Can private companies really offer us cheaper healthcare?
contribution by Richard Blogger
Recently Deloitte produced a document aimed at Americans who are considering “healthcare tourism” that is, going abroad for elective treatment.
There are two things that struck me: how much it costs to have treatment in the UK, and why more Americans don’t come here for treatment.
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How food shortages will bring more global unrest
contribution by David Malone
It’s not often that one can look into the future and say with some degree of certainty what is going to happen and where.
Thanks to a just released World Bank/IMF report, I think we can say the social and political upheaval that has swept from Tunisia and Egypt to Iran, Sudan and Syria, and which has been, at least in part, fueled by spiralling food costs, is going to intensify and spread to new countries. We can even, I think, hazard an informed guess as to which countries will be next.
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How the police are trying to smear protesters in Bristol #stokescroft
Police in Bristol last night arrested a number of people who they say were squatting a building in Stokescroft. There has been a long running squat on Cheltenham Road in Stokescroft protesting against a new Tesco which I understand finally opened on Friday. It seems that the police were attempting to evict this squat.
But things don’t seem to have gone quite to plan. Hundreds of local residents got out of bed as soon as they heard what was happening, and came out to protest against the evictions.
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Launch of London’s biggest green festival
Tens of thousands of people are expected at the first ever ‘London Green Fari’, organised by the people behind the 18 year old Camden Green Fair.
Spanning two days, the London Green Fair – powered by wind, solar and hydrogen – is an event that, “reflects the green aspirations and achievements of London, as well as providing an enjoyable and engaging day out for people from all walks of life.”
The free event will take place on June 4th & 5th at Regents Park, London.
It will feature 2 full days of festival music with a global/local twist on the main stage – expect cuban, ska,
gypsy, roots and beats, as well as ethical fashion shows, sustainable fashion workshops and swap-shops.
The event will also provide a platform for over 150 different community and campaigning groups to reach tens of thousands of people over two days.
The London Green Fair has the backing of various groups including the Ecologist magazine, the Co-operative Membership and the London Community Resource Network.
Specially selected independent retailers, businesses, small producers and green exhibitors from across the UK will all showcasing the best of environmentally sustainable produce, schemes and initiatives.
The event is organised by dedicated volunteers, supported by a small delivery team, and is set up as a not-for-profit social enterprise. It relies on the support of many local businesses and organisations, community groups and campaigning organisations.
For more: www.londongreenfair.org
From a press release
Why climate activists should focus on threats to people’s lives
contribution by Climate Sock
A nice little paper was published last month in Nature Climate Change, which needs to be taken seriously by anyone campaigning on climate change.
The paper draws on the 2010 poll by the Understanding Risk Group, and shows that “those who report experience of flooding express more concern over climate change, see it as less uncertain and feel more confident that their actions will have an effect on climate change”, and that “these perceptual differences also translate into a greater willingness to save energy to mitigate climate change”.
Watch: Warsi’s No2AV car-crash on Sky
Blimey!
For once the media is actually doing its job of questioning spurious claims made by the government.
This was recorded from earlier today on Sky News and features Adam Boulton questioning Baroness Sayeeda Warsi.
Watch: Stunt by Liberate Tate shames BP
Yesterday, Liberate Tate (Twitter, website) staged another of its headline-grabbing performative protests in the Duveens Hall of Tate Britain.
A naked man lay down in the foetal position while several veiled figures covered him in an oil-like substance (video below)
The performance lasted for 87 minutes to commemorate the 87 days over which oil was spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, beginning exactly one year ago today.
Shot by You And I films
The protest was also covered in the Telegraph, Evening Standard, Bloomberg and the Guardian.
A letter published in the Guardian yesterday, signed by around 165 artists and writers, called for Tate to end its relationship with BP.
At Channel 4 News, Matthew Cain writes:
It’s fascinating to look at what happened with sponsorship of the arts by tobacco companies in the 1980s. At one point companies like Imperial Tobacco funded practically everything, covering the entire exterior of the Royal Opera House with cigarette advertisements for one stunt and, interestingly, sponsoring for years what’s since become the BP Portrait Award.
But gradually, public opinion shifted to the point where this association was deemed unacceptable. What Liberate Tate are saying is that public opinion should now shift a bit more so that oil companies like BP find themselves for the first time on the other side of the line.
Channel 4 News also covered the event on their news bulletin.
The end of the Telegraph as the paper of record
contribution by Tim Fenton
There was once a time, and within living memory, when the publication now known as the Daily Telegraph was justifiably considered a paper of record. The separation of news and comment was such that it was not a problem for Guardian readers, finding their preferred selection sold out, to take the Telegraph instead but by-pass the comment section.
True believers, too, had no problem with this approach: just in case the piece being read didn’t tell them what opinion the paper held, an editorial or pundit column would be discreetly signposted. Sadly, yesterday brought another example of just how far standards have slipped.
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How Libdems have bled voters – by newspaper
“The collapse in Lib Dem support is the most dramatic feature of the party landscape since last year’s election,” writes YouGov’s Peter Kellner in the latest edition of Prospect magazine.
YouGov’s most recent nationwide survey, involving nearly 50,000 people, shows that as many as 69 per cent of Lib Dem voters have deserted the party since last May. But so have 24 per cent of Tories and 16 per cent of Labour voters. Labour is the only one of the three main parties whose recruits outweigh its deserters.
Of the Lib Dem deserters, 2m would now vote Labour, and 1.3m now don’t know—although bear in mind that most of the 2m who have switched to Labour are Labour identifiers (people who “generally” think of themselves as Labour) returning home since the last election.
Ouch! This is also a theme the upcoming New Statesman magazine will look at; I’ve been asked whether I regret voting for the Libdems in 2010.
Peter Kellner’s research shows that the Libdems have lost huge ground among students, trade union members, Guardian or Independent readers and those who identify themselves as very or fairly left wing.
Here is the change, by newspaper readers
Does this mean that Libdem cheerleaders at the Guardian are now over-represented?
Full Prospect article here. Sunder Katwala at Next Left calls it the Guardian’s “Labour moment”.
Blue Labour founder: “Labour should involve EDL supporters”
Shorter Lord Maurice Glasman, founder of “Blue Labour”:
1. Labour lied about immigration and should recognise that is not the case that everyone who comes to Britain should have equal status with people who were born here. Labour needs to involve people who support the English Defence League within the party as a way of reconnecting with working-class people.
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» Revealed: govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote
» Would raising the tax threshold actually help the poorest?
» To win London, Ken Livingstone has to step outside his comfort zone
» This trade agreement with India will destroy thousands of lives
» UK debt hasn’t hit £1 trillion – mostly because of QE
» The benefits of being a “burden” on society
» Today’s economic figures will simply confirm UK’s “lost decade”
» Have Labour realised the election is more than three years away?
» Violence in the office
» Want a more responsible capitalism? Reform how pensions work
» The world is entering the third phase of the crisis, warns ILO
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