Monthly Archives: November 2017

Government benefits squeeze confirms intent to shrink UK economy still further

Overbalancing: As the Tories continue to concentrate all the money in the top 10 per cent of earners, the UK economy will overbalance. We’re heading for another crash!

The minority Conservative government’s benefit freeze will take more than £300 out of working households’ budgets, meaning less cash to spend into the economy – which will shrink as a result.

The short-sighted move by narrow-minded Tory penny-pinchers means the UK’s economy will be contracting when the full effect of Brexit hits us – a phenomenon that is believed can only amplify the harm.

National economies work best when people at the lowest level of society receive enough money – not only to survive, but to spend on improvements to their homes and lives.

Poor families spend all their money into the economy, and the so-called “multiplier” effect means the cash adds several times its value to the national economy (depending on how it is spent) before it returns to the Treasury as tax.

In contrast, rich people spend only a fraction of their cash into the national economy and put the rest in their bank account – most probably in a tax haven, to ensure that the Treasury won’t receive the tax it is due and therefore starving the economy. Not only that, but huge tax cuts granted by the Tories since 2010 mean that the tax contribution by the rich has diminished significantly.

The whole process is part of the Tory “starve the beast” project described by This Writer a few days ago.

By depriving the poor of the money they need – simply to survive – the Tories are pushing millions of people towards deprivation and debt. There won’t be money available to pay the rent, to pay for cars or public transport, for heating, for food; there won’t be disposable income for luxury items.

Debt will proliferate, the economy will stall and crash – and then there won’t be any money for anyone.

The Tories don’t care because they don’t understand economics.

The Government has confirmed it will be freezing benefits until 2020 costing a typical working family around £300 per year.

Caroline Dinenage, a work and pensions minister, said the freeze for working age people who receive benefits will go on even as the state pension and some other benefits increase by three per cent, in line with inflation.

This will be a real terms cut in income of £315 a year for the typical working family with two children as the cost of living will eat further into their income, according to a report by the Resolution Foundation.

The freeze, which has been in place since 2015, has coincided with the longest fall in living standards in the past 60 years with the thinktank saying real disposable incomes are now to set to fall for 19 successive quarters.

In a report published before the budget, the foundation warned the freeze would worsen inequality which would take an average of £715 away from the poorest third of households whereas the richest third looks set to gain £185 from other tax breaks.

Some will see the cut partially offset by the increase in minimum wage, which will go up to £7.83 per hour from April, but many will still feel the squeeze as the Treasury hopes to save £1.9bn over the next year.

Source: Government confirms freeze on working age benefits minutes after Prince Harry wedding news revealed


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Somebody at Loose Women is a genius. Here’s the reason

Think about it:

Pertinent question: Piers Morgan.

For information, from Wikipedia:

During Morgan’s tenure as editor, the Daily Mirror was advised by Steven Nott that voicemail interception was possible by means of a standard PIN code. Despite staff initially expressing enthusiasm for the story it did not appear in the paper, although it did subsequently feature in a South Wales Argus article and on BBC Radio 5 Live in October 1999. On 18 July 2011 Nott was visited by officers of Operation Weeting.[97]

He came under criticism for his “boasting” about phone hacking from Conservative MP Louise Mensch, who has since apologised for these accusations.[98]

In July 2011, in a sequence of articles, the political blogger Paul Staines alleged that while editor of the Daily Mirror in 2002 Morgan published a story concerning the affair of Sven-Goran Eriksson and Ulrika Jonsson while knowing it to have been obtained by phone hacking.[99]

On 20 December 2011, Morgan was a witness by satellite link from the United States at the Leveson Inquiry.[100] While he said he had no reason to believe that phone hacking had occurred at the Mirror while he was in charge there, he admitted to hearing a recording of an answerphone message left by Paul McCartney for Heather Mills, but refused to “discuss where that tape was played or who made [it] – it would compromise a source.”[100] Appearing as a witness at the same Inquiry on 9 February 2012, Mills was asked under oath if she had ever made a recording of Paul McCartney’s phone call or had played it to Piers Morgan; she replied: “Never”.[101][102] She said that she had never authorised Morgan, or anybody, to access or listen to her voicemails.[101] Mills told the inquiry that Morgan, “a man that has written nothing but awful things about me for years”, would have relished telling the inquiry if she had played a personal voicemail message to him.[102]

