Xann Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 The other interesting thing is the regional aspect. Multiple kickings for post Brexit West Midlands coming up? The other half and I had intended to up sticks and return to the Mids in the next couple of years. She's like "F*** that". We just have to hope the perceived storm clouds that are gathering don't break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Quote Austerity will have cast an extra 1.5m children into poverty by 2021 Lone-parents, disabled children and ethnic minorities will be among worst-hit, says EHRC An extra 1.5 million children will have been pitched into poverty by 2021 as a consequence of the government’s austerity programme, according to a study of the impact of tax and benefit policy by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The EHRC study forecasts dramatic increases in poverty rates among children in lone parent and minority ethnic households, families with disabled children and households with three or more children. There are clear winners and losers from austerity tax and benefits changes since 2010, the study says. The regressive nature of the policies means that low-income families have been hit hardest: the poorest fifth will lose 10% of income by 2021, while the wealthiest fifth will see little or no change. David Isaac, chair of the EHRC, said: “It’s disappointing to discover that the reforms we have examined negatively affect the most disadvantaged in our society. It’s even more shocking that children – the future generation – will be the hardest hit and that so many will be condemned to start life in poverty.” The commission called on the government to reconsider existing policies that hit the most disadvantaged groups hardest, and to review social security benefit levels to ensure they provide an adequate standard of living. Grauniad With cuts to schools too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HanoiVillan Posted March 19, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted March 19, 2018 When you've got a very good grasp of what this generation is: 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a m ole Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 that is a DISGRACE 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 The new dream team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted March 20, 2018 Moderator Share Posted March 20, 2018 Just now, Xela said: The new dream team They were always cut from the same cloth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NurembergVillan Posted March 20, 2018 Moderator Share Posted March 20, 2018 2 hours ago, Xela said: The new dream team Osblair! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Is it just me, or is war criminal Blair looking increasingly like Arnie in the Terminator? Without the muscle, obvs. Just the android appearance, false facial expressions, distorted eye on one side of his face, and murderous intent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 What on earth is he doing standing next to somebody *that* right wing? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Theresa May's 'hostile environment' chalks up yet another success story! Theresa May refuses to intervene over man's £54,000 NHS cancer bill 'Theresa May has refused to intervene in the case of Albert Thompson, the London cancer patient asked to pay £54,000 for treatment despite having lived in the UK for 44 years, as it emerged that there could be tens of thousands of people in a similarly uncertain immigration position. Thompson, 63, is not receiving the radiotherapy treatment he needs for prostate cancer because he has been unable to provide officials with sufficient documentary evidence showing that he has lived in the UK continuously since arriving from Jamaica as a teenager in 1973. He is unable to pay the £54,000 fee. May said responsibility for the decision to charge Thompson ahead of treatment lay with the Royal Marsden hospital. “No urgent treatment should ever be withheld or delayed by the NHS regardless of ability of willingness to pay,” she wrote in a letter to Jeremy Corbyn, who raised the issue at prime minister’s questions last week. Regulations introduced last October require hospitals to check patients’ paperwork, including passports and proof of address, and charge upfront for their healthcare if they do not have documentary proof of eligibility, unless the treatment is deemed to be urgent. “The decision on whether his treatment is urgent or immediately necessary must rightly be made by the clinicians treating him,” May wrote. The Royal Marsden has repeatedly said that Thompson’s radiotherapy was not urgent. This surprises some prostate cancer specialists, who are puzzled why treatment prescribed for cancer can subsequently be deemed non-urgent, once the question of ability to pay is raised. Despite sympathising with “Mr Thompson and the worries he will be facing given his condition”, the prime minister said he needed to “evidence his settled status” in the UK. Thompson – who has asked for his real name not to be used – is one of a growing group of long-term UK residents facing life-shattering problems as a result of the government’s hostile immigration environment, which has been particularly affecting people who arrived as children from Commonwealth countries.' https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/22/theresa-may-refuses-to-intervene-over-mans-54000-nhs-cancer-bill-albert-thompson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Another one for the Tories list of shame. Quote Almost 30,000 lone parent families made homeless in England in 2017 By Hannah RichardsonBBC News education reporter 24 March 2018 Share this with Facebook Share this with Twitter Share this with Messenger Share this with Emailwho struggle to buy food and basic necessities for their children Almost 30,000 single parent families were made homeless last year, up 8% on five years ago, according to new official figures. Housing charity Shelter said government figures also reveal that nearly three-quarters of homeless households in England are lone parent families......... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-43503102# Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dAVe80 Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 On 20/03/2018 at 19:32, Xela said: The new dream team 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 (edited) I can only see the first few paras of this article so apologies if the rest paints a different picture other than the immense concern in what is quoted and especially what is highlighted: Quote British spies will launch a counter-propaganda war against the Russians as part of a major overhaul of the UK's security capabilities announced by Theresa May. The Prime Minister has instructed the intelligence services to use social media to disrupt misinformation as she promised to use "every capability at our disposal" to defeat the new threat facing Britain. As well as increased Russian aggression, sources warned the Islamist terror threat is likely to rise in the next two years as Mrs May revealed a major new effort to ensure every Government agency and department views national security as their priority, rather than just police and security services. ... Really? Nice to know that'll be the priority for the DWP or the Department of Health. Intelligence services to disrupt misinformation? Are they going to get the ministerial press releases in advance so they've got something to work on? Next up a Ministry of Truth. Edited March 27, 2018 by snowychap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted March 27, 2018 Moderator Share Posted March 27, 2018 33 minutes ago, snowychap said: I can only see the first few paras of this article so apologies if the rest paints a different picture other than the immense concern in what is quoted and especially what is highlighted: Really? Nice to know that'll be the priority for the DWP or the Department of Health. Intelligence services to disrupt misinformation? Are they going to get the ministerial press releases in advance so they've got something to work on? Next up a Ministry of Truth. I'd suggest its pure bluster and jack shit will happen because... well its this government isn't it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 2 minutes ago, bickster said: I'd suggest its pure bluster and jack shit will happen because... well its this government isn't it I did give this a like but, though I do largely agree with the sentiment, ensuring what every government agency/department views as its priority is surely very much dictated from above? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted March 27, 2018 Moderator Share Posted March 27, 2018 2 minutes ago, snowychap said: I did give this a like but, though I do largely agree with the sentiment, ensuring what every government agency/department views as its priority is surely very much dictated from above? Sorry, no benefits, we have evidence you're a Russian Bot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 1 minute ago, bickster said: Sorry, no benefits, we have evidence you're a Russian Bot I don't have the requisite 8 numbers in my username. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted March 28, 2018 Author Moderator Share Posted March 28, 2018 10 hours ago, snowychap said: I don't have the requisite 8 numbers in my username. Or the Union Flag in your profile pic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightoffyour Posted March 28, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted March 28, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 This is the announcement from the Criminal Bar Association today (direct link to pdf is available on this page): Quote 1. The Criminal Justice system is collapsing. The relentless cuts and refusal to recognise the importance of a principled, and not political, approach has left us all reeling. 2. Very recently the disclosure crisis has highlighted the appalling state of our system. Prisons, courts, the police and probation services are underfunded and in chaos. The impoverishment of the system is well known to the government and MPs. In 2016, the Public Accounts Committee warned that the criminal justice system was close to breaking point. It is now broken. 3. The final straw has come for the Criminal Bar in the refusal of the government to invest in a scheme to pay for legal aid work. The profession’s fees have been relentlessly cut for over 20 years by nearly 40 per cent. There have been no increases whatsoever in all that time. 4. We face a recruitment and retention crisis. Those from less privileged backgrounds must be able to see that a sustainable and viable career at the Criminal Bar is possible or they just won’t come. It is difficult for those with caring responsibilities to stay, which has an inevitable disproportionate impact on women in the profession. 5. This undermines the hard won progress made at the criminal bar on diversity and social mobility, with profound consequences for public trust as the judiciary, professions and institutions cease to reflect the communities they serve. 6. In 2015 the Bar started to negotiate a new scheme for payment of fees with this government in good faith. We asked at the outset and continued to ask for investment in legal aid. The government insisted on “cost neutrality”. It will be said by the government that we worked with it to devise the scheme. We say that the government held all the financial cards and played them at every turn to our detriment. Without investment our profession will die. 7. There is no provision for payment for consideration of disclosure in either the old or the new scheme. As has been recently seen the consideration of this material could make the difference between freedom and years inside prison. 8. There will be a £600m reduction in an already meagre and inadequate budget for the Ministry of Justice by 2019/20. Meanwhile the poor and vulnerable in society are being denied access to justice. Members of the public are at risk of miscarriages of justice and the faith of the public in the jury system is being undermined by the chaos in courts. 9. In planning more cuts, Ministers are making an unequivocal commitment to underfund the legal system, and are refusing to a provide a quality of justice the public is entitled to expect 10. When you read about legal aid statistics and see critical stories about barristers in the coming weeks know that you are being manipulated. 11. We are the people who fairly prosecute and fearlessly defend. Without the independent criminal Bar innocent people would now be locked up. Without the independent Bar, the guilty would have walked free. Without the independent criminal Bar and its goodwill the system would have broken long ago. 12. As the late, great and much missed Sir Henry Brooke recognised “This is not about money for lawyers. It is the liberties of England that are at risk’ The system is desperate, as are we. 2317 barristers voted. 90% of those barristers surveyed said they wanted to act to secure proper investment in the Criminal Justice System. We are informing our members today that you should consider not taking any work under representation orders from 1 April 2018, the implementation date of the reforms. We will hold days of actions. We will fight to improve the justice system for us and everyone else. We announce this action today with heavy hearts. Please find attached the proposals for the MOJ and the recommendations we give you. The association cannot direct action, only advise and recommend. It is every barrister’s individual decision how to proceed in her or his professional affairs. Does this mean that people will just go unrepresented in higher courts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts