Because of the difficult decisions which the coalition government has made on public spending, it has been possible to protect spending on the NHS and create a Cancer Drugs Fund which is helping tens of thousands of people get lifesaving cancer treatment.
Through the fund, we are making £1 billion available to help thousands of patients access cancer drugs recommended by their doctors. So far over 44,000 patients have benefited from this.
As this latest research shows, we have seen significant improvements in some cancer survival rates, with new and innovative research and earlier diagnosis at the heart of this upward trend. We share Cancer Research UK’s aspirations for the UK to be the best place in the world to survive cancer
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
HS2 Bill given second reading
A new North-South rail line is a vital part of our long-term economic plan for Britain.
Without HS2 our railways will be full by the mid-2020s – we need to build this extra capacity now. And it is important to make sure the new North-South railway uses the latest technology that Britain's competitors use - high speed.
The jobs of the future depend on infrastructure fit for the future.
A new North-South railway will be a foundation stone upon which businesses across the country can grow, compete and create jobs – and provide greater financial security for families. Parliament’s clear commitment last night is another important step in making this vision a reality.
On the rebel amendment which was defeated:
Of course there are concerns for some who live very close to the HS2 route. There are others who are worried about the cost of the scheme, and others who are worried about whether this is the right scheme to do enough to help the North.
We will never get everything perfectly right, but it is essential to get better and more modern North-South links if the whole nation is to share in Britain's prosperity.
By co-incidence, the second reading of the HS2 bill took place on the day I was attending a training course in London, having travelled down by train the previous evening. My train south had been 75 minutes late due to a broken rail near Motherwell, as were most trains south from Glasgow and North West England that evening. Scores of people were left waiting at stations for more than an hour and arrived at out destinations at unsocial hours.
My train home yesterday was also delayed, this time by half an hour. So journeys which should have given a total travel time door to door of about 12 hours were extended by around two hours and I arrived after 11pm on both nights.
So I don't have too much difficulty seeing the case for a modernised, faster, and more reliable train network!
By working together it should be possible to ensure this vital new north-south railway is designed in the right way to minimise environmental problems. I welcome the commitment to have spades in the ground by 2017 (that date again!) as planned.
Without HS2 our railways will be full by the mid-2020s – we need to build this extra capacity now. And it is important to make sure the new North-South railway uses the latest technology that Britain's competitors use - high speed.
The jobs of the future depend on infrastructure fit for the future.
A new North-South railway will be a foundation stone upon which businesses across the country can grow, compete and create jobs – and provide greater financial security for families. Parliament’s clear commitment last night is another important step in making this vision a reality.
On the rebel amendment which was defeated:
Of course there are concerns for some who live very close to the HS2 route. There are others who are worried about the cost of the scheme, and others who are worried about whether this is the right scheme to do enough to help the North.
We will never get everything perfectly right, but it is essential to get better and more modern North-South links if the whole nation is to share in Britain's prosperity.
By co-incidence, the second reading of the HS2 bill took place on the day I was attending a training course in London, having travelled down by train the previous evening. My train south had been 75 minutes late due to a broken rail near Motherwell, as were most trains south from Glasgow and North West England that evening. Scores of people were left waiting at stations for more than an hour and arrived at out destinations at unsocial hours.
My train home yesterday was also delayed, this time by half an hour. So journeys which should have given a total travel time door to door of about 12 hours were extended by around two hours and I arrived after 11pm on both nights.
So I don't have too much difficulty seeing the case for a modernised, faster, and more reliable train network!
By working together it should be possible to ensure this vital new north-south railway is designed in the right way to minimise environmental problems. I welcome the commitment to have spades in the ground by 2017 (that date again!) as planned.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Outlook for economy "Strong and broad-based" says CBI
The outlook for the economy over the next three months is ‘exceptionally strong and broad-based’ according to the employers’ organisation, the CBI.
The latest figures are very good news – and are compelling evidence that our long-term economic plan is working. Businesses up and down the country are increasingly confident about the future. That means more investment, more jobs.
There is still much more we need to do to build a resilient economy with more exports, more building, more investment – and more manufacturing too.
Our long-term economic plan is creating more jobs, so that more families are able to enjoy greater economic security and the prospect of a brighter future, and is building a stronger, more competitive economy that will secure a better future for Britain.
The latest figures are very good news – and are compelling evidence that our long-term economic plan is working. Businesses up and down the country are increasingly confident about the future. That means more investment, more jobs.
There is still much more we need to do to build a resilient economy with more exports, more building, more investment – and more manufacturing too.
Our long-term economic plan is creating more jobs, so that more families are able to enjoy greater economic security and the prospect of a brighter future, and is building a stronger, more competitive economy that will secure a better future for Britain.
Quote of the day 29th April 2014
"Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it forgoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury."
( E.H. Chaplin)
( E.H. Chaplin)
Monday, April 28, 2014
Quote of the day 28th April 2014
“My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus."
(Stephen Hawking)
(Stephen Hawking)
Sunday, April 27, 2014
The Most Dangerous Myth in Britain today
There are a lot of contenders for the title of the most dangerous myth in Britain today
Dangerous Myth number one is the idea that as soon as the economy recovers Britain can return to the levels of spending in the final years of the last Labour government.
We can't, and we won't be able to do that no matter who wins the next election. Gordon Brown doubled the national debt. That debt is still there and we are paying a terrifying amount of interest on it. Which would be even higher if interest rates were not at what is historically an exceptionally low level.
To put it in context, even at these low interest rates the cost of interest payments every year on the debts inherited from Gordon Brown's debt is double Britain's defence budget. As the economy recovers further and it is necessary to raise interest rates to encourage the savings which are essential if people are to be able to provide for their pensions and give businesses the money to invest, that cost will get even higher - in a couple of years the cost of servicing Gordon Brown's debts will probably be more than the entire Education and Home office budgets put together.
With that kind of burden no government is going to be able to reverse the coalition's cuts unless they take equally savage measures to cut something else or put taxes through the ceiling.
Yes we are making progress, but after nearly four years of tough and painful measures have been taken to deal with this situation, what we have acheived so far is to avoid a complete financial meltdown, get the economy growing again, and sharply reduce the absolute rate at which nominal public debt is going up.
Dangerous Myth number two is that you can close the gap in the nations finances by "soaking the rich."
Even Blair and Brown, whatever their other faults, knew that won't work, which is why they didn't do it except for the entirely token 50% top rate at the very end of their time in power. There just are not enough rich people, and they're very good at taking their money out of countries which are about to adopt penal rates of tax. Do you know what happened to the share of government revenue coming from the richest 1% of society when Mrs Thatcher slashed the top rate of tax from 98 pence in the pound to 40%?
The share and amount of money paid by the very rich INCREASED enormously when Mrs Thatcher slashed taxes from penal levels
Dangerous Myth number three is that there is some easy answer to these problems.
There isn't. Those Kippers and BOO people who think that quitting Europe will solve everything overnight, Federalists who think more Europe is the answer, Anti-Globalisation types who think an economic "Little England" policy and the end of trade and capitalism will be the magic wand that solves all our problems, any SNP supporters who imagine that an independent Scotland will be vastly better off and English Nationalists thinking that an independent Scotland will make England vastly better off - anyone who believes any of those things is living in cloud cuckoo land.
Magic wands only exist in fairy tales.
But I think the most dangerous myth of all is the idea that all political parties, or even all the three main ones, are the same.
Anyone who thinks this, or who imagines that labels like "LibLabCon" reflect a helpful way of thinking about British politics, would be well advised to read this week's Spectator Magazine and particularly Frazer Nelson's article advertised on the front cover,
Old Labour: New Danger
Despite the humorous reference to perhaps the least successful Conservative campaign slogan of all time, Frazer Nelson makes a very strong argument that Miliband's Labour party is about to offer Britain the most radical left-wing programme put before the British electorate since 1983, if then.
