Criticism of Obama for its own sake: a reply to Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Hasan has a piece in the Guardian today entitled ‘Sadly Barack Obama, like Mitt Romney, is an apologist for the 1%‘, which doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Now, Mehdi is a friend and I think he’s right to say Obama hasn’t gone as far as many progressives would like.
But if we’re going to criticise the US President and lump him with the Republicans then the points should stack up.
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’43% of young women sexually harassed’
A YouGov survey for the End Violence Against Women Coalition published today reveals that over two in five young women in London aged 18 to 34 have experienced sexual harassment in public spaces over the last year.
The poll of 1,047 London adults, including 523 women, asked female Londoners about their experience, if any, of unwanted contact or attention ? such as, for example, wolf whistling, sexual comments, staring, exposure ? of a sexual nature in public spaces over the last year.
- 42% of women aged 18-34 have experienced unwanted sexual attention of some kind over the past year
- 21% of all women have experienced unwanted sexual attention
- 4% of all women have experienced unwanted sexual touching
The survey also asked female Londoners the same questions about their experience when on public transport in London and again found alarmingly high levels of sexual harassment.
- 31% of women aged 18 to 24 have experienced unwanted sexual attention while on public transport
- 24% of women aged 25 to 34 have experienced unwanted sexual attention
- 14% of all women aged 18 and over have experienced unwanted sexual attention in the past year
- 5% of all women have experienced unwanted sexual touching
EVAW Coalition Co-Chair Professor Liz Kelly said: “We need investment in public campaigns on transport and elsewhere saying this behaviour is unacceptable, and training for transport staff about how to respond to it.”
The responses on Twitter were surprised it was only half
@sunny_hundal the only #wtf about it is that the survey results weren’t 9/10. It literally happens to every woman.
— Helen Jones (@absinthetweets) May 25, 2012
@sunny_hundal I am honestly surprised that it’s only half.
— Jennie Kermode (@jennie_kermode) May 25, 2012
@sunny_hundal @absinthetweets Even so, pretty sure it’s happened to virtually every young woman I know.
— Sarah Graham (@SarahGraham7) May 25, 2012
@SarahGraham7 @sunny_hundal @absinthetweets Been a regular occurrence for myself and most friends since about the age of 14, if not before.
— Polly T (@pollyyy) May 25, 2012
UKIP higher than Libdems over May
My survey of YouGov polling over the month of May has found something remarkable: UKIP have been ahead of Libdems more times than the other way around.
YouGov still lumps UKIP in the ‘other’ camp, and mentions Libdems as the third party.
But ignoring the instances they are level-pegged, UKIP was narrowly ahead of Libdems more times than vice versa.
The graph is below. A larger, interactive version with the numbers is here.
.
Related: Why Labour and lefties shouldn’t worry about the rise of UKIP
Red Tory Blond: gay marriage “homophobic”
‘Red Tory’ thinker Philip Blond gave a speech today at a conference by Christian Concern.
Christian Concern are a deeply homophobic and bigoted organisation. Its director Andrea Williams believes homosexuality is sinful and the world is 4,000 years old. Christian Concern has also called for “corrective therapy” for gays in the past.
It has campaigned against Sikh and Muslim people doing religion programmes at the BBC because of their background, and wants abortion banned completely.
Did Philp Blond know about Christian Concern’s past? Does he think it’s right to appear on a platform hosted by them?
His argument was also bizarre.
at Christian concern #marriage conference – going to argue that gay marriage is homophobic and neither gay nor straight should endorse it
— Phillip Blond (@Phillip_Blond) May 23, 2012
Same sex marriage is deeply hostile to gay and straight people and indeed to sexuality itself, this is what I will argue at#marrage
— Phillip Blond (@Phillip_Blond) May 23, 2012
Same sex #marriage means particularity of homo and heterosexual relationships no longer recognised, says @Phillip_Blond
— Christian Concern (@CConcern) May 23, 2012
“destroys gay identity and heterosexual identity” – @Phillip_Blond on same sex #marriage
— Christian Concern (@CConcern) May 23, 2012
@Phillip_Blond says ‘deeply aggressive nihilism’ underlies push for ss #marriage
— Christian Concern (@CConcern) May 23, 2012
(hat tip @bc_tmh)
UPDATE:
Phillip Blond told me via Twitter that he was unaware of Christian Concern’s past, but this didn’t seem to bother him too much.
