Bolitics The New Condem Government

[TrentVilla]

Back door privatisation of education and now the NHS typical Tory policies from a typical Tory policy they just have new names for the same old approach only this time they have the LibDem's as a lap dog.

[peterms]

And so it begins.

This is just one solitary example of what will be happening on a very large scale. We're just starting the journey. The "necessary" cuts haven't even started to take effect yet - this is just the preparation stage.

The line about it being a local council decision is of course duplicitous lying nonsense which ignores the total, complete, Kremlin-like control which central government exerts over local government spending.

Mother who met PM asks to put disabled daughter into care

'I can't cope,' says Riven Vincent after receiving letter telling her no more respite help is available for six-year-old Celyn

Just before midday today, a Bristol mother called Riven Vincent announced to the internet: "Have asked social services to take dear daughter into care … They have refused extra respite. I can't cope."

The public revelation of her desperate situation became an instant internet cause celebre, and swiftly attracted a flood of over a thousand messages of sympathy and dismay. The online outrage quickly mounted when it emerged that David Cameron had visited Vincent at her home during pre-election campaigning and assured her that if he became prime minister he would not do anything that would harm disabled children.

Vincent cares full-time for her six-year-old daughter, Celyn, who has severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy. As her daughter grew older her caring responsibilities became more arduous, so she turned to social services hoping for extra support. When she received a letter today telling her no more help was available, she decided that her child would be better cared for in a residential home.

Sounding tired, and unhappy to find herself at the centre of a storm over government policy, Vincent said tonight that she was disappointed by Cameron's failure to deliver on a personal commitment. "This is a side-effect of the cuts," she said. "He could have protected families with disabled children from a lot of this. I would be angry, if I wasn't so tired."

Vincent sleeps in a bed next to her daughter every night, beside a monitor that checks her daughter's breathing. After almost seven years of interrupted sleep, her own reserves of energy have become very depleted.

"It will be devastating for me as a mother. I want her here, with her family," she said. "I never imagined I would get to this point. I don't want her in a residential care home – it would destroy me. But without extra help, I find it hard to see how we can meet her needs at home." She called her South Gloucestershire Council social worker today to tell her she wanted to start looking for a full-time residential care home options for Celyn. Then she posted her decision to friends on the Mumsnet website. Her message was instantly circulated around Facebook and Twitter.

Charities who campaign on behalf of carers looking after disabled children joined the online debate to warn that council budget cuts and the imminent removal of a ring-fence around the funding of respite care, could mean more parents struggling to get the respite support they need.

The decision is a complex one, and has not yet been made conclusively, but Vincent said today that she could no longer see how to avoid handing over her daughter's care.

Caring for her daughter is "relentless", she said. "She needs someone 24 hours a day. She doesn't grow up." Celyn must be tube-fed, is doubly-incontinent, cannot walk, talk, sit up, or use her arms. She has to be lifted using a hoist from chair to wheelchair, between bed and bath.

"My sleeplessness leads to problems with everything else. I'm too tired to cook, so the food in the fridge goes rotten," she said. Her three other children are deprived of her attention. "Caring responsibilities take over your whole life."

Vincent is already aware of the power of the internet as a tool for lobbying politicians. When Cameron visited the Mumsnet headquarters, also as part of pre-election campaigning, to talk online to parents, he was forced to admit (in response to questioning from Vincent), that he did not know how many free nappies the NHS had provided for his own son, Ivan, also born with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. She invited him to tea to discuss the issues, and was surprised in late March to be told that he was coming.

At that private meeting, he also promised to write on her behalf to the local primary care trust, to demand that the expensive incontinence nappies should be provided according to need, and not rationed to four a day. "I think he did write to them, but nothing has changed," Vincent said.

It would cost the local authority between £2,000 and £3,000 a week to look after Celyn in a home, Vincent estimated, compared to £15 a hour for a carer to help at her own home.

By this evening, the prime minister's office had been made aware of the latest developments in Vincent's situation. Cameron's spokeswoman said he would be writing to her and would be putting as much pressure as he could to make sure that the local council is doing all it can for her, but this, she stressed, was "a local council issue".

"We are committed to continuing to improve respite care for carers of disabled children. We have said that we will provide £800m in funding for short breaks for carers of disabled children over the next spending review. This represents an increase in year on year funding from 2010," she said.

Charities welcome this funding, but are concerned that the removal of a ringfence will mean that the money risks being diverted elsewhere.

David Congdon, head of campaigns and policy at Mencap, a charity for people with learning disabilities and their families, said: "Given that this money is available, there is no justification for cutting these services. As local authorities tighten belts we expect to hear more and more concerns from parents about respite care. Families and carers love the people they care for. They care for them willingly, but they need help to do so."

