Meanwhile, our economic growth prospects are tanking

by Duncan Weldon    
July 8, 2011 at 4:39 pm

Yesterday’s news that NIESR is forecasting growth of only 0.1% in the second quarter reminds us of quite how bad things currently are in the UK.

The Sunday’s David Smith has today referred to growing talk in the City that the number may even be negative.

This is all a far cry from the situation only 6 months ago – before the shock decline in Q4 2010 GDP was reported at the end of January.
continue reading… »

NotW scandals gets animated… with pirates!

by Newswire    
July 8, 2011 at 2:55 pm

via @jonnelledge

Abortion advice: long on abstinence, short on evidence

by Guest    
July 8, 2011 at 1:05 pm

contribution by Darinka Aleksic

If you were pregnant and needed advice, and saw this ad in the Yellow Pages, you might give them a ring.

Considering Abortion? Free Pregnancy Testing Information & Advisory Service, Quick & Confidential.

Unfortunately, the Albany Women’s Centre, who posted this advert at Yell.com, failed to mention is that they don’t offer any medical services and they are, in fact, opposed to abortion in principle.

Yesterday, following a complaint made by the charity Education for Choice, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the Albany ad was misleading and must not appear again in its current form.
continue reading… »

This is Britain’s own Watergate scandal, but we need to push further

by Guest    
July 8, 2011 at 10:23 am

contribution by @NTDSMK

There are times when a country must take a deep look at itself. For America, that moment was Watergate, which triggered a search that reached all the way to the top. For Britain the hacking scandal must be this moment.

There are three solutions needed to ensure that it never recurs: the first is the rooting out of corruption; the second is reform of the media.

The third is the breakup of News International.
continue reading… »

Important pro-choice demo tomorrow

by Sunny Hundal    
July 8, 2011 at 10:00 am

Given the government’s recent appointment of the fundamentalist organisation ‘Life’ to their sexual health forum at the expense of the British pregnancy Advisory Service, a group of activists are organising a demo tomorrow.

The protest in front of the Houses of Parliament will also be the start of a longer campaign to fight back at the government’s creeping assault on reproductive rights and secular spaces in public life.

Activist Adele Jones, who organised the protest, writes:

It has been argued that the appointment of one anti-abortion group will not make a difference to policy – I argue that this is a symbol of a further attack on women’s rights by a government that has shown itself to be retrogressive and misogynistic.

We need to stand up and tell them to keep their hands off our bodies, to protest for the right to carry on deciding what happens to our bodies.

Jess McCabe from The F Word adds:

From amendments to the Health and Social Care bill imposing new counselling requirements for women seeking abortions, to the appointment of anti-choice group LIFE to the government’s sexual health advisory panel, to cuts in contraception, sexual health and teen pregnancy services and increasing waiting times for abortion as the NHS comes under increasing financial strain.

We have seen Nadine Dorries and other anti-choice advocates take to the airwaves to push the (mistaken) notion that women are being denied information about the mental and physical side-effects of abortion, and, of course, to plug their now-notorious bid to introduce girls-only abstinence-based sex education.

The event is organised by Swansea Feminist Network, and has already attracted support from hundreds of people, including Abortion Rights supporters.

Speakers will include:
Diane Abbott MP
Kat Banyard, UK Feminista
Jenny Jones, Green Party
Darinka Aleksic from Abortion Rights

and more.

Join us on 9th July, from 1:3pm – 4:30pm
Old Palace Yard, Parliament Square, London
#prochoicedemo2011 on Twitter.

Six-figure salaries jump by 75% under Boris

by Newswire    
July 8, 2011 at 9:05 am

The number of people on six-figure salaries at City Hall has nearly doubled in just over three years, it emerged today.

Boris Johnson was asked to explain figures which show that 28 staff members in the Greater London Authority are earning more than £100,000, compared with 16 three years ago.

The Mayor this week approved salary increases for two aides. Cultural adviser Munira Mirza has become mayoral adviser on culture and youth and has seen her salary go from £82,200 to £127,784, an increase of more than 50 per cent.