On 23 May 2012, Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman was a witness at the Leveson Inquiry. He recalled a lunch with the Mirror editor in September 2002 at which Morgan outlined the means of hacking into a mobile phone.[103]

On 28 November 2012, the Channel 4 documentary Taking on the Tabloids, fronted by actor and phone hacking victim Hugh Grant, showed footage from a 2003 interview with Morgan by the singer and phone hacking victim Charlotte Church, during which he explained to her how to avoid answerphone messages being listened to by journalists. He said: “You can access … voicemails by typing in a number. Now, are you really telling me that journalists aren’t going to do that?”[104][105]

On 29 November 2012, the official findings of the Leveson Inquiry were released, in which Lord Justice Leveson said that Morgan’s testimony under oath on phone hacking was “utterly unpersuasive”. He stated: “[The] evidence does not establish that [Morgan] authorised the hacking of voicemails or that journalists employed by TMG [Trinity Mirror Group] were indulging in this practice … What it does, however, clearly prove is that he was aware that it was taking place in the press as a whole and that he was sufficiently unembarrassed by what was criminal behaviour that he was prepared to joke about it.”[3][106]

On 6 December 2013, Morgan was interviewed, under caution, by police officers from Operation Weeting investigating phone hacking allegations at Mirror Group Newspapers during his tenure as editor.[107]

On 24 September 2014, the Trinity Mirror publishing group admitted for the first time that some of its journalists had been involved in phone hacking and agreed to pay compensation to four people who sued for the alleged hacking of voicemails.[108][109] Six other phone-hacking claims had already been settled. The BBC reported that it had seen legal papers showing that although the alleged hacking could have taken place as early as 1998, the bulk of the alleged wrongdoing took place in the early 2000s when Morgan was the Daily Mirroreditor.[110] The admissions by Trinity Mirror came whilst the London Metropolitan Police investigation into the phone hacking allegations was ongoing. Morgan has always denied any involvement in the practice.[110]


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Let’s set the record straight on child poverty

Theresa May wants you to accept her warped view of poverty – especially when it comes to children.

Let’s set the record straight:


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Refusal to allow Budget amendments is more proof that Tories hate democracy

The move will make it harder to amend Philip Hammond’s Budget, Labour has protested [Image: AP].


Never mind the fact that the Tories are systematically blocking the promises made by the ‘Leave’ campaign in the EU referendum (see below) – their refusal to allow debate on amendments to the Budget shows that they really, really hate democracy.

If we weren’t living in a dictatorship before June, we are now.

And the worst aspect of this is that the Conservative Party does not even have a Parliamentary majority. It’s a minority government forcing through all these undemocratic changes (see below, again).

When (if?) we ever see a different party in charge, they should make it a priority to ensure that this can never happen again. Nobody voted for what’s being pushed on us.

Theresa May faces fresh allegations of “rigging Parliament” over a near-unprecedented move to prevent MPs amending the Budget.

Labour has accused the Prime Minister of running scared of an expected attempt to use the Finance Bill to force a vote on scrapping VAT on domestic fuel.

With the Democratic Unionist Party likely to oppose the Government on such a vote, it left her facing a possible embarrassing defeat, the Opposition claimed.

An amendment was expected because – like the notorious £350m-a-week extra for the NHS – zero-rating of fuel was a key plank of the Vote Leave campaign that secured Brexit.

Another likely challenge was over the issue of “period poverty”, with ministers under pressure to agree to put in free sanitary products in schools.

The controversy comes hard-on-the-heels of the row over the Conservatives seizing control of all Commons committees – despite losing their majority at the general election.

Rebellions were only possible [against finance bills] because the Government tabled an “amendment to the law resolution” – allowing amendments outside the narrow scope of measures in the Budget itself.

Following last Wednesday’s Budget, that amendment was not put forward as normal, preventing revolts on wider issues not “in the founding resolutions” of the Budget.

Labour said this had happened only five times since 1929 – but each time had been immediately before, or after, a general election, when a Budget needed to be rushed through.

