Agenda 2019

https://paper.li/f-1346065353 Good morning everyone. Regular readers will probably be aware that I have  an intense aversion to this bizarre ritual of tampering with the clocks. It happened again last night, when at the appointed moment,  all the clocks in the land (including our house) were put back by 1 hour to revert to GMT. I do not have a problem in March when sanity returns and we  reinstate  BST ,  but the October  absurdity causes me, and I am sure thousands of others around the UK, a complete disruption of physical routines and sleep patterns. Last night was no exception. For some unknown reason I woke thinking that it was early morning. It was not. A glance at the bedside clock confirmed that the  tinkering had taken place and it was only 12:06. After a period of tossing and turning, I eventually went back to sleep. When my body clock woke me I assumed that it was sometime between 04:00 and 05:00, which is the usual sta...

The Clocks were put back by 1 hour last night. Did you remember? Regular readers will probably be aware that I have an intense aversion to the bizarre ritual of tampering with the clocks. It happened again last night, when at the appointed moment, all the clocks in the land (including our house) were put back by 1 hour to revert to GMT. I do not have a problem in March when sanity returns and we reinstate BST, but the October absurdity causes me, and I am sure thousands of others around the UK, a complete disruption of physical routines an d sleep patterns. Last night was no exception. For some unknown reason I woke thinking that it was early morning. It was not. A glance at the bedside clock confirmed that the tinkering had taken place and it was only 12:06. After a period of tossing and turning, I eventually went back to sleep. When my body clock woke me I assumed that it was sometime between 04:00 and 05:00, which is the usual starting time for my day. After a few...

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/27/benefit-sanctions-food-banks-oxford-university-study Benefit sanctions forcing people to use food banks, study confirms Yet another "study" to report a truth which many of us have known for years! Benefit sanctions, whereby social security claimants have their payments stopped for at least a month as a punishment for supposedly breaching strict job centre rules, are a key driver of hunger and food bank use" This conservative government and the ConDem coalition before them, use benefit sanctions, (most of which a re overturned on appeal, but by which time the damage has already been done), as a weapon to attack the poor and most vulnerable people in our society and this abuse by government continues on a daily basis today. Abuses of this severity in application and effect, would not be tolerated in any other part of our social system and any person or persons guilty of perpetratin...

Ken Loach and Kwasi Kwarteng on Channel  4 News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V7Iaycp5IU There are many patronising, uncaring and ignorant Tories filling the conservative benches in the Commons and many more to be found in their constituency clubs and tea rooms around the country. Kwasi Kwarteng is just one. The refusal to accept the reality of "Food-bank Britain", he dismisses with the comment, "I think there is some hardship" followed by "Ken is just telling a story" and then draws a comparison with other writers who have commented on social injustices for ma ny years. Patronising, uncaring and ignorant Kwarteng resorts to the now well worn distortion that the conservatives have won a mandate from the British people in an election where the increasing use of Food-banks (by people driven to desperation by welfare cuts and sanctions incidentally) was a main issue in the Labour party campaign,and Labour lost that argument. Th...

https://paper.li/f-1346065353 Good morning everyone. Alan Turing "Alan Turing 's law", is a long overdue piece of legislation which has taken 64 years to almost reach the statute books, for government to acknowledge the gross injustice of convictions and punishments handed down to Turing and others, under the Criminal law amendment act of 1885. On Friday (21st October) Sam Gyimah the Conservative MP for East Surrey and government minister filibustered his own legislation to "talk out" the amendments to the Policing and Crime bill which would have introduced this reform. Sam Gyimah MP Sam Gyimah is a reprehensible and unprincipled example of an MP bringing the whole House into disrepute. The whole story is in today’s paper under the headings " Policing and Crime bill to incorporate "Alan Turing law" and " Sam Gyimah MP, filibusters his own legislation to introduce "Alan Turing's law...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/four-10-social-housing-tenants-9107639 Four in 10 social housing tenants forced to skip meals because they can't afford to eat Four in 10 social housing tenants forced to skip meals The 21st Century, in the United Kingdom. Today in Theresa May's conservative controlled Great Britain, four in 10 social housing tenants are forced to skip meals because they can't afford to eat. The most recent figures reveal that around 4.1 million people live in "social housing" in this country, which means that more than 1,640,000 people men, women and children are going hungry because they cannot afford to "heat and eat" especially during the winter months, due to lack of finance. This situation has resulted in the huge rise in the number of people becoming reliant on Food-banks and other charities a number of people which now exceeds one million. This situation is particularly difficult for those in our society w...