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...
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/alan-turing-law-government-pardon-rachel-barnes-historic-crimes-a7370621.html ‘Alan Turing law’ unveiled by government Alan Turing with "Collosus" and the "Enigma"cipher machine. Alan Turing died in 1954. At the time, his death was recorded as suicide, but then and since there have been doubts raised as to the actual cause and the most likely explanation is that the death was accidental. The sentence that Turing received in 1952, a choice between imprisonment or chemical castration for the "crime" of gross indecency has long been considered as barbaric, being a reflection of "society attitude" towards the LGBT community in the United Kingdom at that time. It is now reported that the government is at last intending to introduce the necessary amendments to the Policing and Crime bill, which will effectively act as an apology to those convicted for consensual same-sex relationsh...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/29/andrew-brigden-conservatives-david-cameron-fractured-eu-debate-election Tory MPs escalate party turmoil with open call for Cameron to quit At least this article quotes real people as named sources, rather than being completely reliant on "a senior figure" or sources close to" or any of the other concocted "evidence" which this and other newspapers and television spew out when attacking (or smearing) the Labour party and its leadership. If Cameron were to be deposed and removed from the Premiership, then the country would gain a great benefit from the subsequent brawling within an even more fragmented Conservative party with the numerous factions scrambling for the "top job". It may even lead to the House of Commons, forcing a bill through through Parliament to hold an early general election in accordance with Section 2 of the "Fixed Term Parliaments Act". It certainly a...
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/30/uk-throes-of--housing-crisis Revealed: UK ‘is in the throes of a housing crisis’ Revealed: UK ‘is in the throes of a housing crisis’. Revealed!? Many of us have been shouting from the rooftops for years that this country has a housing crisis. That crisis has become even worse over the past 20 years and now rates as an national outrage which should not be tolerated by any decent society in this 21st Century. It is a crisis brought about by decades of neglect and indifference by successive governments who have viewed "housing" as a manifesto topic where they can make all sorts of promises and when elected, find all sorts of "reasons" why they are only able to build a fraction of the number of houses and flats actually required. Over the past 6 months, house building organisations, economists and housing charities, have identified contributory factors to the growing crisis. The "right to buy" ...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/19/labour-no-longer-credible-party-lord-warner-resigns-whip Lord Warner resigns Labour whip, saying party is 'no longer credible' Lord Warner, who wanted to charge people £10 to use the NHS, steps down Before everyone gets too excited about Lord Warner (Lord who?) becoming the first Jeremy Corbyn era Labour parliamentarian to resign the whip, perhaps we might examine the background and “political” credentials of the now "new" cross bench peer. A career civil servant from 1960, the Life Peer held offices in the Blair government, being a Parliamentary Under Secretary in the Department of Health from 2003 to 2007, and a Minister of State in the department of Health from 2005 to 2007. he has also been “adviser” to a number of “consulting” companies. He was appointed by the Coalition government as Chair of the Social Care Funding Commission in August 2010. This unelected and unaccountable civil serv...
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/456455953705865216/iceland-recovering-fastest-in-europe-after-jailing-bankers-instead-of-bailing-them-out Iceland Recovering Fastest in Europe After Jailing Bankers Instead of Bailing them Out George Osborne's bargain basement sale has left taxpayers with a £1.1billion loss The British tax payer (you and I that is) poured £45billion of our money into RSB as a "State Bailout". Consequently, it seems to me that we own the bank. Gideon is now selling off our shares (and he didn't even ask our permission) in RSB at knock down prices to friends in the city and at a loss to us, the taxpayers. There is a small bribe for the taxpayer however, that the government will allow us to buy a tiny percentage of the available shares, and with a minute discount o n the price! As with other privatisations, Gas, Water, Electricity, Railways etc, the government Alchemists manage to persuade sections of the public to purchase that whi...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2015/sep/08/fallon-says-more-british-jihadis-in-syria-could-be-attacked-by-raf-drones-politics-live#comment-59032405 David Cameron under pressure to explain legal basis for drone attack in Syria A renegade government, led by Cameron and a small clique of maverick ministers who believe that they have the right to administer state executions where ever and when ever they choose. Leaving aside the deaths of these two Isis terrorists, there is a more fundamental issue at stake. The execution was of two British nationals (who may or may not have been planning something) in Syria, a country who we are not at war with. The House of Commons had rejected British military involvement in Syria. (Notwithstanding this, Cameron has within the last few mo...
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/12955257.EXCLUSIVE_INTERVIEW__We_take_a_look_at_the_future_of_Dorset_s_healthcare__DCH_A__E_is_safe_but_major_hospital_will_be_in_east_of_the_county/ Dorchester County Hospital A& E is safe but major hospital will be in east of the county As a regular patient at Dorchester County Hospital (who have just announced their plans for a reorganisation), cardiology for pacemaker check/box replacement, and visiting hematology for monthly blood checks, am I to understand that these services will no longer be available at DCH? A round trip from home to say Poole Hospital is a distance of some 70 miles with a traveling time of around 2 1/2 hours, and to Bournemouth Hospital the round trip is some 85 miles taking almost 3 hours traveling time. There are many people reliant on Dorset Hospital services who will be even more inconvenienced than I will be, all sacrificed on the alter of Hunt and his Conservative cronies who are intent on cre...