And Richard Blakeway, adviser for housing, has seen his salary increase by a third, from £82,200 to £110,000. In the document announcing the pay rises, the reason given for Mr Blakeway’s increase was “to ensure it is at a level commensurate with role and in line with other posts at that salary”

…more at the Evening Standard

What does Tom Watson know that we don’t, about News International?

by Sunny Hundal    
July 8, 2011 at 8:20 am

Following the big announcement yesterday, for me the most striking interview was with Labour MP Tom Watson on Channel 4 News (video below).

Essentially, Tom Watson says that there is far more to come from this cesspit than previously thought, and goes far beyond phone-hacking.

So the question is, what’s next and how do we campaign on it?
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We killed the News of the World! [updated]

by Sunny Hundal    
July 7, 2011 at 4:46 pm

My view – post updated

In the end, Rupert and James Murdoch decided to ditch their employees instead of the people really responsible for phone-hacking. That is a decision we had no influence over.

However, I express no regret in running (with Political Scrapbook, FB groups) a highly successful campaign to persuade advertisers to boycott the Sunday tabloid. We wanted it to own up to all its mistakes and it still hasn’t done that.

Without the ads – the newspaper was as good as dead.
continue reading… »

Graph: how Osborne killed our confidence

by Sunny Hundal    
July 7, 2011 at 2:58 pm

I’ve repeatedly pointed out that consumer confidence has nose-dived since Osborne took over and unveiled the budget.

This has impacted our own recovery and the long-term prospects for the economy.

Now a graph from Bloomberg shows how stark this has been in a graph..

Via the FT, who also say:

More seriously for Osborne and the coalition, however, they cannot simply blame macroeconomics for the UK slump. At the same time as consumers here have begun to fret again, those in the Eurozone have steadily felt more and more secure.
…
But it cannot be denied that the government’s words and actions are making consumers far more nervous. That in itself could lead to stagnation. Ministers need to focus on growth and start sending out positive messages, soon.

Ministers could focus on growth if they had any idea about how to do that. But a year later Osborne still doesn’t have a plan, while is colleague Vince Cable is pointing out that the hole is much deeper than anyone realises.

The bump from the Royal Wedding should be short-lived too.

When I argue that Osborne made the economy worse – the proof is clearly there to see, above.

Half of NotW readers less likely to buy paper

by Newswire    
July 7, 2011 at 9:20 am

Half of News of the World readers said they were less likely to buy the paper following phone-hacking allegations, if they were to be found true.

A survey for Channel 4 yesterday asked:

To what extent could the allegations of phone hacking into active criminal cases effect readership of The News Of The World?
88% of all readers of The News Of The World surveyed said they were aware of the new phone hacking allegations.

52% of all readers said that if the allegations proved accurate they would be less likely to buy the newspaper in future. 23% said they would not be less likely and 25% said they didn’t know.

What is the public’s belief of News International’s prior knowledge of the way these stories were allegedly gathered?
72% of those surveyed said they did NOT believe that executives at News International were unaware of the new hacking allegations until July 4th.

Only 7% who believed News International’s Statement on the new allegations. 21% did not know.

Which members or former member of News International /News Corp do the public consider to be most responsible should the allegations be found accurate?
Those surveyed thought Rebekah Brooks had the most responsibility (66%) followed by Glen Mulcaire (56%) and Rupert Murdoch (45%) then Andy Coulson (42%).

19% of respondents thought that “the specific journalists involved bore responsibility but not the newspaper editor or owners”.

“Some people say that invasion of individuals’ privacy by the News of the World makes News Corporation unfit to own all of British Sky Broadcasting, and that despite granting permission the government should now block News Corp’s attempt to buy the 61% of BSkyB it doesn’t already own. What is your view?”

48% think now that News Corporation is unfit to own all of British Sky broadcasting. 34% felt that It is too early to judge as all the the facts have not been established. 12% considered the privacy allegations not relevant to the transaction.

How do the public feel David Cameron handled the controversies over hacking allegations?
Only 9% of those asked felt that David Cameron had handled the controversies over hacking “well” The balance were split between “adequately” – 34% and “badly” – 37% with 20% saying they didn’t know.

via Political Betting

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