The sort of programme which Chris Mullin thought might inspire "A very British Coup." A programme which by comparison makes Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan look like Tory wets, Gordon Brown look like Margaret Thatcher, and Tony Blair look like a fascist.
If you're the sort of person who thinks that all the mainstream parties are far too right wing, Miliband is offering you the best chance you are likely to get in your lifetime of seeing a programme much closer to your beliefs attempted.
If you, like me, think that a hard-left programme has no chance of surviving a collision with reality but that the damage which might be done in the attempt to make it work would be enormous, you cannot afford to assume that Miliband has no hope of winning.
With half the voters the Lib/Dems had at the last election currently supporting Labour, with the boundary changes which should have reduced the bias of the electoral system to Labour defeated following a daft spat over the House of Lords, and with the electorate more volatile than ever, Miliband might win a majority with a third of the votes cast in a general election.
Whenever there is an election people say the present election is a particularly important one. 2015 might be one of the times they are right.
Dangerous Myth number one is the idea that as soon as the economy recovers Britain can return to the levels of spending in the final years of the last Labour government.
We can't, and we won't be able to do that no matter who wins the next election. Gordon Brown doubled the national debt. That debt is still there and we are paying a terrifying amount of interest on it. Which would be even higher if interest rates were not at what is historically an exceptionally low level.
To put it in context, even at these low interest rates the cost of interest payments every year on the debts inherited from Gordon Brown's debt is double Britain's defence budget. As the economy recovers further and it is necessary to raise interest rates to encourage the savings which are essential if people are to be able to provide for their pensions and give businesses the money to invest, that cost will get even higher - in a couple of years the cost of servicing Gordon Brown's debts will probably be more than the entire Education and Home office budgets put together.
With that kind of burden no government is going to be able to reverse the coalition's cuts unless they take equally savage measures to cut something else or put taxes through the ceiling.
Yes we are making progress, but after nearly four years of tough and painful measures have been taken to deal with this situation, what we have acheived so far is to avoid a complete financial meltdown, get the economy growing again, and sharply reduce the absolute rate at which nominal public debt is going up.
Dangerous Myth number two is that you can close the gap in the nations finances by "soaking the rich."
Even Blair and Brown, whatever their other faults, knew that won't work, which is why they didn't do it except for the entirely token 50% top rate at the very end of their time in power. There just are not enough rich people, and they're very good at taking their money out of countries which are about to adopt penal rates of tax. Do you know what happened to the share of government revenue coming from the richest 1% of society when Mrs Thatcher slashed the top rate of tax from 98 pence in the pound to 40%?
The share and amount of money paid by the very rich INCREASED enormously when Mrs Thatcher slashed taxes from penal levels
Dangerous Myth number three is that there is some easy answer to these problems.
There isn't. Those Kippers and BOO people who think that quitting Europe will solve everything overnight, Federalists who think more Europe is the answer, Anti-Globalisation types who think an economic "Little England" policy and the end of trade and capitalism will be the magic wand that solves all our problems, any SNP supporters who imagine that an independent Scotland will be vastly better off and English Nationalists thinking that an independent Scotland will make England vastly better off - anyone who believes any of those things is living in cloud cuckoo land.
Magic wands only exist in fairy tales.
But I think the most dangerous myth of all is the idea that all political parties, or even all the three main ones, are the same.
Anyone who thinks this, or who imagines that labels like "LibLabCon" reflect a helpful way of thinking about British politics, would be well advised to read this week's Spectator Magazine and particularly Frazer Nelson's article advertised on the front cover,
Old Labour: New Danger
Despite the humorous reference to perhaps the least successful Conservative campaign slogan of all time, Frazer Nelson makes a very strong argument that Miliband's Labour party is about to offer Britain the most radical left-wing programme put before the British electorate since 1983, if then.
The sort of programme which Chris Mullin thought might inspire "A very British Coup." A programme which by comparison makes Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan look like Tory wets, Gordon Brown look like Margaret Thatcher, and Tony Blair look like a fascist.
If you're the sort of person who thinks that all the mainstream parties are far too right wing, Miliband is offering you the best chance you are likely to get in your lifetime of seeing a programme much closer to your beliefs attempted.
If you, like me, think that a hard-left programme has no chance of surviving a collision with reality but that the damage which might be done in the attempt to make it work would be enormous, you cannot afford to assume that Miliband has no hope of winning.
With half the voters the Lib/Dems had at the last election currently supporting Labour, with the boundary changes which should have reduced the bias of the electoral system to Labour defeated following a daft spat over the House of Lords, and with the electorate more volatile than ever, Miliband might win a majority with a third of the votes cast in a general election.
Whenever there is an election people say the present election is a particularly important one. 2015 might be one of the times they are right.
Quote of the day 27th April 2014
"At a time when democratic politicans are more unpopular than they have ever been in my lifetime, and respectable newspapers are speculating how much better off we might be without them, it is worth being reminded that all of the alternatives are far, far worse."
(Francis Beckett, concluding sentence of a review in this month's BBC History magazine of Archie Brown's book The Myth of the Strong Leader.)
(Francis Beckett, concluding sentence of a review in this month's BBC History magazine of Archie Brown's book The Myth of the Strong Leader.)
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Bringing the church into disrepute
I am certain that very little damage was done to Christianity or the established church by the rather silly letter to the Daily Telegraph organised by the British Humanist Association which I blogged about a few days ago and was effectively answered by Bishop Nazir-Ali here, by several non-christians here, by some distinguished academics here, and by the Archbishop of Canterbury here.
Fifty letters like that do less damage to the church than one act of stupidity or injustice by the church itself, or an individual chuch, can do.
Or an act of stupidity and injustice such as registering to use an outmoded Tudor law giving some churches the right to claim "Chancel Repair Liability" from householders who may be nothing to do with the church concerned.
I am not against the community providing support to religious organisations which are contributing to the cultural or social fabric of society where the funds are voted for in an open and transparent way by elected representatives meeting in public who are willing to be accountable for their actions. Indeed, as a councillor in the past I supported grants from public funds being provided to St Albans Cathedral and other churches in both St Albans and Copeland where those churches were providing a valuable service to the whole of society.
But it is one thing for councils to use taxpayers' money in that way where the elected members who will be accountable to voters for that decision at the next local poll are willing to explain openly to those voters why they think the community is getting something worthwhile for their money. It is another matter entirely for churches to use a law passed under Henry VIII, nearly 500 years ago when the role of the church was utterly different, to make householders pay for repairs to church buildings even when they may live miles away and never have visited the church concerned.
The present government has rightly passed legislation to ensure that "Chancel Repair Liability" can only be enforced when it has been registered with the Land Registry. Of more than 5,000 churches wbicb could have registered the right to claim this charge only about 5% - around 250 parishes - have done so. But that is 250 too many.
We need to find a way of addressing the problem of maintaining historic churches which are part of our nation's cultural heritage, but Chancel Repair Liability isn't it. Considering how unreasonable this charge appears to me as a devout Anglican who isn't personally affected by it, I shudder to think how it appears to unbelievers, members of other faiths, and people who are.
This sort of thing does far more harm to the church than Professors Richard Dawkins and Jim Al-Khalil and all their like minded friends put together have done in their entire lives.
It is not a practical possibilty to untie this particular knot this side of the next general election - when you start to repeal laws which are hundreds of years old you hae to work through all the implications carefully because you don't usually know when you start what all the knock-on implications will be - but I hope that the next government, whoever the electorate may return in 2015, will after appropriate discussions with all interested parties find a fair and reasonable way to abolish Chancel Repair Liability.
Fifty letters like that do less damage to the church than one act of stupidity or injustice by the church itself, or an individual chuch, can do.
