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Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: So many political plans are half arsed. The main example that springs to mind happens to be a Tory one, but that's not say it's only Tory plans that are horrifically flawed.
Workfare.
In theory, a way to get yoof and the long term unemployed a taste of work.
Right there, that's not a bad plan.
But the 'work for free or lose your benefits' angle was rubbish, and far too near indentured servitude.
Imagine if the deal had been 'your employer will pay you the going rate, less your benefit which we'll continue to pay'. Give that say, a two or three month period.
Employer gets some discount work done. Benefit Claimant earns more money, giving them at least the faintest whiff of how much better life can be with even a crappy arsed job. Hopefully, they find having way more money to their liking, and there's a chance the employer will offer them a proper contract.
But no. Instead, people just find out dead end, minimum wage work sucks - likely putting them off it forever more.
A reasonable concept utterly blown.
Well said Doc. It really shows how crappy the current crop of politicians and civil servants are when they couldn't figure out this relatively simple plan. They're probably like the managers in Belfast city council. Useless pathetic overpaid bastards who couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery.
I put it down to a lack of common sense that comes from living in the real world.
Britain, by contrast, is an authentic unitary nation. It didn’t begin with the union with Scotland but as the British Isles, an island nation defending itself (or not) against invaders from across the seas. Throughout its history, it was beset by attempts at secession by tribes across Hadrian’s Wall and across the Irish Sea.
fair play to Mad Mel it takes considerable skill to be exactly that wrong quite so hard.
Britain is a nation with the right to rule itself. It is the EU which is the artificial construct, the imagined community that falsely claims for itself the hollow appurtenances of a nation. The EU therefore has no prior claim on its constituent nations which are under no obligation to remain. By contrast, the United Kingdom is a nation which is governed in accordance with its name. Scotland has no right to rip it asunder if it wants to secede from the Union (which in any event is highly doubtful).
We don't have time.
Unpicking thousands of pieces of legislation and asking Parliament to vote on which bits to keep and which bits to scrap would take decades, several governments and would almost certainly be impossible.
Because of this, the government has another plan and here's where the power grab comes in.
Delegated powers
There's only really one solution to May's difficulties and that is to bypass Parliament altogether. This can be done through the use of delegated powers and statutory instruments. These allow the government to amend laws without first facing parliamentary scrutiny. These powers were intended to be used by governments only for minor time-sensitive technical changes to laws. However, the time pressures caused by May's Brexit timetable means that they will almost certainly have to be used much more widely and liberally.
This is extremely dangerous.
As the House of Lords Constitution committee warns today in a new report, the Great Repeal Bill will "involve a massive transfer of legislative competence from Parliament to Government." They add that "this raises constitutional concerns of a fundamental nature, concerning as it does the appropriate balance of power between the legislature and executive."
The Great Repeal Bill will hand ministers, what human rights organisation Liberty describe as "virtually untrammelled power" to make and unmake whole swathes of our law. Everything from workers rights' to food standards, to banking regulations, will suddenly be up for grabs by Downing Street and it will all happen so quickly that we won't even realise what we've lost until it's gone.
There are no safeguards.
The government have insisted that nothing of importance will be lost. On workers' rights, in particular, they have been keen to dismiss warnings from Labour that citizens' hard-won rights will be lost. The Brexit secretary David Davis has also promised that any major changes will go through primary legislation and be voted on by Parliament. Maybe it will.
Maybe it will. Maybe the government will stand back and refuse to use the sweeping new powers that the Great Repeal Bill affords them.
But the problem is that so far the government have only offered warm words on the subject. There have been no announcements of new safeguards to prevent the government from simply rewriting Britain's legal settlement at the swipe of a pen. Calls from the Lords for the government to promise to insert so-called "sunset clauses" to make the changes to laws temporary have so far not been met. Calls for new scrutiny body in parliament to check any changes have also so far fallen on deaf ears.
