Report: UK facing a decade of stagnation

by Newswire    
September 8, 2011 at 8:20 am

The UK faces a lost decade of stagnation unless the Government moves away from an “economic corner”, a new report by the Work Foundation and Lancaster University says today.

It calls for better investment in areas of the economy likely that is most likely to create new jobs.

Will Hutton, co-author of the report, said:

Britain is in an economic corner and we must now innovate our way out of stagnation. This requires a wholesale shift in the way we think about growth. We need an enterprising state co-creating with business and finance – in short, an innovation ecosystem.

Britain’s patchwork of institutions, networks and public agencies is not fit for purpose. Too few firms and public bodies have a grip on how to benefit from open innovation – the key to change in the 21st century.

The state must take the lead on this because confidence among businesses is so fragile at present. The Government has already recognised the importance of this agenda but the time has come to make it happen.

The Work Foundation and Lancaster University launched the Big Innovation Centre, aimed at promoting innovation and investment.

Tories uneasy at Cam’s dismissal of women

by Sunny Hundal    
September 7, 2011 at 9:05 pm

Remember when right-wingers laughed off accusations of sexism by Labour MPs when George Osborne said “calm down dear” to Angela Eagle MP?

At the time, lefties were accused of being excessively politically correct. But that sentiment seems to vanish when its one of their own.

Today at PMQs, Cameron called Nadine Dorries “frustrated” after she asked: “Isn’t it about time he told the Deputy Prime Minister who is the boss?”

Watch the exchange below

Paul Goodman at ConservativeHome wrote:

The Prime Minister may not have meant to put her down by first saying that he knows she’s “frustrated”, and then giving up his answer after laughter from MPs, but that was the effect. It was somehow displeasing.

James Forsyth at the Spectator CoffeeHouse:

Cameron replied ‘I know the honourable lady is extremely frustrated’ at which the House descended into puerile laughter. The double entendre appeared unintentional, Cameron seemed slightly taken aback by the House’s reaction at first, but having made it he should have tried to respectfully answer her question rather than just sitting down.

And a Tory MP told the Guardian’s Nicholas Watt:

The prime minister’s behaviour was despicable. It was the worst of the Bullingdon. It was a total demolition of Nadine Dorries on a personal basis. The prime minister made no effort to engage in the argument. It is deeply unpleasant. But then that is no surprise. Just look at George Osborne’s face when the prime minister told a female Labour MP to ‘calm down dear’. His faced creased with laughter. They just think it is all a joke.

Those are all good points, and the Prime Minister should have answered the question rather than trying to just embarrass her.

But can Tories really expect proper standards when they laugh off such behaviour when it comes to Labour women? To be fair to James Forsyth he did say Cameron’s calm down dear remark was “certainly ill-judged”. Many others however felt it was fine.

Nadine Dorries faced a crushing defeat, but the fight isn’t over yet

by Sunny Hundal    
September 7, 2011 at 5:07 pm

The debate kicked off badly for Nadine Dorries today, when Cameron said she was “frustrated”, and ended with her losing the vote by a massive 250 majority (368 – 118).

There was broad relief of course. But key hurdles and issues remain, and those interested in protecting pro-choice legislation and promoting better health for women should not rest easy.

A few key points from the debate today:
continue reading… »

How the Conservatives are pushing for less accountability at the NHS

by Guest    
September 7, 2011 at 3:45 pm

contribution by Mary Tracy

At the moment, and in accordance to the “2006 National Health Service Bill”, the Secretary of State for Health has the “duty to provide” health services for people. Yet this new NHS Bill making the rounds removes this “duty” from the Secretary of State for Health. They are no longer “legally and constitutionally responsible” for providing these services.

So who will be responsible for providing these services? “Clinical commissioning groups”. You may be wondering, “does it matter who is responsible for providing these services so long as the services are provided?”. I’m glad you asked.
continue reading… »

The case for welcoming cameras in courtrooms

by Guest    
September 7, 2011 at 10:54 am

contribution by Ruhi Khan

As a television journalist who has covered some high profile court cases (in India, where cameras are also not allowed in court), the proposal by Ken Clarke will save reporters a lot of work and create transparency in reporting.

I remember running from a court to give a live report and trying to remember the Judge’s exact words and the exact expression of the characters involved, to give the viewers an idea of what happened. It is a herculean task and often open to interpretation by the reporter.
continue reading… »

Largest bond investor: Osborne is wrong

by Newswire    
September 7, 2011 at 9:10 am

The austerity measures implemented by British finance minister George Osborne risk pushing the UK economy into recession, the manager of PIMCO said in an interview with the Times yesterday.