Or an act of stupidity and injustice such as registering to use an outmoded Tudor law giving some churches the right to claim "Chancel Repair Liability" from householders who may be nothing to do with the church concerned.
I am not against the community providing support to religious organisations which are contributing to the cultural or social fabric of society where the funds are voted for in an open and transparent way by elected representatives meeting in public who are willing to be accountable for their actions. Indeed, as a councillor in the past I supported grants from public funds being provided to St Albans Cathedral and other churches in both St Albans and Copeland where those churches were providing a valuable service to the whole of society.
But it is one thing for councils to use taxpayers' money in that way where the elected members who will be accountable to voters for that decision at the next local poll are willing to explain openly to those voters why they think the community is getting something worthwhile for their money. It is another matter entirely for churches to use a law passed under Henry VIII, nearly 500 years ago when the role of the church was utterly different, to make householders pay for repairs to church buildings even when they may live miles away and never have visited the church concerned.
The present government has rightly passed legislation to ensure that "Chancel Repair Liability" can only be enforced when it has been registered with the Land Registry. Of more than 5,000 churches wbicb could have registered the right to claim this charge only about 5% - around 250 parishes - have done so. But that is 250 too many.
We need to find a way of addressing the problem of maintaining historic churches which are part of our nation's cultural heritage, but Chancel Repair Liability isn't it. Considering how unreasonable this charge appears to me as a devout Anglican who isn't personally affected by it, I shudder to think how it appears to unbelievers, members of other faiths, and people who are.
This sort of thing does far more harm to the church than Professors Richard Dawkins and Jim Al-Khalil and all their like minded friends put together have done in their entire lives.
It is not a practical possibilty to untie this particular knot this side of the next general election - when you start to repeal laws which are hundreds of years old you hae to work through all the implications carefully because you don't usually know when you start what all the knock-on implications will be - but I hope that the next government, whoever the electorate may return in 2015, will after appropriate discussions with all interested parties find a fair and reasonable way to abolish Chancel Repair Liability.
Pots and Kettles two
There was a story in the Independent this week, which had obviously come from Labour spinners, about how the Labour party are preparing to defend themselves during what they expect to be a very nasty election during which Labour will be smeared by the "Tory Press" (If there still is such a thing).
Have they forgotten which governing party did more smearing than anyone else in recent history?
Which government was it who employed Damien McBride at the taxpayers' expense to invent smears about the private lives of Conservative politicians and their wives?
Which government accused a pensioner in her nineties, Rose Addis, of being a racist when she expressed concerns about the care she was getting from the NHS?
Which government started digging up dirt on a group of rail crash survivors and victims' families, asking "are they Tories?"
Hint: It wasn't the Conservatives.
Or the Lib/Dems.
Have they forgotten which governing party did more smearing than anyone else in recent history?
Which government was it who employed Damien McBride at the taxpayers' expense to invent smears about the private lives of Conservative politicians and their wives?
Which government accused a pensioner in her nineties, Rose Addis, of being a racist when she expressed concerns about the care she was getting from the NHS?
Which government started digging up dirt on a group of rail crash survivors and victims' families, asking "are they Tories?"
Hint: It wasn't the Conservatives.
Or the Lib/Dems.
Pots and Kettles one
In a magazine interview this week Nigel Farage accused David Cameron of standing for nothing
This from the man who scrapped his party's entire previous manifesto and policy positions in two minutes during a "Daily Politics" TV interview with Andrew Neil in January, and said they would be replaced after the European elections ...
This from the man who scrapped his party's entire previous manifesto and policy positions in two minutes during a "Daily Politics" TV interview with Andrew Neil in January, and said they would be replaced after the European elections ...
Quote of the day 26th April 2014
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
( Mahatma Gandhi )
( Mahatma Gandhi )
Quote of the day 25th April 2014
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
( Lao Tzu )
( Lao Tzu )
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Quote of the day 24th April 2014
“It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err."
( Mahatma Gandhi )
( Mahatma Gandhi )
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Quote of the day 23rd April 2014
“The one difference between death and taxes is that death does not get worse every time Congress meets.”
(This quote has been attributed to a several people including Jeffrey Fry and Will Rogers)
(This quote has been attributed to a several people including Jeffrey Fry and Will Rogers)
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Quote of the day 22nd April 2014
“... economists recognize that, other things equal, cuts in tax rates reduce tax revenues in percentage terms by less than the tax-rate reductions. Similarly, tax-rate increases do not raise tax revenues by as much in percentage terms as the tax-rate increases. This is true because changes in marginal tax rates alter taxpayer behavior and thus affect taxable income.”
( Campbell R. McConnell, Loose-Leaf Economics )
( Campbell R. McConnell, Loose-Leaf Economics )
Monday, April 21, 2014
On Religious Toleration
Britain is, and has been for many years a tolerant country in which people can hold and express whatever beliefs they like about religion and anything else, so long as they do not express their views in a manner which amounts to incitement to violence.
Britain is also a country whose culture and heritage has been immensely shaped by Christianity and in which, according to the last Gallop poll, 59% of residents describe themselves as Christian. In that sense describing Britain as a christian country is a statement of the obvious, though most christian churches would be the first to point out that in the sense of living up to the values taught by Jesus most of us have a very long way to go before we could make such a claim.
When the Prime Minister made a recent speech encouraging Christians to have confidence in their beliefs he was very careful to emphasise that he was not "doing down" other religions or saying that it was wrong to follow another faith or to have no faith at all.
His comments certainly do not appear to have offended people of faiths other than Christianity. Farook Murad, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said nobody could deny that the UK remains a largely Christian country with "deep historical and structural links" to Christianity. He added that the UK would be stronger by recognising and celebrating people of multiple faiths and of no faith "living in harmony" - a comment which I certainly have no problem with and I'm sure David Cameron would not either.
Anil Bhanot of the Hindu Council UK said he was "very comfortable" with the recognition of the UK as a Christian country and added that many Hindu people in this country enjoy celebrating Christmas and Easter.
It is, unfortunately, not entirely unknown for British politicians to make an issue of their faith in a divisive way, but I honestly can't see how a reasonable person who had listened to DC's speech would have thought that is what he was doing.
So I was disappointed and surprised that the British Humanist Association decided to cause an entirely unnecessary row by organising a letter to the Daily Telegraph alleging that the PM's speech was likely to "foster alienation and division" and needlessly fuel "enervating sectarian debates".
Comparing the comment threads on reports of what the PM actually had to say with those of the reports on the British Humanist Association's letter to the Telegraph, it seems to me that the people who have just done rather more to foster sectarian debates are the BHA and the signatories to their letter.
The late Cardinal Hume once said that "Since we are all mde in the image of God, and we are all different, each person can tell me something about the nature of God which nobody else can."
That is why religious believers should respect the views of people of other faiths and of none. But it is not an argument for refusing to be open and honest about their faith.
And you know what? The same principle can be stood on it's head and applied from a humanist perspective. How about "Since we all live in this Universe, and we are all different, each person can tell me something about this Universe which nobody else can."
Perhaps a message for this Easter is, let us celebrate our own faiths and beliefs without feeling the need to attack those of others.
Britain is also a country whose culture and heritage has been immensely shaped by Christianity and in which, according to the last Gallop poll, 59% of residents describe themselves as Christian. In that sense describing Britain as a christian country is a statement of the obvious, though most christian churches would be the first to point out that in the sense of living up to the values taught by Jesus most of us have a very long way to go before we could make such a claim.
When the Prime Minister made a recent speech encouraging Christians to have confidence in their beliefs he was very careful to emphasise that he was not "doing down" other religions or saying that it was wrong to follow another faith or to have no faith at all.
His comments certainly do not appear to have offended people of faiths other than Christianity. Farook Murad, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said nobody could deny that the UK remains a largely Christian country with "deep historical and structural links" to Christianity. He added that the UK would be stronger by recognising and celebrating people of multiple faiths and of no faith "living in harmony" - a comment which I certainly have no problem with and I'm sure David Cameron would not either.