Time is running out for the government to spell out how they plan to use the powers soon to be afforded to them. But as things stand there is absolutely nothing in place to prevent the biggest political power grab of modern times.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/07 15:00:46
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
Britain, by contrast, is an authentic unitary nation. It didn’t begin with the union with Scotland but as the British Isles, an island nation defending itself (or not) against invaders from across the seas. Throughout its history, it was beset by attempts at secession by tribes across Hadrian’s Wall and across the Irish Sea.
hell!
And people ask me why I back Scottish independence....
reds8n I'm glad to see you got that article from the archive rather than go on the site and contribute advertising revenue to the Mail.
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote: reds8n I'm glad to see you got that article from the archive rather than go on the site and contribute advertising revenue to the Mail.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote: reds8n I'm glad to see you got that article from the archive rather than go on the site and contribute advertising revenue to the Mail.
You could just use adblock...
Or in my case, wallet block, that prevents my hand from touching my cards or cash whenever I feel the very rare urge to buy one of these rags that passes for a modern newspaper.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/07 16:02:32
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
reds8n I'm glad to see you got that article from the archive rather than go on the site and contribute advertising revenue to the Mail.
The sad thing is that this is from the Times.
I'm not that surprised that that the central premise of her argument is spectacularly wrong though, it seems to be a commonly held belief amongst the historically illiterate.
I wonder if she knows that the Kingdom of Scotland actually predates the Kingdom of England by more than a century? I suspect not.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/07 17:33:05
You know, I'm starting to think there should be some sort of licencing system, and rigorous testing procedure, for people who want to publish opinions.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/03/07 18:57:23
"All their ferocity was turned outwards, against enemies of the State, foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals" - Orwell, 1984
What's the cut off date on this authentic nation nonsense then? It must be pre 1922 by that articles logic. So end of WW1? The start of WW1? The start of the 20th century? Is the author going to campaign for the reforming of the Ottoman Empire, The dissolution of the People's Republic of China and the restoration of the Quing dynasty, or combining India and Pakistan back into one country?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/07 21:42:37
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: So many political plans are half arsed. The main example that springs to mind happens to be a Tory one, but that's not say it's only Tory plans that are horrifically flawed.
Workfare.
In theory, a way to get yoof and the long term unemployed a taste of work.
Right there, that's not a bad plan.
But the 'work for free or lose your benefits' angle was rubbish, and far too near indentured servitude.
Imagine if the deal had been 'your employer will pay you the going rate, less your benefit which we'll continue to pay'. Give that say, a two or three month period.
Employer gets some discount work done. Benefit Claimant earns more money, giving them at least the faintest whiff of how much better life can be with even a crappy arsed job. Hopefully, they find having way more money to their liking, and there's a chance the employer will offer them a proper contract.
But no. Instead, people just find out dead end, minimum wage work sucks - likely putting them off it forever more.
A reasonable concept utterly blown.
Why does maggies YTS spring into my mind. Seems the Doc isn't so mad. exalted BTW
Its hard to be awesome, when your playing with little plastic men. Welcome to Fantasy 40k
If you think your important, in the great scheme of things. Do the water test.
Put your hands in a bucket of warm water,
then pull them out fast. The size of the hole shows how important you are.
I think we should roll some dice, to see if we should roll some dice, To decide if all this dice rolling is good for the game.
So, today we've gotten our first May and Hammond budget. It entails:-
-Minor tax rises on alcohol and tobacco (as previously announced).
-A reduction in the amount of dividend paid out tax-free from companies.
-£90 million pounds on road infrastructure to be spent in the North of England, and another £23 million pounds for road infrastructure in the Midlands.
-An increase in the National Insurance rate for self-employed people (9% to 11% I believe).
-An extra £2 billion pounds on social care for the elderly.
-Some minor sticking plasters on the NHS (£100 million on new triages and GP's, and £325 million on 'reform' programmes)
-An increase in small business rates, with £435 million pounds set aside in relief funds/exemptions for those worst hit by it.
-Minor increase in tax-free personal allowance to £11,500 this year.
-£300 million pounds on new STEM PhD studentships.
-Free school transport for all studnets on free school meals.
-Funding to open 110 new schools.
-Minor taxation on sugary drinks.
-£270 million pounds investment in new technologies.
