How Tory spending on education is set to decline drastically
We have a lot to apologise to America for. For one, we use their public services as a reference point for what not to do. I am certainly guilty of this myself. Of course, that is just us lefties. Neo-Liberals & Trans Atlantic enthusiasts often use America as a reference point of what to do.
Forgive me, I am an old fashioned lefty. I measure things by state spending.
Thus, when I seek to compare our education system to America, my starting point is how much we in the UK, and they in the USA, spend on Education as a percentage of their GDP.
continue reading… »
Refounding Labour: how the party needs to change
Labour councillor Rowenna Davis was one of those who submitted her suggestions to the ‘Re-founding Labour’ iniative. Here, she outlines how she thinks the party needs to change.
The first thing we need is more diversity – and I say that as a white middle class councillor in the heart of Peckham.
Labour has always been able to celebrate the fact that it has a more diverse membership and elected representative base than any other mainstream party, but it needs to do more to engage a wider range of people into politics.
continue reading… »
A radical proposal for Ed Miliband on shadow cabinet elections
contribution by Mark Thompson
I’m not altogether surprised Ed Miliband has decided he wants to abolish shadow cabinet elections. Perhaps what is more surprising is that Tony Blair allowed them to remain. But to be fair, he only had to put up with them for less than 3 years and once Labour was in government .
It is in some ways understandable that the new leader wants to stamp his mark of authority on the party and he may well feel frustrated that his hands are tied at the moment in terms of who he has to appoint to the shadow cabinet.
But that is where the big problem with what he is proposing lies.
continue reading… »
Let’s not get derailed in discussing violence against women
contribution by Ray Filar
It’s the same every time. A feminist politician or campaign group proposes a patently sensible idea, and the derailing begins.
The End Violence Against Women (EVAW) report is a comprehensive study on the massive prevalence of violence against women and girls, calling on Michael Gove to make a priority of educating against sexism in schools.
Great stuff. Simple common sense, even; unless you are generally in favour of violence against women. But developments like these are a starting horn for discussion derailers.
continue reading… »
WTF? Field & Dorries to push abortion changes without vote
Remember the attempt by Labour MP Frank Field and Tory MP Nadine Dorries to restrict access for women who desperately need abortion services?
As I pointed out earlier, the two have attached amendments to the Health and Social Care (NHS) Bill, which aim to exclude the most knowledgeable providers of information to women on abortions.
The amendments would have gone to a vote, but now Field and Dorries want to circumvent that too.
The Liverpool Daily Post today reveals that both are about to win the right to push these controversial changes without a vote in Parliament.
Now the Daily Post can reveal the Department of Health (DoH) is exploring how to make the switch without a showdown on the Commons floor – by changing existing regulations.
The proposed change has already triggered anger on the Labour benches, with health spokeswoman Diane Abbott describing it as an attempt to “turn the clock back for millions of women”.
This is outrageous.
This is a big change to current abortion services provision, and yet both these MPs want to foist them on women without even a vote by simply changing procedure. It’s bloody undemocratic too.
Frank Field told the Liverpool Daily Post:
This is a clear conflict of interest that would not be allowed anywhere else, because the clinic will not receive the large fee for carrying out the abortion if the woman decides not to go ahead with it.
My proposal is not closing down choice, but promoting choice – because women will receive independent advice about their options.
As BPAS (who have been targeted in this amendment) point out – around 20% of women they offer counselling to eventually chose not to have an abortion.
It’s like saying your doctor should not operate on you because they have an interest in doing so.
Furthermore, a Department of Health spokesperson says they are also considering a broader ban on counselling by abortion clinics. What, so religious nutjobs like Life are there to fill the space?
If you’re angry, come to the pro-choice demo on 9th July in Parliament (which will be a starting point for bigger activity).
Must-see video: What’s wrong with our economy (in 2 min)
People ask: what’s wrong with our economy? Is it just a temporary slump or a wider problem?
This simple two-minute video by US economist Robert Reich explains the problem. It has already gone viral in the US – racking up over a million hits in a manner of days.
The problems pointed out in this video also apply to the UK. In fact we have it worse because we don’t even have the manufacturing base that the US does.
via Touchstone blog
This isn’t just a temporary slump – this is a structural problem that needs deeper and bold change.
Interestingly, both Labour and even the Libdems are slowly realising this. It’s just the Tories who think enriching big business will kick-start growth again.
New report: ‘Royals cost us over £200m a year’
The annual cost of the monarchy has been found to be more than the entire annual MoD food budget and the equivalent of thousands of nurses, police officers and teachers, according to a new report.
The report by campaign group Republic has revealed that the total annual cost of the British monarchy could be over £200 million, more than five times the official figure released by Buckingham Palace.
The report describes the monarchy as “one of the most expensive, wasteful and financially irresponsible institutions in the world”.
The estimated cost presented in The ‘Value for Money Monarchy’ Myth includes security expenditure, costs of royal visits and lost revenue from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, all of which are excluded from official figures.
The key findings include:
* The estimated total annual cost of the monarchy to taxpayers is £202.4m, around five times the official figure published by the royal household (£38.3m last year).
* The official figure excludes a number of costs, including round-the-clock security, lavish royal visits and lost revenue from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall.
* Civil List expenditure has increased by 94 per cent in real terms over the last two decades.
