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By using age to allocate NHS funding, Lansley rewards Tory voters

by Unity    
May 24, 2012 at 8:45 am

Health secretary Andrew Lansley said at a NHS Clinical Commissioners conference in April: “age is the principal determinant of health need”.

It follows from this the NHS should devote a greater proportion of its resources in areas with the largest elderly populations.

But the evidence doesn’t stack up. Furthermore, it looks like the funding is being shifted for political reasons.
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Most women don’t need counselling before abortion, shows study

by Unity    
May 14, 2012 at 10:25 am

A new study has been published by the Guttmacher Institute which sheds some interesting light on women’s needs and choices at the point at which they make contact with abortion service providers.

The study, ‘Attitudes and Decision Making Among Women seeking abortions at one US clinic‘ shows, unsurprisingly, that the vast majority of women have very firmly made up their mind about having an abortion before making contact with an abortion clinic:

For 87% of the abortions sought, women had high confidence in their decision before receiving counseling.

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Advertising Standards Authority vs Archbishop Cranmer

by Unity    
May 13, 2012 at 11:38 am

As a general rule of thumb anything that winds up Cranmer is usually a good thing so it’s with some amusement that I have report that 24 people including a ‘Jewish Gay and Lesbian group’ have reported his blog to the Advertising Standards Authority over an advert he ran on behalf of the ‘Coalition For Marriage’.

So far as the substance of these complaints are concerned, the advert included a claim that ’70% of people say keep marriage as it is’ giving the source of this claim as poll conducted by ComRes on behalf of Catholic Voices, a semi-official Catholic propaganda and astroturfing operation, and this is being challenged under rules 3.1, 3.3 (Misleading Advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation) of the CAP code.

To add insult to feigned injury, rule 4.1 (Harm and Offence) has also been brought into play by a number of complainants who’ve alleged that the advert is ‘offensive’ and ‘homophobic’.

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The religious fanatics behind Tory plans to block porn

by Unity    
May 5, 2012 at 3:21 pm

I’ve just been reading through Clare Perry’s ‘Independent Parliamentary Inquiry into Online Child Protection‘ which, of course, recommends the introduction of opt-in porn filters on internet connections in the UK.

Its fair to say that I’ve spotted one or two problems with the report that need to be flagged up.

Problem number 1 can be found in the title of the report and the use of the words ‘Independent’ and ‘Parliamentary Inquiry’.

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This is why the MPs letter on prayer healing is so dangerous

by Unity    
March 27, 2012 at 10:51 am

It would be extremely easy to poke fun at the utterly idiotic and opportunistic letter that three Christian MPs have sent to the Advertising Standards Authority in an effort to pressure them to overturn a recent ruling on the contents of a website owned by a Bath-based Christian group.

If you’re not sure why then Martin Robbins has already done a fine job of eviscerating the contents of the letter.

But I’d like to introduce you to a few reasons why I don’t find the letter in slightest bit amusing.
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The silly reason why every abortion requires two signatures

by Unity    
March 24, 2012 at 9:40 am

In his ongoing war on abortion rights, yesterday Andrew Lansley said:

The rules in the Abortion Act are there for a reason – to ensure there are safeguards for women before an abortion can be carried out. To protect women, the right checks and balances must be in place.

Lansley is referring specifically to the rule that two doctors are required to sign off a request for an abortion, which is the only medical procedure in which the law requires a second medical opinion before the procedure takes place.
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How the Telegraph and Mail attacked gay marriage through the ECHR

by Unity    
March 23, 2012 at 12:33 pm

It’s been widely observed that, since it was taken over by Barclay Brothers, The Daily Telegraph has noticeably shifted downmarket and has come to resemble a broadsheet version of the Daily Mail.

It is therefore hardly surprising to find it peddling nonsense such as this: Gay marriage is not a human right, according to European ruling, which has also found its way into the Daily Mail.

The main thing to note is that the main case to which The Telegraph are referring, Gas and Dubois v. France (no. 25951/07), was not primarily about the question of whether or not gay marriage is a human right in the eyes of the European Court.
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Meet the Panelists – BBC Question Time 09-12

by Unity    
February 1, 2012 at 8:55 pm

Apropos of my recent blog on tokenism and gender balance in the composition of BBC Question Time panels, I’ve now pulled together a complete list of the people who have made at least one appearance on a Question Time panel since January 2009 and am looking for a little crowdsourced assistance with the next stage of my analysis.

Yor mission, should ou choose to accept it, is to help out with tagging the political links and associations of some panelists.

What I’m actually looking for is information and opinions on some of the other, less obviously political names on the list, either in terms of a verified link to British political party – I thnk we all know now that Carol Vorderman is rabid Tory, even if that wasn’t entirely obvious until she appeared on the show, or a reliable assessment of where they sit on the standard left-right political axis.

To keep it simple, stick to left, right and centre as answers where possible, although I’ll also take with neutral or independent if you feel that someone is genuinely operating outside the usual categories.