The inquiry completed its public hearings in 2011 Sir John Chilcot opened his two-year inquiry in 2009 There are a number of examples, particularly over recent years, where issues of great interest or even concern to the public, have been ignored, delayed or even stopped from investigation (as was the case of the BAE Systems involvement in bribery and corruption in Saudi Arabia). The badly worn clichés of "not in the public interest" or insufficient evidence", have been trotted out by the "authorities" as if in some way these weasel words will pacify people into accepting the government or the DPP or who ever know best and we should not press the matter further. We all know however, that the reasons for delay or abandonment of investigations into these matters, is usually more to do with avoidance of possible exposure or embarrassment for government or individuals, than with informing the public of facts. The Hillsborough investigation is perhaps t...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/chilcot-inquiry-into-iraq-war-will-not-report-before-election-9991412.html Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq war will 'not report before election' There are many people involved (a) with the decision to take this country to war, (b) the "conspiracy" between politicians to manufacture justification for intervention in Iraq, (c) the disputes between the intelligence services of the United States and the united Kingdom and (c) the prevarication and delays in publication. Too many people with too much to hide creating seemingly endless delay in order to prevent disclosure of themselves and their part in illegal war. The report may be published "after the election", but personally I believe that further means will be found to prevent the findings coming into the public domain
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nhs-explainer-why-are-we-experiencing-an-ae-crisis-now-9961468.html Why are we experiencing an A&E crisis now? A very busy HNS Since the 1980's, when it became the policy to close hundreds of the smaller hospitals and create super size “centres of excellence” at a few locations around the country with the rather naive assumption that “Bigger is better”, we have had an “A&E crisis”, which has not been limited to the A&E departments but has percolated throughout the hospital system. This A&E crisis, was exacerbated throughout the 1990's with the fallacious proposition, that in order to solve the problem it was essential to introduce more and more layers of management, introduce “targets” to monitor performance of departments and individuals, and to pour money into the system. A fiscal policy which mainly went into financing the expanding bureaucracy rather than improving the standards of care. ...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/08/nick-clegg-lib-dem-conference-speech Nick Clegg makes case for power sharing role in future coalitions Nick Clegg Clegg and the LibDems making their grubby little bid for another coalition. It seems that these political opportunists will go to any lengths and make any promise necessary to hang on to their seats around the cabinet table, their ministerial cars (and other perks of the job) and of course their over inflated ministerial salaries.When it comes to hypocrisy and self interest, the LibDems have few equals. Herbert Asquith My grandfather, a life long Liberal since before World War 1, must be spinning in his grave. Thankfully he did not witness the duplicitous behaviour of the LibDems over the past five years and even before, since the "marriage" of Liberals and SDP.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coalition-rocked-by-bedroom-tax-revolt-9715640.html Coalition is rocked by Lib Dem-Labour alliance 'Bedroom Tax' One Step Closer To Abolition After Tories Are Defeated The closer the country gets to a general election,the more the LibDems desert the sinking ship to argue and vote against the Conservatives. Perhaps Clegg and his lemmings believe that the public have forgotten the last four and a half years, where the LibDems supported and encouraged the Tories in this ragbag coalition, to enact some of the most divisive legislation ever seen in this country since the days of Thatcher. The increases of tuition fees, cuts to benefits across the board, Iain Duncan-Smith's "Welfare" reforms, including the so called "Bedroom tax", the privatisation of huge parts of the NHS and other industries such as Royal Mail, have been enthusiastically championed by the Liberal Democrats during their period in po...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/25/scottish-power-warranty-cameron-cable-business-secretary?commentpage=1 Business secretary will address Scottish Power scandal Business secretary Vince Cable We may all rest comfortably in our beds. Vince is on the case. He will deal with these miscreant Scottish Power people in the same way as he has dealt with all the other privatised power companies that have been ripping people off for the past 30 years. He will take up this long running and still outstanding "cashback promises" matter with Scottish Power, as he has attacked other malpractices in respect of exorbitant price hikes, failure to pass on reductions in wholesale prices of energy, bad service, complicated pricing structures etc. Cable and other gang members on government front bench Vince can be relied on to sort out the problem. He can also be relied on to give away public assets at knock down prices to his friends in the city and to e...
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/19/poverty-hits-twice-as-many-british-households Poverty hits twice as many British households as 30 years ago 33% of households endure below-par living standards – defined as going without three or more "basic necessities of life", such as being able to adequately feed and clothe themselves and their children, and to heat and insure their homes. In the early 1980s, the comparable figure was 14%. Poverty has doubled in the past 30 years. Since 1984 in fact. A date which holds sinister connotations in the minds of many. Since 1984, a succession of Prime Ministers, have presided over a visible decline in living standards for people in this country, whilst at the same time the fortunes, profits and power of a number of corporations and a few individuals have increased beyond levels only imaginable 30 years ago. This transformation of society in the United kingdom has been brought about and propagated by t...