I also said they believed in corrective therapy for gays. He replied that I was misrepresenting their position. I’m afraid this is either ignorant or highly disingenuous.
Christian Concern’s CEO Andrea Williams herself write about corrective therapy for gays, and its sister organisation Christian Legal Centre is currently defending a Christian therapist who claims she can help gay men go straight.
Does Mr Blond still believe I’m misrepresenting CC’s position? I also asked if he believed in corrective therapy for gays, but hasn’t replied.
Nick Cleg u-turns on economy too
After two years of issuing “lurid” warnings on the deficit, Nick Clegg says the coalition is about to embark on a new strategy based on optimism, investment and growth. It is the clearest admission yet by a senior minister that Britain – like the rest of Europe – is tired of austerity.
The new strategy took shape in Downing Street earlier this month, as senior ministers grappled with adouble dip recession and how to respond to the election of François Hollande, the French Socialist who captures a pan-European craving for a new approach.
Having snubbed Mr Hollande on a visit to London in February, Mr Cameron now portrays the French president as a fiscal moderate pursuing sensible growth policies. Mr Clegg goes even further: “I personally massively welcome the arrival of Hollande on to the scene.”
The Downing Street meeting, chaired by Mr Cameron, agreed to a midterm shift in the coalition’s emphasis from austerity to growth, backed by a new push to get the economy moving.
The Boris brand is weaker than his friends think
At the height of London’s Mayoral election campaign, I was at a hustings when an Evening Standard journalist came over. She took issue with my constant criticism of the paper’s coverage of the elections and said she was interested in my suggestions.
After a short exchange I ended with roughly this (it wasn’t a private discussion): “Pippa you’re a good journalist. Why do you need me to tell you what to do? All I want is for Boris’s claims to be fact-checked… especially on knife crime and council tax.”
I was promised the Evening Standard would do something but it never materialised. This isn’t a whinge about Standard bias again, but an illustration that Boris needed every bit of support like this to push him past the finishing line.
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Funny bits of TPA report you probably missed
You thought the Taxpayers Alliance report from yesterday was all about reducing taxes, attracting women and quoting the Bible didn’t you?
You thought wrong, buster.
Unlike 99% of journalists I actually took some time to scan through the long, rambling, incoherent and ideologically dogmatic booklet.
Here are five amusing bits I spotted.
1) The Qu’ran makes an appearance too, and contradicts TPA philosophy (pg 99):
Islam recognises private property and discourages the excessive accumulation of wealth by a minority group in society. In his farewell pilgrimage, the Prophet of Islam said that “O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners.”
Well I suppose they could always quote the Bible to justify a smaller state. Oh wait…
2) Cornelius Vanderbilt, an entrepreneur from the 1800s makes an extended appearance (pg 91):
He began at the age of 16, with $100 borrowed from his parents, by running a sailing ferry from New York to Staten Island, charging far less than rivals. He then undercut the New Jersey state-protected monopoly steamboat line, running his boat the Bellona with the slogan “New Jersey must be free” flying from the masthead.
He operated a series of steamboat ferries to Philadelphia and up the Hudson, charging one-quarter of rival fares. Finally, he turned to running railways more cheaply than his rivals. He delivered to consumers an enormous benefit that would otherwise have eluded them – affordable transport. Here is what Harper’s Weekly had to say about his steam ships in 1859…
Very interesting, I’m sure. There’s more too… don’t ask why.
3) Sexual Jealousy is apparently behind everything (pg 92).
So no wonder we dislike inequality. No wonder we want tax to take that money off a Vanderbilt before he grabs all the best women. In the end, it is not necessarily because we think he stole it, though there are still a plenty of zero-sum Marxists out there, and it’s not because we think the government is better at spending it, though there are still plenty of demand-managing Keynesians out there; and it’s not even because we think tax is a decent redistribution system – who can really think that when confronted with all the middle-class benefits that flow from the taxpayer? No, it’s at least partly plain old sexual jealousy at the root.
Ermmmm… ok!