Final instructions if you do feel like ptiching in:

- any responses in comments and not via Twitter please, as its just easier to keep track of things that way

- no tracking people down via Twitter to ask them about their political views if you don’t already know where they stand, it;s not nice to hassle people for trivial reasons, and

- for the avoidance of any doubt, the Brian Cox who appears on the list is the actor, not the scientist.

So now, without further ado, on with the list, which is given in rank order by number of appearances:

Rank	Panelist	Appearances
1	Vince Cable	10
2	Nigel Farage	9
3	Caroline Flint	8
3	Kelvin MacKenzie	8
3	Theresa May	8
6	Caroline Lucas	7
6	Chris Huhne	7
6	Kenneth Clarke	7
6	Peter Hain	7
10	Andy Burnham	6
10	Diane Abbott	6
10	Liam Fox	6
10	Nicola Sturgeon	6
10	Sarah Teather	6
10	Sayeeda Warsi	6
10	Shami Chakrabarti	6
17	Alan Johnson	5
17	David Starkey	5
17	Douglas Murray	5
17	Elfyn Llwyd	5
17	Jo Swinson	5
17	Melanie Phillips	5
17	Menzies Campbell	5
17	Paddy Ashdown	5
17	Shirley Williams	5
26	Alex Salmond	4
26	Andrew Lansley	4
26	Ben Bradshaw	4
26	Charles Falconer	4
26	Charles Kennedy	4
26	David Laws	4
26	Douglas Alexander	4
26	Ed Balls	4
26	Iain Duncan Smith	4
26	Janet Street-Porter	4
26	Margaret Beckett	4
26	Mehdi Hasan	4
26	Michael Heseltine	4
26	Michael Moore	4
26	Peter Hitchens	4
26	Philip Hammond	4
26	Ruth Lea	4
26	Simon Hughes	4
44	Caroline Spelman	3
44	Charles Clarke	3
44	Chris Bryant	3
44	Chris Grayling	3
44	Christopher Meyer	3
44	Damian Green	3
44	David Davis	3
44	David Miliband	3
44	Ed Davey	3
44	Fraser Nelson	3
44	George Galloway	3
44	Grant Shapps	3
44	Harriet Harman	3
44	Ian Hislop	3
44	Jack Straw	3
44	Janet Daley	3
44	Jeremy Browne	3
44	Jeremy Hunt	3
44	John Denham	3
44	John Redwood	3
44	Julia Goldsworthy	3
44	Justine Greening	3
44	Ken Livingstone	3
44	Leanne Wood	3
44	Liam Byrne	3
44	Max Hastings	3
44	Michael Gove	3
44	Nadine Dorries	3
44	Norman Baker	3
44	Piers Morgan	3
44	Polly Toynbee	3
44	Salma Yaqoob	3
44	Susan Kramer	3
44	William Hague	3
44	Yvette Cooper	3
79	Alastair Campbell	2
79	Andrew Mitchell	2
79	Bonnie Greer	2
79	Boris Johnson	2
79	Brian Cox	2
79	Camila Batmanghelidjh	2
79	Charles Moore	2
79	Cheryl Gillan	2
79	Chuka Umunna	2
79	Clare Short	2
79	Clive Anderson	2
79	Daniel Hannan	2
79	Danny Alexander	2
79	David Mitchell	2
79	David Willetts	2
79	Ed Miliband	2
79	Fern Britton	2
79	Francis Maude	2
79	Germaine Greer	2
79	Gloria De Piero	2
79	Hilary Benn	2
79	Jane Moore	2
79	Jenny Tonge	2
79	John Sergeant	2
79	Jon Gaunt	2
79	Katie Hopkins	2
79	Kirsty Williams	2
79	Margaret Curran	2
79	Max Mosley	2
79	Michael Forsyth	2
79	Monty Don	2
79	Nick Ferrari	2
79	Rachel Reeves	2
79	Richard Dannatt	2
79	Rory Stewart	2
79	Sadiq Khan	2
79	Shaun Woodward	2
79	Simon Jenkins	2
79	Simon Schama	2
79	Stephen Pollard	2
79	Tessa Jowell	2
79	Toby Young	2
79	Will Self	2
79	Yasmin Alibhai-Brown	2
123	Aaron Porter	1
123	Adrian Adonis	1
123	Alistair Carmichael	1
123	Amanda Platell	1
123	Andrew Roberts	1
123	Anna Soubry	1
123	Annabel Goldie	1
123	Archbishop John Sentamu	1
123	Benedict Brogan	1
123	Benjamin Zephaniah	1
123	Bianca Jagger	1
123	Bill Rammell	1
123	Billy Bragg	1
123	Bob Crow	1
123	Brent Hoberman	1
123	Brian Paddick	1
123	Bruce Anderson	1
123	Carol Vorderman	1
123	Carwyn Jones	1
123	Charlotte Harris	1
123	Christina Schmidt	1
123	Christine Blower	1
123	Claire Perry	1
123	Clarke Carlisle	1
123	Clive James	1
123	Colin Blakemore	1
123	Constance Briscoe	1
123	Cristina Odone	1
123	Dambisa Moyo	1
123	Dame Ann Leslie	1
123	David Blunkett	1
123	David Frum	1