In contrast, the current Finance Bill is the second of this Parliament, because one was passed immediately after the snap June election.

Source: Theresa May faces fresh accusations of ‘rigging Parliament’ over controversial move to block Budget amendments


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Tories sneak out continued benefit freeze behind announcement of royal engagement

It’s all right for some: The Tories chose the day Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement to reveal that benefit claimants won’t receive a penny more next year.

Oh, joyous day! (That’s unless you receive Universal Credit, Jobseekers’ Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, or have the amount of your payments limited under the Benefit Cap, of course.)

As the Royal Family announced the engagement of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle, the Department for Work and Pensions decided it would be a good day to release some bad news – so ministers quietly published their proposed benefit rates for 2018-19.

As you can see, in the cases of the above-named benefits, there is no change.

So people on zero-hours contracts, in part-time work or low-paid full-time employment, and the long-term sick or disabled will find it even harder to make ends meet next year – let alone celebrate the nuptials of a man whose own state benefits are far better-paying than theirs.


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The Tory government is unravelling progress against domestic and sexual violence. Why?

On just one day in the UK this year, 94 women and 90 children were turned away from refuge [Image: incamerastock/Alamy/Alamy].

Does nobody find this in any way concerning?

The Conservative government is deliberately trying to force abused women and children to stay with their abusers.

And Theresa May’s advisors gagged a survivor of historic child sexual abuse from speaking openly about “very serious allegations about very public figures” – as a result, “nothing was being done about” them.

Is nobody worried that the government of the United Kingdom, far from trying to prevent this vile behaviour, actually seems to be encouraging it?

Hard-fought campaigns for women’s rights are being casually undone. For example, just 15 years ago, women and children were able to escape violence and abuse by fleeing to refuges and then moving into permanent social housing.

Today we work tirelessly just to defend the ground that we won in the years since the first safe houses for women were opened more than 40 years ago: the right to safety, somewhere to flee to when in danger, and a secure home in which to start rebuilding your life.

I am astounded that in 2017 these basic rights are being questioned. But they are… On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Women’s Aid has revealed that on just one day in the UK this year, 94 women and 90 children were turned away from refuge.

The government’s proposed supported housing reforms are set to remove refuges’ last secure form of funding, housing benefit, which will only make it worse for women and children trying to escape domestic abuse.

Now only one third of women who need a refuge space can access it. They then leave refuges to join the army of women and children in temporary rooms or flats, waiting for yet another temporary move and at the bottom of the queue. We have a welfare fund, food banks, lists of supporters ready with clothing and baby equipment – but no right to the grants or loans that our welfare system previously had in place.

Source: I work with women facing domestic and sexual violence: it’s devastating to see how much progress is unravelling | Public Leaders Network | The Guardian


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Damian Green faces high noon over inquiry into his behaviour | Daily Telegraph

Damian Green at the DUP conference [Image: Nigel Dodds, DUP].

“We do not comment on ongoing investigations,” said a Downing Street spokesperson – but an interim report has been on Theresa May’s desk for a week, and she has dithered over it.

Downing Street has also stated that the full report by Ms Gray may never be published.

Now the Torygraph tells us Mrs May has drawn up plans for an emergency reshuffle in case Mr Green is forced to resign (yes -resign, because, if he’s sacked, he won’t keep his fat pension).

These are items of circumstantial evidence, maybe, but they suggest that the contents of that report may not be entirely positive.

I already said Damian Green is finished. Every new story brings us closer to the moment he admits it.

The man who is effectively Theresa May’s deputy prime minister was at the Democratic Unionist Party’s annual conference, where he addressed a fringe meeting and met its leader Arlene Foster.

The First Secretary was photographed smiling under the DUP’s conference slogan “Standing Strong”, which may or may not be indicative of Mr Green’s frame of mind at present.

A report by Sue Gray, the Cabinet Office’s head of propriety and ethics, into allegations of impropriety and allegations that extreme pornography was found on Mr Green’s office computer is expected to conclude this week.

Her findings may seal the Cabinet minister’s fate.

Although no legal action can now be taken against anyone for the images, Ms Gray’s inquiry into Mr Green’s conduct has been examining the allegations and his initial response to them.