Anil Bhanot of the Hindu Council UK said he was "very comfortable" with the recognition of the UK as a Christian country and added that many Hindu people in this country enjoy celebrating Christmas and Easter.
It is, unfortunately, not entirely unknown for British politicians to make an issue of their faith in a divisive way, but I honestly can't see how a reasonable person who had listened to DC's speech would have thought that is what he was doing.
So I was disappointed and surprised that the British Humanist Association decided to cause an entirely unnecessary row by organising a letter to the Daily Telegraph alleging that the PM's speech was likely to "foster alienation and division" and needlessly fuel "enervating sectarian debates".
Comparing the comment threads on reports of what the PM actually had to say with those of the reports on the British Humanist Association's letter to the Telegraph, it seems to me that the people who have just done rather more to foster sectarian debates are the BHA and the signatories to their letter.
The late Cardinal Hume once said that "Since we are all mde in the image of God, and we are all different, each person can tell me something about the nature of God which nobody else can."
That is why religious believers should respect the views of people of other faiths and of none. But it is not an argument for refusing to be open and honest about their faith.
And you know what? The same principle can be stood on it's head and applied from a humanist perspective. How about "Since we all live in this Universe, and we are all different, each person can tell me something about this Universe which nobody else can."
Perhaps a message for this Easter is, let us celebrate our own faiths and beliefs without feeling the need to attack those of others.
What a lovely day
Up until about a firtnight ago, this year's weather was usually wet, cold and monotonous. I recall joking to someone at the end of March that the month had come in like a lion and gone out like one (rather than like a lamb.) We have had a few isolated nice days in the first half of April mixed with cold grey ones.
However, it is as if someone had told the elements that now it is Easter the sun could come out. Today is another absolutely Glorious day - like summer already.
I hope, whereever you are, that you are enjoying it.
However, it is as if someone had told the elements that now it is Easter the sun could come out. Today is another absolutely Glorious day - like summer already.
I hope, whereever you are, that you are enjoying it.
Quote of the day 21st April 2014
“It's not rocket science. Hong Kong has 95% tax compliance, because it's code is only 4 pages long with a 15% flat tax.”
( Ziad K. Abdelnour, Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics )
( Ziad K. Abdelnour, Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics )
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Happy Easter
A very happy Easter to everyone reading this. If you have a religious faith, may your God be with you this weekend. If you don't, enjoy the holiday.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Views on the European Election
There are some interesting views on the European election in this Oxford Times article comparing the position of candidates for all the major parties.
The Conservative quoted is Marta Andreassen, who was fired for telling the truth about the EU while she was working as a European Auditor, became a UKIP member of the European parliament but is now a Conservative MEP and candidate.
The Conservative quoted is Marta Andreassen, who was fired for telling the truth about the EU while she was working as a European Auditor, became a UKIP member of the European parliament but is now a Conservative MEP and candidate.
Quote of the Day 19th April 2014
"A few years ago, California politicians seized control of electric rates. They held rates down, but the true cost of energy kept rising. Soon the electric company went bust; the lights went out. Consumers had to pay for the mess."
(From a TV advert put out by "CORE" e.g. "Consumers Organised forReliable Electricity" and funded by a power company - the ad was drafted by the agency ASK, in which the A stands for Axelrod. That's David Axelrod, who has just been recruited to help with Labour's election campaign to elect as PM one Ed Miliband - who is advocating exactly the same energy price policy this ad was attacking.)
(From a TV advert put out by "CORE" e.g. "Consumers Organised forReliable Electricity" and funded by a power company - the ad was drafted by the agency ASK, in which the A stands for Axelrod. That's David Axelrod, who has just been recruited to help with Labour's election campaign to elect as PM one Ed Miliband - who is advocating exactly the same energy price policy this ad was attacking.)
Friday, April 18, 2014
Miliband's new adviser and Energy Policy
It would appear that the former Obama campaign strategist and "astroturfing" expert David Axelrod, who has just been hired by Ed Miliband to help advise on Labour's campaign, has previously worked on a campaign in which his clients had a better understanding of Energy policy than the former Energy secretary does ...
Hat tip to Oliver Cooper via Twitter (@OliverCooper) for drawing my attention to this article whicn mentions that Mr Axelrod previously ran a campaign arguing that freezing energy prices could lead to blackouts.
The agency in which Mr Axelrod is one of the three main partners arranged for a "consumer" group organised by his client to put out a message which included the following statement "
A few years ago, California politicians seized control of electric rates. They held rates down, but the true cost of energy kept rising. Soon the electric company went bust; the lights went out. Consumers had to pay for the mess. Now, some people in Illinois are playing the same game."
And so, of course is Mr Alexrod's new client, Ed Miliband.
Whether or not David Axelrod actually believes what his agnecy put out out, I certainly do.
What's more, whoever drafted this appears to understand the distinction between the price of energy and it's cost. Which is more that can be said, if you judge by his recent comments in the House of Commons, for Ed Miliband when he appeared to suggest it was the same thing to have a government imposing a price freeze while leaving costs unchanged (his policy) and the government reducing the upward pressure on energy prices by reducing the costs it imposes on energy companies (which is what the coalition government had done.)
Let's hope Mr Axelrod gets the change to give the same advice to Mr Miliband that he was paid to give in America.
Hat tip to Oliver Cooper via Twitter (@OliverCooper) for drawing my attention to this article whicn mentions that Mr Axelrod previously ran a campaign arguing that freezing energy prices could lead to blackouts.
The agency in which Mr Axelrod is one of the three main partners arranged for a "consumer" group organised by his client to put out a message which included the following statement "
A few years ago, California politicians seized control of electric rates. They held rates down, but the true cost of energy kept rising. Soon the electric company went bust; the lights went out. Consumers had to pay for the mess. Now, some people in Illinois are playing the same game."
And so, of course is Mr Alexrod's new client, Ed Miliband.
Whether or not David Axelrod actually believes what his agnecy put out out, I certainly do.
What's more, whoever drafted this appears to understand the distinction between the price of energy and it's cost. Which is more that can be said, if you judge by his recent comments in the House of Commons, for Ed Miliband when he appeared to suggest it was the same thing to have a government imposing a price freeze while leaving costs unchanged (his policy) and the government reducing the upward pressure on energy prices by reducing the costs it imposes on energy companies (which is what the coalition government had done.)
Let's hope Mr Axelrod gets the change to give the same advice to Mr Miliband that he was paid to give in America.
Good Friday
Today Christians remember something unusual, though not otherwise entirely unknown for religious believers, in that they commemorate the execution of their God.
Regardless of whether you believe Jesus was the incarnate son of God or just a human being, the story of his trial and execution is an incredibly dramatic one which seems in some ways remarkably relevant to our own age.
It is a story of courage and cowardice, of constancy and betrayal, of political and religious rivalry (the by-play between Pilate and Herod is particularly fascinating) of a tolerant faith against a fanatical one, of national unrest against an established regime, and a story in which people's principles are put to the test and all but one of them comes up short.
The Good Friday story does not make for comfortable reading for Christians or anyone else. Partly because most of us on hearing the story instinctively put themselves in the place of one of the protagonists and ask "What would I have done?" And the greater the self-knowledge that we have, the less likely it is that we will like the answer.
Regardless of whether you believe Jesus was the incarnate son of God or just a human being, the story of his trial and execution is an incredibly dramatic one which seems in some ways remarkably relevant to our own age.
It is a story of courage and cowardice, of constancy and betrayal, of political and religious rivalry (the by-play between Pilate and Herod is particularly fascinating) of a tolerant faith against a fanatical one, of national unrest against an established regime, and a story in which people's principles are put to the test and all but one of them comes up short.
