the NHS proposals, compared to 52% who oppose them.
Anyone hear alarm bells coming from Downing Street?
34% of voters told YouGov the NHS proposals should be abandoned, while 47% say the government should change them to address people’s concerns.
Only 3% think the proposals should continue as planned.
The economy
The poll for the Sunday Times also contained bad news for the government on the economy.
Asked: “Do you think the coalition government is managing the economy well or badly”: 37% were placed in the ‘well’ category, while 53% were in the ‘badly’ category.
Maybe it’s time for the Downfall parody of NHS proposals again?
by @DanielKirk
What a new humanitarian foreign policy for Labour could look like
contribution by Andrew Gibson
In his first speech as Labour Leader, Ed Miliband argued that values must shape our alliances with other states. He put distance between the UK and the US, criticised Israel and stated that international institutions were the only way to deal with global problems.
However, the speech was light on detail. With the recently announced Policy Reviews and the next few years of Opposition, we have the opportunity to flesh out these ideas. So I have two proposals on what this could look like.
continue reading… »
Aren’t Labourites against the Alternative Vote being hypocritical?
If AV is a good enough system with which to elect the Labour Leader (and Ed M. wouldn’t have become Lab Leader without it), isn’t it a good enough system with which to select our MPs?
Here’s a real challenge for Labour NO supporters: Put your money where your mouth is, and if you are so against AV, then propose that future Lab Leadership elections take place by FPTP.
continue reading… »
Ed Balls pushes for three key bank reforms
Ed Balls is finally putting more meat on how the Labour Party would approach banking reform.
In a blog post published on his website tonight, he admits it was the fault of governments and central banks for not seeing the financial crisis coming.
He also says the party should have been tougher in regulating the banks.
Every government in the world got that wrong – and that’s why a fortnight ago I said sorry for the part I and the last Labour government played in that. When the City and the Tories called for lighter regulation, we should have ignored them and been tougher still.
The issue for the future is to ensure this cannot happen again and that’s why George Osborne and the independent banking commission must not duck that challenge.
He writes about three “tests” that he believes the commission and George Osborne need to pass – on stability and consumer protection, international agreement to protect jobs here in Britain and long-term investment.
1. Structural reforms to protect customers and avoid the kind of bank bailouts.
That means tough accountability and transparency and clear, workable and robust firewalls. The devil will be in the detail of the commission’s final proposals but we must get this right.
And we need tough action to promote greater competition too, including making it easier for customers to move their main bank account. As few as three per cent of customers switch accounts each year, partly because it is so complicated. So I hope the commission will look at ways of making current accounts portable like mobile phone numbers in order to increase switching and so encourage competition.
2. International agreement on reforms to ensure financial jobs are protected.
Real banking reform cannot be accomplished alone in the UK. If George Osborne fails to secure international consensus and we see those jobs move abroad, whilst we nevertheless fail to tackle the international weaknesses that caused the crisis, he will be letting Britain down.
3. A banking system that supports investment to drive growth and jobs.
As Ed Miliband said at the British Chambers of Commerce this week we need to move from call centre banking to relationship banking and we need to ensure there is proper funding in place for businesses at every stage of their growth – from bank loans, to export finance, to equity. This was not an issue within the commission’s remit, but it is one George Osborne needs to urgently address if we are to get sustainable long term growth.
Off the top of my head, he says nothing on mutual banking: a topic that Ed Miliband and Chuka Umunna have been pushing.
Any thoughts on what else Labour should be pushing for, in banking reform?
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