Letwin: Apology for refusing assistance to black unemployed youths after 1985 riots is 30 years too late.

Embarrassing facts about Conservative Party bigwigs should be causing red faces in the party of the blue-bloods.

Oliver Letwin and David Willetts have been revealed to have advised the Thatcher government to carry out policies that harmed black unemployed young people in Britain’s inner cities and “pampered” Scots.

Margaret Thatcher is shown to have dragged her heels over the then-Conservative government’s reaction to AIDS in the mid-1980s, in the belief that concerns about “bad taste” should “limit wider distribution of precise explanations of which sexual practices were most likely to lead to HIV infection”.

It seems likely to This Writer that the people of Scotland, at least, may soon be howling for Mr Willetts’ blood after the revelation that he told Margaret Thatcher to starve Scotland of public funding.

David Cameron’s chief policy adviser has apologised after he helped to ward off cabinet pleas for assistance for black unemployed youth following the 1985 inner-city riots with the argument that any help would only end up in the “disco and drug trade”.

Oliver Letwin, then a young adviser in Margaret Thatcher’s Downing Street policy unit, played a decisive role along with her inner cities adviser, Hartley Booth, in rejecting demands from three cabinet members that assistance schemes be introduced in the aftermath of the Tottenham and Handsworth riots in 1985. On Tuesday night he said he apologised “unreservedly” for any offence caused by his comments.

Source: Oliver Letwin blocked help for black youth after 1985 riots | Politics | The Guardian

David Willetts (right): It’s all such a laugh for him

A former minister in David Cameron’s coalition government argued “pampered Scots” should face deep cuts in public spending when he advised Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

David Willetts, who served as universities minister until the general election in May, had told the then prime minister that Scotland was the “only juicy target” that had escaped her spending axe.

“Ultimately, the question is a political one. The position of the Conservative party in Scotland is so bad that it might not deteriorate any further. And the envious north of England might even welcome an attack on the pampered Scots over the border,” [Willetts told Thatcher in a secret paper dated 8 January 1986].

Source: ‘Pampered Scots’ should face deep cuts, David Willetts told Thatcher | UK news | The Guardian

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Microscope: George Osborne searches for signs his claims will come true.

Figures in last month’s autumn statement suggest the chancellor now has a 50/50 chance of getting the budget into surplus as promised by the end of the parliament.

In July, economists at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) put his prospects of making the target at 55% – suggesting they have slipped further in the past few months.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said: “The chancellor was probably hoping it was an early Christmas present that no one noticed the downgrading of the chance of him meeting his own self-imposed target, but it has been exposed for the gimmick it has always been.

“The truth is that even the OBR aren’t certain George Osborne will reach his surplus target, and have now said it is the equivalent in probability of a coin toss in coming true.”

Source: ‘Coin-toss chancellor’ Osborne’s 50/50 chance of meeting budget target | Business | The Guardian

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Lest we forget: This BBC article from 2011 shows how the Conservative Government has paid no respect to flood defence at all, from the very beginning of their time in office.

Note that projects in Leeds, York, Thirsk and Morpeth were “put on hold” – and now those places have been hit by floods, or threatened by them.

The government will spend £540m a year on flooding defences in England over the next four years – a cut of 8% from previous periods, the environment department has confirmed.

The money will go towards 108 projects already under construction and 187 schemes under consideration.

But projects in Leeds, York, Thirsk and Morpeth have been put on hold.

Environment Minister Richard Benyon disputed claims from Labour’s Mary Creagh that schemes had been cancelled.

Responding to an urgent question in the Commons tabled by Ms Creagh, he said better protection was being provided to more than 145,000 homes.

Source: Flood defence funding cut by 8% – BBC News

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Vast amounts of public money, running into billions, are spent every year on policies that make devastating floods inevitable. This is the story that has not been told by the papers or the broadcasters, a story of such destructive perversity that the Guardian has given me twice the usual space today in which to explain it.