The Good Friday story does not make for comfortable reading for Christians or anyone else. Partly because most of us on hearing the story instinctively put themselves in the place of one of the protagonists and ask "What would I have done?" And the greater the self-knowledge that we have, the less likely it is that we will like the answer.
I hope she wasn't a Maths teacher ...
Hat tip to Greg Hurst on Twitter for pointing out the following quote from Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, at an NUT press conference:
"Of every five new teachers two leave the profession after five years. That's quite a lot, that's 20% leaving ..."
Regardless of whether she was a Maths teacher I'm glad Ms Blower isn't teaching my kids!
"Of every five new teachers two leave the profession after five years. That's quite a lot, that's 20% leaving ..."
Regardless of whether she was a Maths teacher I'm glad Ms Blower isn't teaching my kids!
Quote of the day for Good Friday 18th April 2014
“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
(Martin Luther King Jr.)
(Martin Luther King Jr.)
Thursday, April 17, 2014
UK Unemployment falls below 7%
The number of people out of work in
the UK has fallen by 77,000 to a five-year low of 2.24m in the three months to
February, official figures indicate.
The unemployment rate now stands at 6.9% of the adult working population according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
This means that the unemployment rate has fallen below the threshold at which the Bank of England said last August it would consider raising interest rates under its policy of forward guidance. However, this does not necessarily men there sill be an increase this month from the current historic low rate of 0.5%.
This news comes as it has also been reported that Average earnings in the three months to February grew 1.7% compared with a year earlier, while CPI inflation was recorded to have fallen to 1.6% in March. It is the first time since the spring of 2010 that the increase in average wages has exceeded the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation.
It is also the first time since the recession that unemployment has fallen below 7%.
David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, told the BBC that the latest ONS figures demonstrated the resilience and flexibility of the UK labour market.
But he added: "Concerns do persist, however. The youth unemployment rate is still much too high at 19.1% and, while long-term unemployment is falling, more than 800,000 people have been unemployed for more than a year.
"These concerns aside, it is clear that the recovery is on the right track. To consolidate this, it is important that we see measures to increase productivity and firmer action on youth and long-term unemployment.
"Improved access to finance, incentives to recruit apprentices, and support for export and investment will go some way to achieving this."
Quote of the day 17th April 2014
“Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.”
( David Ben-Gurion )
( David Ben-Gurion )
Inflation falls again
UK inflation as measured by the change in the Consumer Prices Index compared with 12 months previously fell again in March, to 1.6% in the year to March, from 1.7% in the year to February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It is the third consecutive month inflation has been below the Bank of England's 2% target rate, and the lowest rate since October 2009.
The largest contribution to the fall in the rate came from petrol prices.
Inflation as measured by the change in the older RPI measure (Retail Prices Index) also fell, to 2.5% in the year to March compared with from 2.7% in the year to February.
It is the third consecutive month inflation has been below the Bank of England's 2% target rate, and the lowest rate since October 2009.
The largest contribution to the fall in the rate came from petrol prices.
Inflation as measured by the change in the older RPI measure (Retail Prices Index) also fell, to 2.5% in the year to March compared with from 2.7% in the year to February.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Quote of the day 16th April 2014
The penultimate paragraph in the set of quotes below has appeared as a quote of the day before on this blog , and probably will again, as a particularly significant and rare example of a Labour Prime minister talking sense - from a man who, for all the faults of his government, had ten times the understanding both of what it is like to be born into a working class family and of how the economics of the real world works that Ed Miliband will ever have.
This is a series of quotes from the speech James Callaghan gave as Leader of the Labour Party to that party's conference in 1976 and it is astonishing how many of the things he said appear so very relevant nearly forty years later.
"Britain has lived for too long on borrowed time, borrowed money, borrowed ideas." ...
"For too long, perhaps ever since the war, we postponed facing up to fundamental choices and fundamental changes in our society and in our economy. That is what I mean when I say we have been living on borrowed time." ...
"The cosy world we were told would go on for ever, where full employment would be guaranteed by a stroke of the Chancellor’s pen, cutting taxes, deficit spending, that cosy world is gone." ...
"When we reject unemployment as an economic instrument - as we do - and when we reject also superficial remedies, as socialists must, then we must ask ourselves unflinchingly what is the cause of high unemployment. Quite simply and unequivocally, it is caused by paying ourselves more than the value of what we produce. There are no scapegoats. This is as true in a mixed economy under a Labour Government as it is under capitalism or under communism. It is an absolute fact of life which no Government, be it left or right, can alter." ...
"We used to think that you could spend your way out of a recession, and increase employment by cutting taxes and boosting Government spending. I tell you in all candour that that option no longer exists, and that in so far as it ever did exist, it only worked on each occasion since the war by injecting a bigger dose of inflation into the economy, followed by a higher level of unemployment as the next step." ...
"That is the history of the last 20 years. Each time we did this the twin evils of unemployment and inflation have hit hardest those least able to stand them. Not those with the strongest bargaining power, no, it has not hit those. It has hit the poor, the old and the sick."
This is a series of quotes from the speech James Callaghan gave as Leader of the Labour Party to that party's conference in 1976 and it is astonishing how many of the things he said appear so very relevant nearly forty years later.
"Britain has lived for too long on borrowed time, borrowed money, borrowed ideas." ...
"For too long, perhaps ever since the war, we postponed facing up to fundamental choices and fundamental changes in our society and in our economy. That is what I mean when I say we have been living on borrowed time." ...
"The cosy world we were told would go on for ever, where full employment would be guaranteed by a stroke of the Chancellor’s pen, cutting taxes, deficit spending, that cosy world is gone." ...
"When we reject unemployment as an economic instrument - as we do - and when we reject also superficial remedies, as socialists must, then we must ask ourselves unflinchingly what is the cause of high unemployment. Quite simply and unequivocally, it is caused by paying ourselves more than the value of what we produce. There are no scapegoats. This is as true in a mixed economy under a Labour Government as it is under capitalism or under communism. It is an absolute fact of life which no Government, be it left or right, can alter." ...
"We used to think that you could spend your way out of a recession, and increase employment by cutting taxes and boosting Government spending. I tell you in all candour that that option no longer exists, and that in so far as it ever did exist, it only worked on each occasion since the war by injecting a bigger dose of inflation into the economy, followed by a higher level of unemployment as the next step." ...
"That is the history of the last 20 years. Each time we did this the twin evils of unemployment and inflation have hit hardest those least able to stand them. Not those with the strongest bargaining power, no, it has not hit those. It has hit the poor, the old and the sick."
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Quote of the day 15th April 2014
“Being faithful in the smallest things is the way to gain, maintain, and demonstrate the strength needed to accomplish something great.”
( Alex Harris )
( Alex Harris )
Monday, April 14, 2014
Quote of the day 14th April 2014
“Helen Keller became deaf, dumb, and blind shortly after birth. Despite her greatest misfortune, she has written her name indelibly in the pages of the history of the great. Her entire life has served as evidence that no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as reality.”
( Napoleon Hill )
( Napoleon Hill )
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Quote of the day 13th April 2014
I have been unable to validate or confrm the author of the quote below and it took me a while even to find a definitive statement regarding the accuracy of the saying on which it is based, namely that the Great Wall of China is the only manmade object which can be seen from the moon.
It turns out that the theory that theGreat Wall of China is visible from the moon dates back to at least 1938, e.g. 38 years before any men landed on the moon and might have been able to check.
NASA believes that it would be extremely difficult.to see the Great Wall from the moon but that it is possible with some difficulty to see and photograph it from Earth Orbit, and have proved that it is definately possible to detect it from orbit using Radar.
The quote I wanted to use refers to this saying, and I have to depend entirely on my memory, which may be fallible, both for the words and for the attribution to the famous economist John Kenneth Galbraith.