Bill Gross manages the world’s biggest bond fund. He said a “mid-course correction” of the fiscal plans would lift the economy and should not damage the country’s standing with bond investors.

The economy in the UK is worse off than it was when the plan was developed, so there should be at a minimum fine-tuning and perhaps re-routing of the plan

Gross said a similar argument applied to other leading economies, including in the euro zone and the United States, which he said faced a mounting crisis.

The UK is actually in the best position of all to make a mid-course correction.

Yesterday however, Osborne said he was in no need to change course.

Eight reasons why British banks do need massive reform

by Guest    
September 7, 2011 at 8:50 am

contribution by Greg Ford

It’s only a week to go before Sir John Vickers publishes the ICB’s final report on bank reform. Predictably, the banking lobby has gone into spin overdrive and is pumping out arguments against change in various newspapers and behind closed doors to government officials.

It is surprising that any politician would want to resist a set of relatively mild bank reforms after the biggest financial crisis for 80 years and a deep recession. The fact that David Cameron is having jitters shows how good the industry is at talking people round.

Here are eight arguments against bank reform culled from the weekend press and eight rebuttals.
continue reading… »

Mutualising banks is essential to avoid future bailouts

by Guest    
September 6, 2011 at 4:34 pm

conribution by Daniel Carey-Dawes

The government has shown its true colours with its announcement that it intends to sell off Northern Rock to the highest bidder (most likely Virgin Money), without properly considering re-mutualisation for the failed bank.

Gone is any pretence about a desire to support the mutual sector, along with the previously stated commitment for a more diverse financial sector. The Conservative-led government has systematically failed to seriously consider a mutual option for Northern Rock and now wants to proceed with a policy that is more risky in the long term than a mutual model.
continue reading… »

Libdems to force a conference debate on disability benefits

by Sunny Hundal    
September 6, 2011 at 10:28 am

Libdem blogger George Potter (also a frequent contributor to Liberal Conspiracy) will mostly likely force a debate at the Liberal Democrat conference on Employment Support Allowance.

The amendment calls for a “less stressful Assessment process” and for people with disabilities to get the support they need.

He reported on his blog yesterday:

The amendment Sophie Bridger and I have written to the ESA motion was submitted to the Federal Conference Committee today by Guildford Liberal Democrats who are kindly sponsoring it. This now means that the FCC will formally consider whether to allow the amendment to be placed on the agenda for the debate on the original motion itself. Under the circumstances, I can’t see any grounds for blocking a debate on an amendment so that stage should be something of a formality.

The amendment can be read here, and the news was loudly welcomed by disability campaigners.

A similar amendment is being submitted by another group of Libdem campaigners, including Dr Evan Harris.

Plans are now afoot to combine the two amendments, force a debate and a vote, and get the Libdems to take action on the extremely harsh ATOS tests as part of the Welfare Reform bill.

Tory ‘rising stars’ push lefty ideas in new book

by Sunny Hundal    
September 6, 2011 at 9:40 am

Two Conservative MPs seen as ‘rising stars’ by some have just published a book.

‘Masters of Nothing: How the Crash Will Happen Again Unless We Understand Human Nature’ is an account of the financial crisis by Matthew Hancock and Nadhim Zahawi, who both became MPs in 2010.

So what does the book have to say?

Ben Brogan reports from the book launch:

Their suggestions have caught the media eye: quotas for women in executive roles (Jack Dromey welcomed Mr Hancock as a new member of Harriet Harman’s sisterhood in the street earlier) ; penalties for failure, not rewards; some kind of invigilator for banks – a ‘public protagonist’ to question investment decisions taken by boards.

If I’m reading that correctly, these are calls for more equality and diversity in the workforce, proper penalties for executives who fail (more shareholder activism?) and better regulation for banks to question where their money goes?

Hey, who can argue with that?

Predictably, some weren’t impressed.

It has become fashionable in some Tory circles to decry the failures of capitalism. But what Messrs Hancock and Zahawi have done is thrown down the gauntlet to Tory traditionalists, and to judge by some of the comments about them I’ve heard this evening (’commies in a blue wrapper’ was the best), they may just spark a bit of a ding dong.

I’m looking forward to it.

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