It was ordered by Mrs May following a claim that he made an inappropriate advance to journalist Kate Maltby. Mr Green said the claim is “untrue and deeply hurtful”.

Reports have claimed that May has drawn up plans for an emergency reshuffle in case her deputy is forced to resign.

A Downing St spokesman said: “We do not comment on ongoing investigations.”

Source: Damian Green smiles and carries on as he faces high noon over inquiry into his behaviour


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Can Keir Starmer Save Britain From Brexit? – The New York Times

Keir Starmer, the Labour Party’s point man on Brexit, speaking at the party conference in September. Some say he is trying to draw out the process, hoping the public will turn decisively against it [Image: Ben Stansall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images].

He’s not trying, according to this New York Times piece.

But the claim that he is trying to draw out the process of Brexit, until citizens of the UK are so sick of it that they want it stopped, is interesting.

The decision to leave the European Union has come under intense scrutiny, with evidence showing that the vote was won with lies – and with a propaganda war that may have been financed illegally.

If the allegations are proved accurate, it’s possible that the vote could be legally ruled void – in which case Brexit need not happen.

I wonder if Mr Starmer has considered that?

In recent months, [Keir] Starmer has navigated deftly around deep divisions on Brexit while giving hope not just to those who want Britain to remain close to the European Union but also to those who want Britons, to use the catchphrase, to exit from Brexit.

Mr. Starmer has not gone that far, but in August he persuaded the somewhat euroskeptical Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and others to soften Labour’s policy and call for a standstill period of transition after withdrawal, scheduled for March 2019, to protect the economy.

Within weeks, Prime Minister Theresa May had done the same. Meanwhile, Labour is harrying Mrs. May’s fragile government in Parliament, trying to build a cross-party alliance of lawmakers to amend Brexit legislation to ward off any prospect of a “cliff edge” or “no deal Brexit,” where Britain crashes out without a trade agreement.

Labour lawmakers overwhelmingly wanted to remain, but Mr. Corbyn and John McDonnell, the party’s spokesman on financial affairs, worried that the European Union’s rules might obstruct some of their interventionist economic policies.

Mr. Starmer seems to have won the point by persuading them that a rupture with the European Union would wreak enough havoc to render their economic priorities moot.

“In the end, if you want to implement a progressive set of policies, then you need a strong economy in order to do so,” Mr. Starmer said.

Mr. Starmer denies harboring a strategy for reversing Brexit, saying only that he is content to go on reconciling the Leavers and the Remainers in his party.

Source: Can Keir Starmer Save Britain From Brexit? – The New York Times


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Is this ‘dirty dossier’ clip one reason Tories don’t like RT?

Tories would love to hush up the allegations of sexual offences that have been made against their MPs [Image: Chris Riddell.]

Apart from Damian Green, we all see to have forgotten that 36 Conservative MPs were named on the so-called ‘sex spreadsheet’ that went public a few weeks ago.

Plenty have yet to be brought into the public eye. What do we know about them? Let’s have a recap:


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‘Six homeless people have died this year’ in Southend | Echo


What a charmer Martin Terry must be!

Six homeless people die in his borough, rough sleepers are verbally and physically attacked, there is human trafficking, and this councillor – councillor! – says there’s too much help available for them.

A street pastor has revealed there have been six homeless deaths in Southend so far this year – and has defended the large amount of help given to rough sleepers.

Del Thomas was responding to criticism from Independent Thorpe ward councillor Martin Terry, who said the abundance of help for the homeless in the borough might be exacerbating the problem. His comments came after he discovered other councils in Essex were sending the homeless to Southend to take advantage of the care offered there.

He said: “… I couldn’t disagree further with his comments about stopping the help.

“If the soup kitchens and extra patrols stopped then where will the rough sleepers suddenly be housed? There isn’t enough accommodation and we have already had six deaths connected to the rough sleeping community this year alone and that is before the winter has hit.”

Mr Thomas added: “We have had at least four rough sleepers who have been human trafficked and many more unreported here in Southend.

“Personally I have witnessed rough sleepers spat on, urinated on whilst sleeping and verbally and physically attacked.”

Source: ‘Six homeless people have died this year’ in Southend | Echo


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