* The British monarchy is 112 times as expensive as the Irish president and more than twice as expensive as the French semi-presidential system.
* Taxpayers are kept in the dark about the exact cost of the monarchy, due to the royal household’s exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and widespread misunderstanding about the nature of the royal family’s finances.
Republic will be holding a protest outside the gates of Buckingham Palace on Saturday June 25 at 1pm to raise awareness of the cost of the monarchy.
They say the protest will go ahead despite the decision by the royal parks agency to withhold formal permission.
Republic’s campaign manager Graham Smith said:
In pointing out the scale of waste here we’re calling for an immediate start to opening up royal accounts. It’s time for the government to take control of the monarchy’s budget, pay the Queen a salary and make the royal household fully accountable to taxpayers.
Every year we go through the charade of Palace press officers telling us what great value the monarchy is. It’s time for the royals and politicians to come clean – spending hundreds of millions of pounds on one family is morally indefensible, especially at a time of painful cuts.
They say the £202.4m is equivalent to 9,560 nurses, 8,200 police officers and more than the total annual Ministry of Defence spending on food.
The total cost is also equivalent to a number of high profile government cuts, including cuts to the Sure Start programme.
The report is available to download from www.republic.org.uk/royalfinances
From a press release
The Robinhood Tax is now on the verge of becoming a reality
contribution by Owen Tudor
A momentous week for the Robin Hood Tax this week has included the third Global Day of Action and movement at last from the European Commission.
After months of delay and originally a firm rejection of financial transaction taxes, certainly at EU or Eurozone level, it now looks likely that an upcoming report will say that a Europe-level Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) is feasible.
And even more concretely, the President of the European Commissioner and the Tax Commissioner are lining up at last to promise action on an EU level FTT in the autumn.
continue reading… »
Audit Office slams ‘risks’ pushed by govt at NHS
Social enterprises are being allowed to take over £900 million of NHS services without safeguards to ensure they save the taxpayer money and will not go bust, a watchdog has warned.
And the high-profile initiative is at risk of being undermined by the Government’s own plans to increase competition within the health service, it suggested.
The National Audit Office (NAO) found the “many risks” involved in handing control to bodies set up by groups of staff were not being adequately addressed by the Department of Health (DoH).
Vague contracts failed to require them to deliver better value than alternative providers and little provision had been made to deal with them failing, the NAO report said. Insufficient attention had also been given to the consequences of the groups going bust when they were forced to compete more widely with the private sector under NHS reform plans
..more at the Evening Standard
EdM: ‘shadow cabinet elections a distraction’
Ed Miliband will signal his support for dropping shadow cabinet elections within the Parliamentary Labour party, his office revealed tonight.
Shadow cabinet elections are held every two years and force the party leader to choose from that pool rather than make his own appointments.
Labour MPs vote for those who they think should be in the shadow cabinet, rather than all Labour members.
A source from Ed Miliband’s office today told Liberal Conspiracy that Ed Miliband felt the shadow cabinet elections were a “distraction” and a “legacy of Labour’s past in opposition”.
Getting rid of the elections, added our source, “will help us talk to the public rather than ourselves”.
The suggestion came through the ‘Re-founding Labour’ exercise, which closes tomorrow.
Ed Miliband has tonight emailed his colleagues in the Parliamentary Labour Party saying he will signal support at the National Policy Forum on Saturday.
PLP chair Tony Lloyd will then organise a vote on the suggestion. Members of the PLP will then be able to vote on whether to accept or reject the plans.
“It is important the PLP have their say,” added our source.
On Twitter, the proposal was strongly backed by MPs such as Jon Trickett. However, other Ed Miliband supporters such as Tom Miller and Peter Kenyon expressed their alarm.
Update: Labour MPs who’ve expressed support on Twitter (in no order):
Jon Trickett,
Mary Creagh,
Gloria DePiero,
Michael Dugher,
Tom Watson
Jim Murphy
Kevin Brennan
Huw Irranca-Davies
Jon Ashworth
Jamie Reed
Roberta Blackman-Woods
Chuka Umunna
Jonathan Reynolds
John Woodcock
Labour MPs unhappy:
John McDonnell
Jeremy Corbyn
You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or RSS feed. You can also get them by email and through our Facebook group.
» 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
|
19 Comments 33 Comments 59 Comments 18 Comments 15 Comments 25 Comments 38 Comments 7 Comments 64 Comments 11 Comments |
|
LATEST COMMENTS » Sunny Hundal posted on Revealed: govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote » Sally posted on Even by economic standards Hester's £1m bonus is unworthy » Flowerpower posted on Diane Abbott resigns from abortion panel » Tom (iow) posted on The benefits of being a "burden" on society » Anne posted on Revealed: govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote » Ian M Davies posted on Week of action against Atos begins Monday » Robert2012 posted on The benefits of being a "burden" on society » G.O. posted on Would raising the tax threshold actually help the poorest? » Dave posted on Revealed: govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote » Schmidt posted on Even by economic standards Hester's £1m bonus is unworthy » Link: “govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote” | Help Me Investigate Health posted on Revealed: govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote » Planeshift posted on Would raising the tax threshold actually help the poorest? » Makhno posted on The benefits of being a "burden" on society » Trooper Thompson posted on Would raising the tax threshold actually help the poorest? » ukliberty posted on Does Priti Patel MP care for human rights? |