123	David Lammy	1
123	David Steel	1
123	David Trimble	1
123	Deborah Meaden	1
123	Derek Simpson	1
123	Digby Jones	1
123	Dr Phil Hammond	1
123	Ed Byrne	1
123	Edwina Currie	1
123	Elin Jones	1
123	Elizabeth Truss	1
123	Eric Pickles	1
123	Esther Rantzen	1
123	Fiona Phillips	1
123	Frank Skinner	1
123	George Osborne	1
123	George Pascoe-Watson	1
123	Gerry Kelly	1
123	Hardeep Singh Kohli	1
123	Helena Kennedy	1
123	Hugh Grant	1
123	Hugh Hendry	1
123	Iain Gray	1
123	Jacob Rees-Mogg	1
123	Jacqui Smith	1
123	James Caan	1
123	James O’Brien	1
123	Jan Royall	1
123	Jarvis Cocker	1
123	Jeanette Winterson	1
123	Jeffrey Donaldson	1
123	Jim Allister	1
123	Jim Knight	1
123	Jimmy Wales	1
123	Joan Bakewell	1
123	John Prescott	1
123	Julia Hartley-Brewer	1
123	Julian Fellowes	1
123	Justin King	1
123	Justine Roberts	1
123	Kate Mosse	1
123	Kirsty Allsopp	1
123	Liam Halligan	1
123	Lionel Barber	1
123	Liz Kendall	1
123	Louise Bagshawe	1
123	Lynne Featherstone	1
123	Margaret Ritchie	1
123	Maria Misra	1
123	Mark Littlewood	1
123	Mark Malloch Brown	1
123	Mark Serwotka	1
123	Mark Steel	1
123	Marta Andreasen	1
123	Martin Bell	1
123	Martin Sorrell	1
123	Martina Anderson	1
123	Mary Beard	1
123	Mary Bousted	1
123	Matthew Parris	1
123	Michael Howard	1
123	Michael Winner	1
123	Mike Russell	1
123	Nerys Evans	1
123	Niall Ferguson	1
123	Nick Griffin	1
123	Nicola Horlick	1
123	Nigel Dodds	1
123	Nigel Lawson	1
123	Noreena Hertz	1
123	Norman Lamb	1
123	Owen Paterson	1
123	Patrick Harvie	1
123	Pauline Neville-Jones	1
123	Peter Oborne	1
123	Phil Willis	1
123	Pierre-Yves Gerbeau	1
123	Priti Patel	1
123	Rageh Omaar	1
123	Richard Lambert	1
123	Richard Littlejohn	1
123	Richard Madeley	1
123	Richard Perle	1
123	Robert Winston	1
123	Roy Hattersley	1
123	Sally Bercow	1
123	Sammy Wilson	1
123	Sarah Sands	1
123	Shappi Khorsandi	1
123	Sherard Cowper-Coles	1
123	Simon Callow	1
123	Simon Heffer	1
123	Simon Wolfson	1
123	Stephen Dorrell	1
123	Stephen Twigg	1
123	Steve Easterbrook	1
123	Stuart Rose	1
123	Suzanne Burlton	1
123	Tariq Ali	1
123	Tim Farron	1
123	Tom Conti	1
123	Tom Hunter	1
123	TristramHunt	1
123	Vera Baird	1
123	Victoria Barnsley	1
123	Victoria Coren	1
123	Will Hutton	1
123	Will Young	1
123	Willie Walsh	1

Exclusive: How the government is exaggerating the cost of abortions

by Unity    
November 25, 2011 at 11:02 am

Last week the Telegraph revealed ‘new figures’ from the government that put the cost of abortions £30m ‘higher than previously thought’.

Lord Alton, the crossbench peer who obtained the new figures, said: “I have written to Lord Howe setting out a number of concerns about how Parliament came to be so very badly misled about the costs to the NHS associated with abortion.

I think the most pressing concern Lord Howe needs to address is why Lord Alton’s can’t understand his own bloody correspondence.
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Poor memory? Blame evolution, not Google

by Unity    
July 17, 2011 at 12:03 pm

If you mooch around the science sections of popular news websites this weekend then chances are you’ll encounter something called ‘The Google Effect’.

From what I can tell, the BBC’s report started out the headline “Internet is ‘changing our memory’” but have since backed off a little and are now running the story as ‘Internet’s memory effects quantified in computer study’.

The Guardian – with perhaps more than half an eye on climbing Google’s own search rankings with its take on the story – has gone for the headline; ‘Poor memory? Blame Google.
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