[peterms]

On bankers and their bonuses, for those interested in relating theory to practice, we have three things in quick succession which probably should be considered alongside each other, so well do they fit.

First, an article decrying paying bonuses to bankers, and explaining that bonuses work for menial tasks, but not for higher-level ones (is banking a higher-level task?)

Yes, bonuses do work – but for fruit-pickers, not City bankers

The justification that banks need to fork out massive payouts to retain top talent is a fallacy

Second, the argument explained both in words and graphically:

Third, right on cue, the news that although Goldman Sachs have screwed up, again, they will be paying out billions to the underperforming cretins who led them to this state. Goldman to lift £1m cap on UK bonuses

Bank puts aside last year's restraint as it pays staff $15.3bn in bonuses and salaries, despite 38% fall in earnings

I like the body language of the Goldmans boss. It shares the same essential honesty as Barry Ferguson, though with the same threadbare attempt at concealment. (sorry about the photo sizes)

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Youth unemployment up to around 20%.

Fun times.

[blandy]

Goldman sachs - US company, no support from UK taxpayer. Do what they want, frankly. It might be daft to most people, but it's none of our business IMO, what a US co. does in terms of paying its employees.

[tonyh29]

Goldman sachs - US company, no support from UK taxpayer

neither did Barclays though and people seem to think they should be reigned in ?

Capping banker bonuses is all well and good but people may recall that Thatcher found an unofficial way for MP's to supplement their pay, the banks will only end up doing the same thing , those that aren't already doing it of course .

[peterms]

Goldman sachs - US company, no support from UK taxpayer. Do what they want, frankly. It might be daft to most people, but it's none of our business IMO, what a US co. does in terms of paying its employees.

So it would seem, at first sight. But if you look a little more closely, you find that they were one of the main perpetrators of the banking scam which created worthless "assets" and were bailed out; and that a key player, arguably the driving force in the bailout was Mervyn King (though Gordon Brown claimed the credit), who we learn from Wikileaks was from March 2008 organising several nations to recapitalise those banks which were facing a crisis. It's also clear from the same source that King knew at the time that this was a crisis of solvency, not liquidity, though he pretended otherwise in his public utterances.

Goldman may not have received direct transfers of cash from our Treasury, but they are no less indebted. In October 2008, they were one of the main beneficiaries of a $250 billion cash injection as part of the global bailout. One of the conditions of the bailout was that they would limit pay and golden parachutes.

Oh, and Goldman is one of the bondholders who were bailed out by the Irish a couple of months ago, as well. Funny that, I thought we were being told at the time that the bondholders were widows and orphans.

Remember the story a month or two ago about how BP have placed people in all the key Ministries in the Nigerian government, to safeguard BP's interests? Well Goldman have been doing a similar thing in the world's banking networks, only on a larger scale. It seems to have paid off.

The banks and the banking system are global. We and many other nations have bailed out the people who caused the financial crisis, and Goldman Sachs is one of the main perpetrators of the crisis and one of the main beneficiaries, both of direct funding from various governments and also from the general propping up of the global banking system which we are now closing community facilities and sacking public sector workers to pay for. Where they have their HQ is immaterial in that.

[snowychap]

Goldman sachs - US company, no direct support from UK taxpayer.

Fixed.

Same goes for Barclays. They went begging to every country in the Middle East so that they could maintain the stance that they didn't need taxpayer help.

[blandy]

I wouldn't try and argue for a moment that GS are anything but as rotten as any of the others, but in a thread on the Gov't of the moment, I still don't see how or why they (our Gov't) have any role in the bonuses paid by a US Bank to its employees. Neither Labour nor the current lot has lent them money or supported them in any way.

[snowychap]

Burnley's Clarke Carlisle to go on BBC's Question Time

Burnley defender Clarke Carlisle is to appear as a panelist on Question Time.

He is the first professional footballer to appear while still playing for a club, the producers of the BBC programme said.

The 31-year-old is due to appear on the discussion programme being broadcast from Burnley on Thursday.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman, Deputy Liberal Democrat Leader Simon Hughes, former MP George Galloway and Alastair Campbell will also appear.

The former Labour spin doctor is a well-known Burnley FC fan.

Carlisle, who is also chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association, said he was originally asked to go on a pre-election programme on BBC 3, aimed at 20 to 40-year-olds.

'Layman's perspective'

The BBC then said it would prefer it if he went on the main programme, he said.

"I am looking forward to it and I will be sat up there with Mr Campbell, which will be nice," he added.

"I don't consider myself to be a politics buff by any stretch of the imagination, but with the economic crisis, having a young family and the recent election, my wife and I started to take a keener interest and I just hope I can give a layman's perspective on things."

Carlisle fulfilled a lifetime ambition by appearing on Channel 4's Countdown show last February.

The player was also crowned "Britain's Brainiest Footballer" in an ITV show in January 2002.

Programme editor Ed Havard said Carlisle's appearance would "probably feel very different to his victorious appearance on Countdown, but he will be part of a long tradition of panellists on Question Time who bring a perspective on topical events from well outside the Westminster 'bubble'".

He said: "Who knows, his performance on Thursday may also encourage other footballers to take on the Question Time challenge. Not Wayne Rooney perhaps, but we've heard Frank Lampard is an avid viewer."

Question Time will be broadcast on BBC One at 2235 GMT on Thursday 20 January and available on BBC iPlayer after transmission.

[drat01]

Alan Johnson is stepping down for personal reasons and it looks like Ed Balls will be new Shadow Chancellor. Seeing as Gideon has said that he was glad that Balls was not appointed SC in the first place, expect the fun to start. I suspect Gideon will be even more of a quivering wreck

[snowychap]

Will be a loss to the Labour front bench (not as Shadow Chancellor but in general).

[drat01]

Agreed - a lot depends on how permanent his step down will be - Cant wait to see Balls ripping into Gideon and his "chum" though

[markavfc40]

Ed Balls will run rings round Osbourne. Should be fun.

[peterms]

Balls confirmed. Really hope they now start to make some basic points to rebut this stuff about "there is no alternative", which has been unchallenged for many months.

[Gringo]

Milliband's best decision so far in his leadership was ensuring neither mr or mrs balls got the shadow chancellor job. Ho hum. I did think that Red Ed was labour's michael howard, try to regroup the core before handing on to the more media friendly prince in waiting, but I think he's stepped back to being the labour party's IDS - rally something but failing to control the party and then have to step down before ever facing the electorate.

[blandy]

Neither Balls not Ed are quite of the human race, are they? They're from the same planet as Redwood and Howard and IDS. Still he seems to know about sums n'that, so that's nice.

[JulieB]

I think we'll leave the American's to worry about the US bank bonuses. Since Lehman's & one or two other investment banks went belly up or consolidated there's not really alot of competition anymore. Morgan Stanley announced today that they were putting aside a whopping $16Billion (£10Bn) - for remunerating their staff to go with the nice fat wads Goldman Sach's employees will be getting.....

What made me more cross today was the news that the OFT have fined RBS for leaking sensitive pricing information to a banking rival to obviously make sure every one would be charging the "correct" price for their offerings.....

This after last weeks £2.6M fines dished out to RBS & Nat West by the FSA for poor customer complaints handling.

RBS 86% tax payer owned....looking after our interests??? .... Are they wat!!!!

An OFT investigation found RBS and Barclays engaged in anti-competitive practices in relation to the pricing of loan products to large professional services firms.

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The fine is part of an earlier agreement between the OFT and RBS, in which RBS admitted to certain breaches of competition law and agreed to co-operate with the OFT.

Barclays brought the matter to the OFT's attention and under the OFT's leniency policy has not been fined.

The fair trading watchdog found between October 2007 and February or March 2008 individuals in RBS's Professional Practices Coverage Team disclosed generic and specific confidential and commercially sensitive future pricing information to their counterparts at Barclays.

The disclosures took place through a number of contacts on the fringes of social, client or industry events or through telephone conversations.

Ali Nikpay, OFT senior director of cartels and criminal enforcement, said: "The disclosure of confidential future pricing information to competitors is unlawful.

"This decision sends out a strong message that such practices, even where they arise in the context of informal contacts between competitors, can result in substantial penalties for the companies involved.

"It is therefore important that companies take steps to ensure an effective compliance culture that is understood by individuals throughout their organisation."

OFT fines RBS £28.2M

[drat01]

The Tory led privatisation of the NHS is being totally ripped apart on QT tonight. Simon Hughes is obviously trying to argue a point he has no belief in and Caroline Spelman is a complete and utter lunatic. For her to claim that GP's are the best to run the NHS budgets and her justification for this? Her doctor said so! - This is another disgraceful lie from this Gvmt. They said they would not touch the NHS and as warned they are trying to reintroduce ideas of privatisation again. How the hell the LibDems can actually sit there and support this is beyond me

[snowychap]

The NHS reforms seem to be putting a huge amount of faith in the decision making (especially with regards to a huge proportion of government expenditure) abilities of GPs (one's family doctor as Ms Spelman quaintly puts it).

The government appear to have much less faith in GPs with regards to their decision making ability (with regards to diagnoses) of their own patients in an area, say, regarding long term health issues, ability to work and the like.

It has to be a little perverse when one takes a leap and trusts the management, purchasing, accounting and budgeting abilities of GPs and yet doubt their clinical skills.