"It is hard to see why anyone would bother when, with almost the same difficulty, it can be viewed from China."
It turns out that the theory that theGreat Wall of China is visible from the moon dates back to at least 1938, e.g. 38 years before any men landed on the moon and might have been able to check.
NASA believes that it would be extremely difficult.to see the Great Wall from the moon but that it is possible with some difficulty to see and photograph it from Earth Orbit, and have proved that it is definately possible to detect it from orbit using Radar.
The quote I wanted to use refers to this saying, and I have to depend entirely on my memory, which may be fallible, both for the words and for the attribution to the famous economist John Kenneth Galbraith.
"It is hard to see why anyone would bother when, with almost the same difficulty, it can be viewed from China."
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Thoughts on a scandal
It is essential that all politicians of all parties should act with the highest standards of integrity and probity, and be seen to do so.
Sadly there have been some people in all political parties who have failed to do so and each party has a responsibility to do something about it, espeically with regard to their own members.
It is unacceptable that the impression has been created that MPs can get away with things which would result in anyone else gong to jail. Of course five MPs (all Labour) actually have gone to prison over fraudulent expenses claims. So should anyone else, of whatever party, who commits a crime for which someone who is not a politician would have been jailed.
Given the need to avoid creating the impression that the political class thnks it is above the rules, I thought it was right that Maria Miller resigned, and I am pleased that she is giving her pay-off to charity.
However, I have a question for those journalists and Labour politicians who are accusing David Cameron of an error of judgement in not throwing her to the wolves at the first sign of trouble.
Were you also one of those who criticised him for not immediately sacking Andrew Mitchell when he was accused of calling police oficers "plebs" ?
Or were you one of those who subsequently criticised David Cameron for accepting Mitchell's resignation?
That would be after Michael Crick demonstrated that the only published account of what happened at the Downing Street gates critical of Andrew Mitchell which is consistent with the evidence in the public domain is what Mitchell himself admitted to and apologised for, and also that some police officers - one of whom has subsequently been convicted of this offence and given a prison sentence for it, another dismissed for gross misconduct - had lied in an attempt to discredit Mitchell.
Sometimes there is smoke without fire, and even when the right decision is that one of your colleagues should go it is not necessary a mistake to take some time to think about whether sacking them is the right thing to do, or a miscarriage of justice, before taking the decision.
I was most amused by a piece in the Telegraph by Dan Hodges, titled "Labour's response to Maria Miller's resignation is an embarrassing incoherent shambles" in which he points out that
"According to Labour it is a disgrace an Asian man now has responsibility for equalities issues. And it is a disgrace the Conservative minister for women now answers to a man, even though she always has, and even though Labour’s women’s minister answers to a man, and always has.
It’s a disgrace there aren’t any mothers in the cabinet. And it’s also a disgrace that a mother has been promoted to attend the cabinet as women’s minister, because she didn’t vote for gay marriage.
And the person who’s been sent out to say all this is Labour’s shadow women’s minister, who also isn’t a mother, and has said categorically she doesn’t want to be a mother.
And Labour has the front to say David Cameron has made a mess of the Maria Miller affair."
You can read Dan's full article here.
Sadly there have been some people in all political parties who have failed to do so and each party has a responsibility to do something about it, espeically with regard to their own members.
It is unacceptable that the impression has been created that MPs can get away with things which would result in anyone else gong to jail. Of course five MPs (all Labour) actually have gone to prison over fraudulent expenses claims. So should anyone else, of whatever party, who commits a crime for which someone who is not a politician would have been jailed.
Given the need to avoid creating the impression that the political class thnks it is above the rules, I thought it was right that Maria Miller resigned, and I am pleased that she is giving her pay-off to charity.
However, I have a question for those journalists and Labour politicians who are accusing David Cameron of an error of judgement in not throwing her to the wolves at the first sign of trouble.
Were you also one of those who criticised him for not immediately sacking Andrew Mitchell when he was accused of calling police oficers "plebs" ?
Or were you one of those who subsequently criticised David Cameron for accepting Mitchell's resignation?
That would be after Michael Crick demonstrated that the only published account of what happened at the Downing Street gates critical of Andrew Mitchell which is consistent with the evidence in the public domain is what Mitchell himself admitted to and apologised for, and also that some police officers - one of whom has subsequently been convicted of this offence and given a prison sentence for it, another dismissed for gross misconduct - had lied in an attempt to discredit Mitchell.
Sometimes there is smoke without fire, and even when the right decision is that one of your colleagues should go it is not necessary a mistake to take some time to think about whether sacking them is the right thing to do, or a miscarriage of justice, before taking the decision.
I was most amused by a piece in the Telegraph by Dan Hodges, titled "Labour's response to Maria Miller's resignation is an embarrassing incoherent shambles" in which he points out that
"According to Labour it is a disgrace an Asian man now has responsibility for equalities issues. And it is a disgrace the Conservative minister for women now answers to a man, even though she always has, and even though Labour’s women’s minister answers to a man, and always has.
It’s a disgrace there aren’t any mothers in the cabinet. And it’s also a disgrace that a mother has been promoted to attend the cabinet as women’s minister, because she didn’t vote for gay marriage.
And the person who’s been sent out to say all this is Labour’s shadow women’s minister, who also isn’t a mother, and has said categorically she doesn’t want to be a mother.
And Labour has the front to say David Cameron has made a mess of the Maria Miller affair."
You can read Dan's full article here.
Quote of the day 12th April 2014
"Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being
a camel."
(G.K. Chesterton, "Orthodoxy")
(G.K. Chesterton, "Orthodoxy")
Friday, April 11, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Quote of the day 10th April 2014
"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. "
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Quote of the day 9th April 2014
"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise
and thinking that having problems is a problem."
(Theodore Rubin)
(Theodore Rubin)
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Jail for metal thieves
Those who have visited this blog in the past will be aware tht I regard metal theft of one of the curses of modern society and have been a strong supporter of effective action against the gangs and the people who buy stolen metal from them.
So I was pleased to see the ringleader or a major metal theft gang, who operated on what was described as an "industrial scale," and three of his associates given prison terms.
So I was pleased to see the ringleader or a major metal theft gang, who operated on what was described as an "industrial scale," and three of his associates given prison terms.
Birmingham Crown Court heard how the conspiracy was uncovered in June 2011 when West Mercia Police, assisted by BT, began investigating the activities of 48-year-old Gary Kitchin.
It was discovered that, despite not working or claiming benefits, Kitchin had more than £120,000 in various accounts, a mortgage-free property in Ledbury, Herefordshire, a part share in a property in Weymouth and an apartment in Spain.
Kitchin was found to be organising the theft of infrastructure cable belonging to utility companies in several Midlands counties which he sold on to scrap dealers across the region. Between October 2010 and July 2011, he was paid a very large amount in cash from one Gloucestershire dealer alone, the majority of the proceeds coming from stolen copper cable.
The court heard how during this period he recruited a workforce to extract miles of redundant BT underground cable at night using a 4x4 vehicle. Remnants of sheathing from BT cabling, together with copper cable and tools, were found at an address at Welland, Worcestershire.
Following evidence provided to the court by BT, all the defendants eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal.
Kitchin was sentenced to 38 months imprisonment for conspiracy to steal and 12 months to be served concurrently for money laundering. A hearing is scheduled for later this year to retrieve assets from him under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Other gang members appearing with Kitchin were Simon Beardsley, 49, who was sentenced to 28 months imprisonment; Gareth Spooner, 30, who was sentenced to 27 months; and Alex Carr, 29, who was sentenced to 18 months.
Kevin Brown, BT Security general manager for corporate investigations, said: “BT has worked closely with West Mercia Police on this investigation, providing intelligence and evidence to assist with the police’s operation. We use many security measures to tackle cable crime and supporting police force visits to scrap metal dealers. We will continue to work with police and do everything possible to catch cable theft criminals.”