4) “Provocative” author is how one of the contributors Matt Ridley is listed as. He has written books on evolution, genetics and society.
Matt Ridley is also a known climate change denier, who has been taken to task for getting some basic facts wrong in a book on the subject
Not really surprising that the TPA is working with climate-change deniers. And yet they try and take the high moral ground on getting all the facts right.
5) Self interest groups are bad! That’s according to the report itself (pg 126).
That fits with Olson’s argument in The Logic of Collective Action that more concentrated special interests are better able to organise and lobby, at the expense of the latent majority’s interests.
…
As a result of the logic of collective action, countries with more active special interest groups tend to grow more slowly.
I think it’s rational to describe the TPA as a self-interested lobby group that works at the expense of the majority, right?
As Rick Perry would say: “Ooops”.
TPA report quotes Bible to preach low taxation
Today the Taxpayer’s Alliance and Institute of Directors published a report calling for lower taxes and lesser public spending on services. They also call for a new flat-rate rate of 30%.
Political Scrapbook has already highlighted one bizarre bit from the Taxpayers Alliance ‘report’ on cutting taxes today – with Allister Heath explaining having more money is a great substitute for a personality if you need to attract women.
But here’s something else that caught us by surprise.
The report also harps on about what the Bible says about taxation (pg 97), using it as justification.
According to Christian scripture, government was and is ordained by God (Romans 13:1), but the Biblical model for the state is small and decentralised.
A limited role for the state naturally leads to a limited burden of taxation under the Biblical model.
Well that’s sorted then! The Bible said it so society must be like that.
When Jesus said that Christians should render unto Caesar he was not endorsing high taxation. Instead, he was stating an obligation to obey the civil authorities, even when the burden was onerous.
This should be interpreted as a practical instruction – not paying would lead to dire consequences with the Romans – and obligation, rather than a statement on the desirability of high taxation per se.
God was against high taxation too. That’s told you!
Seriously. I bet they’ve randomly included someone’s Latin homework in there too just so they could fatten it up.
Ed M disliked Byrne’s hard line on welfare
Total Politics magazine has an profile on Ed Miliband this month by the FT journalist Jim Pickard.
There’s an interesting anecdote there that confirms some of my own suspicions.
Others to have fallen out with the leader include Liam Byrne, the Blairite shadow pensions secretary, who subsequently declared his intention to run for Birmingham mayor.
The two clashed over Byrne’s desire for a tougher approach to welfare.
“Ed became sick of Liam always telling him what to do, to do it this way, that way,” says one source.
Unfortunately that’s all there is on that subject.
Liam Byrne is still hanging on to the DWP portfolio by the skin of his teeth.
Unless he starts coming up with genuinely thoughtful ideas on welfare (rather than waffling about Beveridge and welfare scroungers) I doubt he will stay there for long.
Update: Eugene Grant has some suggestions for Liam Byrne on welfare reform.
Economic credibility: Tories & Labour (chart)
It has been two years since Labour lost the General Election and four years after overseeing the biggest economic crash in 80 years.
But going by the views of some commentators, Labour should already have regained credibility on the economy.
This is simply absurd.
The chart below shows how long it took the Conservatives to regain credibility on the economy after UK’s ejection from the ERM in September 1992.
It took the Conservatives nearly eight years to just level with Labour.
But Labour opened up a lead again after and they only started consistently level pegging in 2003.
It took the Conservatives over ten years to catch up with Labour and the massive crash of 2008 to get a significant lead.
That Labour has started level-pegging with the Tories already is in itself a significant achievement.
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» Criticism of Obama for its own sake: a reply to Mehdi Hasan
» Do older people really need more NHS healthcare?
» There are alternatives to the reckless ‘Plan A’
» On Beecroft: it is already quite easy to sack people
» Why Cameron’s claim of 600,000 jobs created is plainly wrong
» By using age to allocate NHS funding, Lansley rewards Tory voters
» The rise in domestic violence deaths is not an “isolated” problem
» Adrian Beecroft highlights mindset of Tory right
» The US is now a model for the Eurozone to save itself
» The IMF plan to revive the economy doesn’t go far enough
» The Boris brand is weaker than his friends think
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