-£20 million pound fund to help stop violence against women.
-An intention to close £820 million pounds worth of tax loopholes.
All in all, I generally approve. The business rate rise is mildly concerning, but if there's appropriate mitigation funds in place to help those badly hit to stop them going into bankruptcy, I have no issue with it. Minor taxation rises, investment in infrastructure and the future, plugging some tax loopholes, and some sticking plasters over the NHS, social care, and the education sector. Better than anything Osborne ever came out with.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2017/03/08 15:50:02
You're probably tired of hearing this, and as always, I'm not having a go at you or anybody else, Ketara, but my initial reaction to this budget was
£90 million to fix potholes in the North of England's roads? Whoop tee do...
An ambitious billion pound plan to boost rail, road, and air transport links between Newcastle/Glasgow/Edinburgh (Tartan triangle) which included boosting port facilities in this region to help with post Brexit trade, would have been something to write home about.
That's one example, but as always, we get tinkering at the edges, no plan, and a government that thinks and acts as though they're running a branch of RBS in High Wycombe or some other small English town.
No plan, no ambition, business as usual, same old Tories...
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote: You're probably tired of hearing this, and as always, I'm not having a go at you or anybody else, Ketara, but my initial reaction to this budget was
They don't call him 'Spreadsheet Phil' for nothing.
At the end of the day, the operational deficit is still shrinking, the country seems to be chugging along, and there's a serious bung in there on social care (something which has really needed addressing for far too long with such an increase in dementia). It's not ambitious, it's not groundbreaking. But.....still better than what Osborne kept putting out.
I don't see an issue with placeholding right now whilst Brexit is ticking along. I also approve of the fact that they seem willing to grapple, if only to a minor extent, with tax evasions and rises. All in all? Could be far worse.
Meanwhile, Corbyn's objections are as vapid as ever. He's complaining that there's nothing in there to improve the standard of living ( a suitably vague phrase if I ever heard one).
I agree with the sentiment on closing tax loopholes. Its not right that small business owners are being hit with a tax hike (so high in some cases that its threatening to drive people out of business) whilst big Corporations like Starbucks and Amazon get to continue lying about the revenue they make here.
Didn't Trump recently promise a new policy to force companies to pay tax in the country they do business in, instead of shuffling their profits to a tax haven country?
Didn't Trump recently promise a new policy to force companies to pay tax in the country they do business in, instead of shuffling their profits to a tax haven country?
If he did then I doubt he meant it. I don't think anyone will doubt that Trump's businesses aren't paying their fair share of taxes, just like the person whose name they have adopted.
The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win. 2) You cannot break even. 3) You cannot stop playing the game.
Colonel Flagg wrote:You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb. But you've met your match in me.
Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote: You're probably tired of hearing this, and as always, I'm not having a go at you or anybody else, Ketara, but my initial reaction to this budget was
They don't call him 'Spreadsheet Phil' for nothing.
At the end of the day, the operational deficit is still shrinking, the country seems to be chugging along, and there's a serious bung in there on social care (something which has really needed addressing for far too long with such an increase in dementia). It's not ambitious, it's not groundbreaking. But.....still better than what Osborne kept putting out.
I don't see an issue with placeholding right now whilst Brexit is ticking along. I also approve of the fact that they seem willing to grapple, if only to a minor extent, with tax evasions and rises. All in all? Could be far worse.
Meanwhile, Corbyn's objections are as vapid as ever. He's complaining that there's nothing in there to improve the standard of living ( a suitably vague phrase if I ever heard one).