Quote of the day 8th April 2014
"The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back."
(Anon)
(Anon)
Monday, April 07, 2014
Quote of the day 7th April 2014
"Things are never so bad they can't be made worse."
(Line from the film "The African Queen" based on the book by C.S. Forester)
(Line from the film "The African Queen" based on the book by C.S. Forester)
Sunday, April 06, 2014
Osborne on supporting small businesses ...
Chancellor George Osborne writes:
Today marks another important step in our long-term economic plan to build a stronger economy and secure Britain's future.
   
George Osborne
|
Quote of the day 6th April 2014
"For thirty years now, in times of stress and strain, when something has me
backed against the wall and I'm ready to do something really stupid with my
anger, a sorrowful face appears in my mind and asks... "Problem or
inconvenience?" I think of this as the Wollman Test of Reality. Life is lumpy.
And a lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat, and a lump in the breast are
not the same lump. One should learn the difference. "
(Robert Fulghum, "Uh-Oh")
(Robert Fulghum, "Uh-Oh")
Saturday, April 05, 2014
DC writes: the Income tax calculator
The Prime Minister writes:
More money in your pocket, more financial security for you and your family.
As part of our long-term economic plan, we're cutting income tax for over 25 million people - and lifting 3.2 million out of income tax altogether.
From Sunday night, the tax-free personal allowance will increase to £10,000 - meaning you'll pay less tax and keep more of the money you earn. Use our quick income tax calculator today to find out how much you'll save this year.
This has only been possible because of the consistent action we've taken to cut the deficit.
So we need to let people know that the difficult decisions are paying off. Share the link to our income tax calculator with everyone you know so they can see how much they'll save: http://incometaxcut.conservatives.com/
Forward it to your friends and family, share it on Facebook and Twitter - let everyone know that the Conservatives are cutting income tax and helping hardworking people be more financially secure.
Thanks,
David Cameron
Quote of the day 5th April 2014
"If
you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire—then
you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience. Life is
inconvenient. Life is lumpy. Learn to separate the inconveniences from
the real problems. You will live longer. "
(Sigmund Wollman, quoted by Robert Fulghum in "Uh-Oh")
(Sigmund Wollman, quoted by Robert Fulghum in "Uh-Oh")
Friday, April 04, 2014
Vote Farage - get Clegg ?
One of the most ironic aspects of the Farage/Clegg debate was pointed out by Mike Smithson - a former Lib/Dem PPC who now runs the hugely informative "Political Betting" website - in a post called
"They'll never admit it publicly but LD chances of retaining seats against the Tories rely a lot on UKIP doing well."
In many seats there is a risk that voters might, to coin a phrase, "Vote Farage, get Miliband"
But in Tory/Lib-Dem margins, they might find that it's "Vote Nigel, get Nick."
So the huge irony is that Nigel Farage's percieved win against Nick Clegg in the debate might actually help the pro-EU Lib/Dems win more seats.
Let's just hope voters have more sense than to allow this to happen.
"They'll never admit it publicly but LD chances of retaining seats against the Tories rely a lot on UKIP doing well."
In many seats there is a risk that voters might, to coin a phrase, "Vote Farage, get Miliband"
But in Tory/Lib-Dem margins, they might find that it's "Vote Nigel, get Nick."
So the huge irony is that Nigel Farage's percieved win against Nick Clegg in the debate might actually help the pro-EU Lib/Dems win more seats.
Let's just hope voters have more sense than to allow this to happen.
Quote of the day 4th April 2014
"The healthy and strong individual is the one who asks for help
when he needs it. Whether he's got an abscess on his knee or in his soul. "
(Rona Barrett)
(Rona Barrett)
Thursday, April 03, 2014
DC on West Cumberland Hospital
The Prime Minister was asked at PMQs yesterday about the West Cumberland Hospital. This was his reply (Source: They Work For You website, which took it from Hansard)
David Cameron (The Prime Minister; Witney, Conservative)
"The hon. Gentleman is right to say that I saw for myself what an excellent job this hospital does and how important it is. The clinical commissioning group total revenue available this year is an increase of 2.3%—£663 million. That is because this Government decided to protect NHS spending and not cut it, and that is why important hospital developments can go ahead."
Ten thousand new jobs head economic news
The Prime Minister will today announce the creation of 10,000 new jobs by businesses in Britain
A key part of our long-term economic plan is to create more jobs - so more people have the security of a pay cheque and are able to provide for their families.
So today we’re delighted to announce nearly 10,000 new jobs in businesses across the country, from Vodafone to Birmingham Airport. This is proof that our plan is working – the fundamentals are being fixed with firms expanding and taking people on.
Now we need to keep the momentum up and this week sees another boost for jobs with a number of tax changes coming into effect. Corporation tax is being cut again. Business rates are being reformed. And this weekend employer National Insurance contributions are going to be cut by £2,000. We’re proud to be making these changes as we take another step in the long but vital road of securing Britain’s future.
Tax changes coming into effect this week:
On 1st April:
· Corporation tax was cut by 2 per cent to 21 per cent. It has fallen from 28 per cent in 2010 and will fall further to 20 per cent in April 2015, making it the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7.
· Taxes on business investment were virtually abolished for most businesses. The annual investment allowance has now been doubled to £500,000, and has been extended by a further year to December 2015. This means 99.8 per cent of businesses could pay no tax on investment.
· Business rates were reformed so that:
o The annual increase is now capped at two per cent;
o The small business rates relief has been extended for a further year, so that over half a million of the smallest businesses pay reduced rates and over a third of a million pay no rates at all; and
o Targeted help for the high street in the form of a £1,000 discount for retail properties takes effect, benefitting around 300,000 shops, pubs and restaurants
· Fuel duty has been frozen again.
On Sunday:
· The income tax-free personal allowance increases to £10,000. 26 million taxpayers will benefit, with a further 200,000 taken out of paying income tax altogether. From April, typical basic rate taxpayers will have gained by £705 from all increases announced by this Government. Three million people on low incomes will be taken out of income tax altogether.
· Employer National Insurance Contributions will be cut by up to £2,000. This new Employment Allowance will benefit over one and a quarter million employers, over 90 per cent of them small businesses. 400,000 small businesses will no longer pay employer National Insurance at all.
A Guardian view - is the left "trapped in the past?"
One usually expeets to find articles putting the case that the Left "Owns the Future" and the Right is "trapped in the past" in left-wing papers like the Guardian and arguments suggesting that the Conservatives are the party of the future and the left stuck in the past in more right-wing publications like the Spectator or the Telegraph.
But yesterday there was an interesting piece by John Harris in the Guardian expressing the fear (from his point of view) that
The Tories own the Future: The Left is trapped in the past.
The sub-heading reads
"Too many progressives remain wedded to nationalisation, the big state and jobs for life. If they can't find a more modern vision the battle is lost"
He argues that
"What underlines the sense that Tories are on an upswing is the fact that they, and the right more widely, have come up with a solid vision of the future, and may yet persuade a sufficient share of the public to buy in."
To put his summary of the right's case in more positive language than Harris does without shifting the essential meaning, the idea is to work out what qualities and behaviours will help Britain survive and prosper as we face the challenges of the coming decades and try to reward them. He goes on:
"And the left? Another lesson of history is that Labour wins when it does a good impression of owning the future – witness 1945, 1964 and 1997. On a bad day, though, it can feel like many of the people at the top of the party want to return to some mushy, statist version of social democracy redolent of 1993. Others seem to wish it was still 2006. And too much of the wider left is still rattling out the battles of the 1980s. The academic and Lib Dem peer Ralf Dahrendorf famously said that the SDP wanted "a better yesterday": the same is true of 90% of the left, not just here, but all over Europe, and beyond."
