Monthly Archives: October 2013

Single parents ‘biggest losers’ from IDS’ welfare reforms

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http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/10/30/single-parents-biggest-losers-from-ids-welfare-reforms

Iain Duncan Smith’s flagship universal credit reforms will make life for working single parents harder rather than easier, according to a report out today.

The Gingerbread charity suggested there would be very little financial incentive for those in or out of work to take on anything more than ‘mini-jobs’.

Its findings are a setback to the Department for Work and Pensions, which is aiming to simplify a raft of existing benefits and roll them into the single universal credit in a bid to make the shift to employment a financially attractive one.

“The simple fact is that universal credit won’t deliver on its promise to make work pay,” Gingerbread chief executive Fiona Weird said.

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David Cameron urged not to water down the freedom of information act

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http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/oct/30/freedomofinformation-davidcameron

Seventy-six organisations have written to the prime minister urging him to drop proposals to restrict the freedom of information (FoI) act.

Various campaign groups, charities and press bodies have signed the letter to David Cameron, arguing against the watering down of the act.

They say the proposals are not compatible with Cameron’s stated aim of making Britain “the most open and transparent government in the world”.

The sending of the letter has been timed to coincide with an international summit on open government, hosted by the British government in London tomorrow.

The event will be attended by representatives from more than 60 countries. Each government – including the UK – is expected to announce new commitments towards greater openness, drawn up in partnership with non-governmental organisations from their own countries.

It was in November last year that the government announced that it was considering a series of proposals to make it easier for public authorities to refuse FoI requests on cost grounds. Those proposals are still under consideration.

The government says the changes are intended to address the “disproportionate burdens” caused by those people or bodies who are said who make “industrial use” of the FoI act.

But the 76 organisations say “the proposals would restrict access by all users, including those making occasional requests of modest scope.”

FoI requests can already be refused if the cost of finding the requested information exceeds certain limits. The government says it is considering reducing these limits, which would lead to many more requests being refused.

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Continue ReadingDavid Cameron urged not to water down the freedom of information act

Inheritance figures reveal the stark inequality of Great Britain

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http://politics.co.uk/blogs/2013/10/29/inheritance-figures-reveal-the-stark-inequality-of-great-bri

Image of Victorian LondonOfficial figures for inheritance paint a depressing and completely unsurprising portrait of Great Britain – a place where the rich get richer and the poor get stigmatised.

The UK remains a country where those who least need it receive the most.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures show 1.6 million adults (3.6% of the population) received an inheritance worth over £1,000 between 2008 and 2010. Half received less than £10,000, but one in ten received £125,000 or more.

In fact, the luckiest fifth recieved a total of £57 billion – that accounts for 76% of all inherited wealth during the period.

Who did it go to? No prizes for guessing.

Rates of inheritance were higher for individuals living in households which already had the highest levels of wealth, according to the ONS.

Those in the wealthiest fifth of households had an increased chance of receiving inheritance. Those in managerial – rather than routine – occupations had an increased chance of receiving inheritance. Those who owned their main property outright, rather than holding a mortgage, had an increased chance. White Brits had an increased chance compared to non-white Brits. Those whose parents were mortgage owners, rather than renters, had an increased chance.

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Socialist Revolution

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Sounds like Russel Brand’s on the right lines there. [29/10/13 Apologies, that should be Russell Brand.]

I used to call for revo ….

I had considerations for democracy ~ and after contemplation decided that contemporary UK democracy is an illusion. There is the illusion of three main parties while they are all PPE scum.

Edit: I should perhaps at least explain myself better. Let’s start with ~ There is absolutely no difference between the leaders of the three main UK political parties – David Cameron of the Conservatives, Nick Clegg of the Conservative Liberal Democrats and Ed Miliband of the Conservative Labour Party. There is no difference between them – they are all Tory Scum.

Now I can fully understand and appreciate Russel Brand suggesting that voters should not participate in such a farce and even that a revo is called for.

[Later edit: I used to have reservations about calling for revo – it was about the assumed democratic process. How could I call for revo when there was a democratic process? The answer – of course – is that there is not a democratic process.

[Later later edit: Where is the democratic process in govenments’ spying? Where is the democratic process?

I’ll answer you: It is absolutely absent. There is no democratic process here because democracy does not apply …

The problem is that – isn’t democracy paramount? So who are these fakirs to say that they can spy on us? and that we shouldn’t know about it? and that nobody can report it? Where is democracy then?

Apparently it’s democracy that I can vote for some siht or other that can then spy on whole populations without any reason but I shouldn’t know about it. And that’s demokracy?

[Later tater edit: You’re full of siht, just like the full of sihter you so adore

 

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David Cameron makes veiled threat to media over NSA and GCHQ leaks

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/28/david-cameron-nsa-threat-newspapers-guardian-snowden

Prime minister alludes to courts and D notices and singles out the Guardian over coverage of Edward Snowden saga

Image of David CameronDavid Cameron has called on the Guardian and other newspapers to show “social responsibility” in the reporting of the leaked NSA files to avoid high court injunctions or the use of D notices to prevent the publication of information that could damage national security.

In a statement to MPs on Monday about last week’s European summit in Brussels, where he warned of the dangers of a “lah-di-dah, airy-fairy view” about the dangers of leaks, the prime minister said his preference was to talk to newspapers rather than resort to the courts. But he said it would be difficult to avoid acting if newspapers declined to heed government advice.

The prime minister issued the warning after the Tory MP Julian Smith quoted a report in Monday’s edition of the Sun that said Britain’s intelligence agencies believe details from the NSA files leaked by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden have hampered their work.

The Sun quoted a “top surveillance source” as saying that terrorists have “gone quiet” after the publication of details about NSA and GCHQ operations.

Cameron told MPs: “We have a free press, it’s very important the press feels it is not pre-censored from what it writes and all the rest of it.

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“I don’t want to have to use injunctions or D notices or the other tougher measures. I think it’s much better to appeal to newspapers’ sense of social responsibility. But if they don’t demonstrate some social responsibility it would be very difficult for government to stand back and not to act.”

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Guardian: The NSA files

[I’m surprised that Cameron thinks that censoring the press on these issues is wise. Surely it’s too late for that now? I find it strange that Cameron prefers to pretend that this wholesale and unwarranted spying on whole populations is not happening.]

Continue ReadingDavid Cameron makes veiled threat to media over NSA and GCHQ leaks