Flood defence, or so we are told almost everywhere, is about how much concrete you can pour. It’s about not building houses in stupid places on the floodplain, and about using clever new engineering techniques to defend those already there. But that’s a small part of the story. To listen to the dismal debates of the past fortnight, you could be forgiven for believing that rivers arise in the plains; that there is no such thing as upstream; that mountains, hills, catchments and watersheds are irrelevant to the question of whether or not homes and infrastructure get drowned.

Read more and learn: Drowning in money: the untold story of the crazy public spending that makes flooding inevitable | George Monbiot | Opinion | The Guardian

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David Cameron, wading through floodwater in York and wearing his ‘serious’ face to talk to soldiers, rescue teams and volunteers. He won’t go near the general public.

“There are always lessons to be learned and I will make sure they are learned,” said David Cameron after severe flooding affected thousands of people across the country. But that was in February 2014, when the prime minister was visiting the submerged Somerset Levels. No systematic review of flood protection ever happened.

On Sunday, as terrible floods hit Yorkshire and Lancashire, Cameron said: “Whenever these things happen, you should look at what you spend, what you’ve built … clearly we should look again at whether there’s more we can do.”

Cameron cannot say he was not warned: he has ignored red flag after red flag, right from the start of his premiership. In the first year of the coalition, he cut capital spending on flood defences by 27% year-on-year. That was despite the 2008 Pitt Review – a systematic analysis of major floods in 2007 – concluding that much more funding was needed. Funding had risen quickly under the Labour government, only to be slashed by Cameron.

The prime minister himself had expressed the risks. “Most people accept that, with climate change, [floods] are likely to be more frequent,” he told parliament in May 2008, following flooding in his Oxfordshire constituency.

Flood defence spending never recovered to the level inherited from Labour during the whole coalition parliament, if you exclude – as the National Audit Office deems appropriate – the emergency funding delivered after flooding 2013-14.

Source: Flood defences row: UK paying price for David Cameron’s broken promises | Environment | The Guardian

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David Cameron was terrified of going on TV debates with Ed Miliband, despite describing the previous Labour leader as “Weak, weak, weak”. Can we expect any better, now that Jeremy Corbyn is challenging him to annual confrontations?

Mr Corbyn is turning up the pressure.

David Cameron ran away from the televised debates during the run-up to the 2015 general election, prompting many social media images associating him with a chicken (it seems the PR PM cannot get away from farmyard animals; he is now more popularly associated with pigs) – such as the image above.

Already on the back foot due to the Conservative Government’s pathetic handling of flood risk in the UK, it seems Cameron has been served notice that the remainder of his tenure in 10 Downing Street will not be comfortable.

Good.

Jeremy Corbyn has challenged David Cameron to take part in an annual, televised “state of the nation” debate between Britain’s national political leaders. The Labour leader told The Independent that he hoped the Prime Minister would sign up to a cross-party initiative to debate the dominant issues of the year and allow party leaders to be questioned by voters. He said that “no political leader should shrink from the chance to engage more fully with the public” and to “test their arguments in debate”.

Such an event, he added, would help the public to “engage more in politics in way that has been shown to be effective”. Labour sources suggested that, if such a debate had been held this year, topics for questions might have included Syrian air strikes, tax credits and the recent flooding in northern Britain.

The Independent approached the Scottish National Party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, and her Liberal Democrat counterpart, Tim Farron, to ask if they would participate. Both said they would endorse Mr Corbyn’s plan and take part in the debates if Mr Cameron agreed. Last night, a No 10 source said it would be prepared to “look at the formal details of any proposal”.

Mr Corbyn’s move comes after an academic study of the televised debates that took place during the last general election campaign found that they had an overwhelmingly positive effect on voter engagement.

Source: Jeremy Corbyn challenges David Cameron to annual TV debate | UK Politics | News | The Independent

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The dishonesty of a Conservative Government defies belief when it comes to benefit for the poor, funded by public money.

We have already worked out that the planned changes to Universal Credit will mean people will have to work an extra 200 hours, in order to maintain their income at the current rate.

Iain Duncan Smith’s goal has never been “making work pay”, as many previous articles on This Blog have shown, and the possibility of him being persuaded to revert to a 2009 plan are minimal.