Unfortunately the pain is in the detail. They've focussed on the headline figures (though I see they prefer to hammer the low income self employed people rather than increase the rate above £43k, but then this is the Tory party, so I'm not surprised) but comparing 2016 budget expenditure forecast to 2017 budget forecast by department for the 2019/20 (note its not aggregated, just these year budgets) we have (its 2016 figures first then 2017 figures then the relative change to the departments budget - and note everything is in £billions):-
Defence - 30.0 / 29.0 (-1.0) (3% effective cut in Defence)
Single Intelligence Account (GCHQ?) - 2.2 / 2.0 (-0.2)
Home Office - 10.6 / 10.7 (+0.1)
Foreign and Commonwealth Office - 1.0 / 1.3 (+0.3) Small increase, more money to send Boris the Bozo Clown to places so out the way he can't cause (too much) any damage.... International Development - 10.4 / 9.1 (-1.3) Big screw you to the developing nations
Health - 124.1 / 123.2 (-0.9) Again given the "we're spending more money on the NHS", the overall budget is going to go down 0.75% compared to the 2016 budget
Work and Pensions - 5.4 / 5.4 (0)
Education - 57.7 / 62.7 (+5) - Note that Education is now getting all levels of education whereas before Universities/higher education fell under Business Innovation and Skills
Department of Business etc - 11.5 / 1.7 (-9.8) - As above but the overall decrease is greater than the increase. We can surmise that overall education funding is going down but the exact amount is unclear.
Transport - 1.8 / 1.7 (-0.1)
Exiting the EU Department and International Trade are new (effectively combined they are +0.4)
Culture Media and Sport -1.1 / 1.5 (0.4) Hurrah an increase, maybe to help the Tory propaganda machine?
DCLG Communities - 1.2 / 2.2 (+1.0) Social Care but note below
DCLG Local Government - 6.2 / 5.4 (-0.8) That's another 13% savings on top of what they already have. Robbing Peter to pay Paul for Social care. Local Authorities effectively will have to cut more service to pay for it whilst the handouts (bribes if you want) are controlled by DCLG (cough, Surrey, cough)
Scotland - 26.7 / 13.2 (-13.5) It should be noted powers are being devolved so it's unclear whether this is realistic and how this will feed in. Fully expect this to blow up at some point
Wales - 13.4 / 13.5 (+0.1) Small increase
NI -10.0 / 10.0 (0)
Justice - 5.7 / 6.0 (+0.3) More prison officers I assume?
Law Officers - 0.5 / 0.5 (0)
DEFRA - 1.4 / 1.4 (0)
HMRC - 2.9 / 2.9 (0)
Cabinet Office - 0.6 / 0.2 (-0.4) May to fire everyone except herself as she is the only one she listens to (and god apparently who doesn't need to be paid)? Small and Independent Bodies - 1.5 / 1.3 (-0.2) Not sure who this impacts, could be Charities for example.
Reserves - 4.2 / 7.5 (3.3) - I guess this is for when leaving the EU actually impacts the finances or protection against it?
Unaccounted for savings - 3.5 / 3.5 (0) - No change but it still means there are £3.5 billion of savings to be found.
So to summarise. Transport items are capex costs and aren't part of the above analysis.
Most departments are getting more budget squeezes. Those really being hammered are the Foreign Aid, NHS, Defence and Education / BIS (depending on the split). The supposed increases are in effect just smoke and mirrors whilst they move money around and calling them increases on specific projects (whilst others areas are being cut).
It's just more cuts and taxes for the lower paid - but then this is the Tory party. It's just a shame that Corbyn is in too much of a shambles to notice this. The NHS reduction in itself pretty shocking given this winters issues. However services are more than likely to suffer because of it
"Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. " - V
I've just supported the Permanent European Union Citizenship initiative. Please do the same and spread the word!
"It's not a problem if you don't look up." - Dakka's approach to politics
So a 5th century Welsh king, the actual last king of Wales was Llywelyn the last in the 13th century. History clearly isn't his strong suite.
There are heaps of people who could claim some kind of claim to the throne from a genealogical perspective, not least the decedents of the deposed Stuart kings, but the succession of the British monarchy is fixed by an act of parliament. Relevent link
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2017/03/09 07:39:01
so who is winning the contest to appear most disingenuous: Tories claiming no manifesto promise broken, or Labour opposing a tax rise ?
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
£500m set aside for 'Technical' Education, already nicknamed T-Levels.
That could prove very important for the UK. Currently our education system is entirely geared toward academia. Which is great if that's your natural aptitude. But for those who are more hands-on, not so great. This is shown in our need to import skilled labour, such as plumbers, electricians, carpenters etc - we're just not teaching our own how to do that.