Harris argues that
"Two decades on there is still too much truth to the contention made in the "New Times" issue of Marxism Today, published in October 1988: "It is the right that now appears modern, radical, innovative … It is the left that seems backward-looking, conservative, bereft of new ideas and out of time."
"This runs much wider than the Labour party, out into the people and organisations who think of themselves as "radical", but usually fall short.
Listen to their current noises off, as they demand "a massive house-building programme", or the renationalisation of the railways.
The venerable Ken Loach suggests their task is to belatedly make the Labour manifesto of 1945 "into a reality".
The left's causes – greater equality, a public realm as distinct from the private market, security in an insecure world – are as urgent as ever, but this kind of politics stands no chance of advancing them."
Whether you agree with him or not -and obviously I don't share his politics but even if some of his conclusions were not helpful to my side of the argument, I think Harris makes interesting and useful points about how right and left alike need to adapt to a changing world - you can read the full article here.
But yesterday there was an interesting piece by John Harris in the Guardian expressing the fear (from his point of view) that
The Tories own the Future: The Left is trapped in the past.
The sub-heading reads
"Too many progressives remain wedded to nationalisation, the big state and jobs for life. If they can't find a more modern vision the battle is lost"
He argues that
"What underlines the sense that Tories are on an upswing is the fact that they, and the right more widely, have come up with a solid vision of the future, and may yet persuade a sufficient share of the public to buy in."
To put his summary of the right's case in more positive language than Harris does without shifting the essential meaning, the idea is to work out what qualities and behaviours will help Britain survive and prosper as we face the challenges of the coming decades and try to reward them. He goes on:
"And the left? Another lesson of history is that Labour wins when it does a good impression of owning the future – witness 1945, 1964 and 1997. On a bad day, though, it can feel like many of the people at the top of the party want to return to some mushy, statist version of social democracy redolent of 1993. Others seem to wish it was still 2006. And too much of the wider left is still rattling out the battles of the 1980s. The academic and Lib Dem peer Ralf Dahrendorf famously said that the SDP wanted "a better yesterday": the same is true of 90% of the left, not just here, but all over Europe, and beyond."
Harris argues that
"Two decades on there is still too much truth to the contention made in the "New Times" issue of Marxism Today, published in October 1988: "It is the right that now appears modern, radical, innovative … It is the left that seems backward-looking, conservative, bereft of new ideas and out of time."
"This runs much wider than the Labour party, out into the people and organisations who think of themselves as "radical", but usually fall short.
Listen to their current noises off, as they demand "a massive house-building programme", or the renationalisation of the railways.
The venerable Ken Loach suggests their task is to belatedly make the Labour manifesto of 1945 "into a reality".
The left's causes – greater equality, a public realm as distinct from the private market, security in an insecure world – are as urgent as ever, but this kind of politics stands no chance of advancing them."
Whether you agree with him or not -and obviously I don't share his politics but even if some of his conclusions were not helpful to my side of the argument, I think Harris makes interesting and useful points about how right and left alike need to adapt to a changing world - you can read the full article here.
Quote of the day 3rd April 2014
"The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work."
(Harry Golden)
(Harry Golden)
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Treasury Minister Sajid Javid writes - Please watch this short flm
Income tax - cut. The jobs tax - cut. Corporation tax - cut. Fuel duty - frozen.
Thanks,
Sajid Javid MP
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
A use for Roman numerals ...
You would not think that in the 21st century the old Roman numeral sytem, which is incredibly clunky and inefficient compared with arabic numbers, would have any real use outside of history and archaeology.
Guess agan.
I was using an online payment system today which is run on behalf of one of the organisations with I have regular dealings. Despite being one of the less user-friendly computer systems I deal with, it is still massively more convenient than making a round trip of at least an hour and a half to visit the organisation in person and much quicker than posting a cheque.
But boy is it user-unfriendly at times.
This morning I had to decide on a "nickname" for something. I wanted to include a date in the nickname so I could identify the most recent one.
No deal - the system did not accept numbers.
Then my wife said "Why not try using Roman numerals?" And it worked.
Extraordinary irony that a modern internet-based system will accept an inefficient numbering system which is well over 2,000 years old and has been obsolete for more than a thousand of them, but not the one we use in everyday life.
Guess agan.
I was using an online payment system today which is run on behalf of one of the organisations with I have regular dealings. Despite being one of the less user-friendly computer systems I deal with, it is still massively more convenient than making a round trip of at least an hour and a half to visit the organisation in person and much quicker than posting a cheque.
But boy is it user-unfriendly at times.
This morning I had to decide on a "nickname" for something. I wanted to include a date in the nickname so I could identify the most recent one.
No deal - the system did not accept numbers.
Then my wife said "Why not try using Roman numerals?" And it worked.
Extraordinary irony that a modern internet-based system will accept an inefficient numbering system which is well over 2,000 years old and has been obsolete for more than a thousand of them, but not the one we use in everyday life.
Quote of the day 2nd April 2014
"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't
trust me so much."
(Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
(Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
UKIP MEP's to defect?
Rumours were sweeping Brussels this morning that almost all the remaining UKIP members of the European Parliament who had not already been expelled, resigned, gone to prison, or joined the Conserative party were about to defect en masse to the Conservatives.
UKIP has already suffered an astonishing number of losses from the MEPs elected in 2009 no less than 45% of them have gone - six out of thirteen.
The record is:
Nikki Sinclaire (expelled),
David Campbell-Bannerman (defected to the Tories),
Mike Nattrass (de-selected and then resigned),
Trevor Coleman (quit UKIP’s European grouping)
Marta Andreasen (defected to the Tories)
Godfrey Bllom (lost the whip after calling a roomful of UKIP ladies "sluts")
And when UKIP MEPs don't defect, the independent VoteWatch Europe website found that UKIP members of the European Parliament have the worst attendance and voting records of any political party from any country. (Footnote)
Now the Brussels rumour mill suggests that UKIP's remaining MEPS with the exception of the leader himself are about to jump ship to the tories too.
"UKIP policy doesn't allow us to cast our votes to fight for Britain's interests," said one of the defectors. "It's time for a change."
"UKIP can't deliver a referendum to give the Britsih people a say about Europe. Labour and the Lib/Dems don't want to. Only the Conservatives can and will - so vote Conservative!"
By the way, you do know what day it is, don't you? (This post was put up on the first of April.)
Footnote - amazingly, the list above about MEPS who have already quit UKIP's delegation in the European parliament isn't an April fool. Nor is the Vote Watch Europea report.
UKIP has already suffered an astonishing number of losses from the MEPs elected in 2009 no less than 45% of them have gone - six out of thirteen.
The record is:
Nikki Sinclaire (expelled),
David Campbell-Bannerman (defected to the Tories),
Mike Nattrass (de-selected and then resigned),
Trevor Coleman (quit UKIP’s European grouping)
Marta Andreasen (defected to the Tories)
Godfrey Bllom (lost the whip after calling a roomful of UKIP ladies "sluts")
And when UKIP MEPs don't defect, the independent VoteWatch Europe website found that UKIP members of the European Parliament have the worst attendance and voting records of any political party from any country. (Footnote)
Now the Brussels rumour mill suggests that UKIP's remaining MEPS with the exception of the leader himself are about to jump ship to the tories too.
"UKIP policy doesn't allow us to cast our votes to fight for Britain's interests," said one of the defectors. "It's time for a change."
"UKIP can't deliver a referendum to give the Britsih people a say about Europe. Labour and the Lib/Dems don't want to. Only the Conservatives can and will - so vote Conservative!"
By the way, you do know what day it is, don't you? (This post was put up on the first of April.)
Footnote - amazingly, the list above about MEPS who have already quit UKIP's delegation in the European parliament isn't an April fool. Nor is the Vote Watch Europea report.
Quote of the day 1st April 2014
"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
( Winston Churchill )
( Winston Churchill )
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