And the fact that these findings are being publicised by Alan Milburn is no comfort. He was one of the right-wing Labour MPs who promoted private involvement in public services heavily – including the NHS. This Blog considers him to be an example of Tory entryism into the Labour Party.

He’ll probably end up saying the Tories should scrap social security altogether and give it to private insurance companies.

The Government’s advisers on child poverty have urged George Osborne to make a second welfare U-turn, to prevent his proposed cuts to in-work benefits destroying the incentive to work for millions of low-paid people.

Alan Milburn, who chairs the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, has joined those warning the Chancellor that his decision last month to scrap his £4.4bn of cuts in tax credits will merely postpone the impact on those who rely on state-funded wage top-ups. Mr Osborne is accused of implementing virtually identical cuts through the back door – via the phasing in of universal credit, which will merge six benefits including tax credits over the next few years. He has been warned he will be hurting people from low-income families who “do the right thing” by working hard.

Mr Milburn, a Labour former cabinet minister, told The Independent: “Without changes to universal credit, George Osborne’s welcome decision to reverse planned tax credit changes will merely defer the pain for many low-paid working families.

“As the economy strengthens, the Government should look to reverse cuts to universal credit so that this key welfare reform can improve work incentives. It should take the opportunity in 2016 to set out a timetable for doing so.”

The commission has warned Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, that his goal of “making work pay” may not now be delivered. In a report to ministers, the commission says: “Worse still, there is a risk that incentives to progress in work for many families could end up being worse than they were in the pre-2010 system.” It is worried that people will be deterred from working longer hours or moving to better-paid jobs.

The watchdog says ministers should implement Mr Duncan Smith’s original 2009 plan, which would allow people on universal credit to keep 45p of every extra £1 they earn, instead of 35p under the Government’s plans.

Source: Benefit cuts: George Osborne urged to make U-turn on universal credit | UK Politics | News | The Independent

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Was the Conservative Government not supposed to be bringing in the “biggest, boldest and most ambitious” scheme for house-building in a generation?

When is that going to happen, then?

After prices have risen again next year, so nobody who wants their own home will be able to afford it?

The percentage of young people in the UK who own their own home is at its joint lowest level since 1996, according to data obtained by Labour.

It suggests 44.9% of 20 to 30-year-olds are homeowners – the last time it fell to this level was in 2013.

It comes as economists predict strong property price growth in 2016.

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors expects prices to increase by around 6%, while rents will see a 3% annual rise.

The rises are being driven by demand for new homes outstripping supply, Rics said, with other experts predicting even bigger rises in certain property hotspots outside London.

Source: Young home ownership falls to record low, data suggests – BBC News

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There was a terrific tweet about the Conservative Government’s attitude to flooding, which This Writer can no longer find. It went something like this:

“HOW TO DEAL WITH THE FLOODS

“1. Lay a large bet that the Conservative Government will allow your house to flood again.

“2. Collect your winnings.

“3. Move house.”

This BBC story says David Cameron has visited flood-hit areas. You can also bet that it’s all he’ll do.

There needs to be a “complete rethink” of the UK’s flood defences following widespread flooding across northern England, the Environment Agency says.

Deputy chief executive David Rooke said better waterproofing of homes and improved warning systems would be vital for tackling future weather extremes.

Parts of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester are struggling with the aftermath of downpours that caused rivers to burst their banks.

The PM is visiting flood-hit areas.

Source: UK floods: ‘Complete rethink’ needed on flood defences – BBC News

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Who can blame him if he does?

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is planning to reshuffle his Shadow Cabinet in the first week of January – with aides pencilling in an announcement for as early as 4 January. Mr Corbyn wants to assert his authority by dismissing “disloyal” shadow ministers who have openly defied his leadership and questioned whether he will remain in the post until 2020.

He is understood to have made the “seismic” decision to move shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn, but will have to withstand furious resistance if he is to force it through. Defence spokeswoman Maria Eagle, her sister Angela – the shadow First Secretary of State – and the chief whip, Rosie Winterton, are also on the brink of being demoted.

Source: Jeremy Corbyn to dismiss ‘disloyal’ shadow ministers in New Year reshuffle | UK Politics | News | The Independent

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