I just hope it's not a lip service 'experiment' to be pointed to in years to come as a proof of failure, but the start of a wider education system which caters to all sorts of preferred learning.
I mean, imagine someone who wants to be a chippie. You can teach them theoretical maths all day long, and they won't necessarily care. But, show them how angles and Pythagorean theory shows up in construction and woodwork etc, and you're far more likely to take interest, no? The same can be applied to most manual work - a good understanding of maths will ensure measurements are more accurate, electrical loads are better distributed - all sorts.
Guess now we just have to wait and see - though I expect the fruits of that labour may be some time in coming.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/09 10:44:01
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
I remember in High School, it turned out that not enough people had bothered signing up for GCSE Electronics, so the handful of people who had done, including myself, got lumped elsewhere. Electronics was simply dumped for those who took double science in my year.
The only electrical stuff we touched after that was learning how to rewire a plug, in Physics.
Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. 'My Lord,' The great knight said distantly, 'I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offence against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possibly that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?' - Mimbrate Knight Protector Mandorallen.
Excerpt from "Seeress of Kell", Book Five of The Malloreon series by David Eddings.
"You need not fear us, unless you are a dark heart, a vile one who preys on the innocent; I promise, you can’t hide forever in the empty darkness, for we will hunt you down like the animals you are, and pull you into the very bowels of hell." Iron - Within Temptation
Nigel Farage Just Visited The Ecuadorian Embassy In London
Asked by BuzzFeed News if he’d been visiting Julian Assange, the former UKIP leader said he couldn’t remember what he’d been doing in the building.
Nigel Farage visited the Ecuadorian embassy in west London on Thursday, where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been living since he claimed asylum in 2012.
The former UKIP leader spent around 40 minutes in the building and left at noon, accompanied by an aide.
Approached by BuzzFeed News as he left to get into a car waiting round the corner, Farage said he couldn’t remember what he was doing in the building.
Asked specifically if he had gone to the Knightsbridge building to meet with Assange, Farage said: “I never discuss where I go or who I see”.
Ecuador granted Assange asylum almost five years ago to prevent him being deported to Sweden to be questioned over sexual assault allegations. The Wikileaks founder has been stranded there ever since, with British police keeping the building under close surveillance.
There are no known links between Farage and Assange. However, Assange was seen as pro-Donald Trump during and after the US election, and Farage has grown close to the American president, and visited the White House last month.
The Ecuadorian embassy refused to comment.
hmm .
... well that's one way to avoid those pesky email trails.
oh yeah :
Spoiler:
Spoiler:
Spoiler:
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/09 14:38:49
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
£500m set aside for 'Technical' Education, already nicknamed T-Levels.
That could prove very important for the UK. Currently our education system is entirely geared toward academia. Which is great if that's your natural aptitude. But for those who are more hands-on, not so great. This is shown in our need to import skilled labour, such as plumbers, electricians, carpenters etc - we're just not teaching our own how to do that.
Such qualifications already exist. They are called NVQs this is just rebranding rather than anything else. To quote the governments own website:-
NVQs are a 'competence-based' qualification, which means you learn practical, work-related tasks designed to help you develop the skills and knowledge to do a job effectively. Taking an NVQ could be suitable if you already have skills and want to improve them, or if you are starting from scratch.
NVQs are available to adults and young people. There are five levels ranging from Level 1, which focuses on basic work activities, to Level 5 for senior management. You can take NVQs if you:
•are employed
•are studying at FE college and have a part-time job
•are completing an apprenticeship
•are at school
Rather than reinvent something that already exists maybe they would be better just to invest and advertise the current system better?
It's a general fallacy that by providing these facilities we won't need migrants to do some of this work. We already have a system to train people in these skills (otherwise we wouldn't have any). The real question is why so many people are choosing not to do them...Just inventing another type of course will not solve this issue.
"Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. " - V
I've just supported the Permanent European Union Citizenship initiative. Please do the same and spread the word!
"It's not a problem if you don't look up." - Dakka's approach to politics
hell!
Big screw you to the developing nations
?
