Bolitics The New Condem Government

[tonyh29]

Is it like "goldy" and "bronzy" only it's made out of iron ?

[villaajax]

Typical Tory, just doesn't get it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[thetrees]

I have a family member who told me about Unite's policy of forcing candidates on the Labour Party some time ago. It appears to be far more widespread than is reported.

It is high time that political parties are state funded, removing the influence of unions and big business. In the long run the tax payer would receive better value.

[tonyh29]

RIP the Labour Party

Killed by Ed Milliband

[bickster]

RIP the Labour Party

Killed by Ed Milliband

Not sure how you work that out

[drat01]

 

RIP the Labour Party

Killed by Ed Milliband

Not sure how you work that out

 

It's because Tony is either - being mischievous - listening to the mad rantings of the desperate Tory party and its media outlets - has become so worried about the failings of the Tory party that he hopes for things much in the same way people hope to win the lottery jackpot - or a mix of all 3

 

Interestingly it seems that Tony and most Tory supporters are very happy with the way that their party is funded despite the obvious questionable and somewhat secretive donations that have occurred. Maybe the sun is blinding the glaringly obvious?

[Dr_Pangloss]

Some nice research here:

 

A new survey by Ipsos MORI for the Royal Statistical Society and King’s College London shows just how wrong public opinion can be on key social issues such as crime, benefit fraud and immigration.

 

The research lists ‘top ten’ popular misperceptions:

1. Teenage pregnancy: on average, we think teenage pregnancy is 25 times higher than official estimates: we think that 15% of girls under16 get pregnant each year, when official figures suggest it is around 0.6%.
2. Crime: 58% do not believe that crime is falling, when the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that incidents of crime were 19% lower in 2012 than in 2006/07 and 53% lower than in 1995. 51% think violent crime is rising, when it has fallen from almost 2.5 million incidents in 2006/07 to under 2 million in 2012.
3. Job-seekers allowance: 29% of people think we spend more on JSA than pensions, when in fact we spend 15 times more on pensions (£4.9bn vs £74.2bn).
4. Benefit fraud: people estimate that 34 times more benefit money is claimed fraudulently than official estimates: the public think that £24 out of every £100 spent on benefits is claimed fraudulently, compared with official estimates of £0.70 per £100.
5. Foreign aid: 26% of people think foreign aid is one of the top 2-3 items government spends most money on, when it actually made up 1.1% of expenditure (£7.9bn) in the 2011/12 financial year. More people select this as a top item of expenditure than pensions (which cost nearly ten times as much, £74bn) and education in the UK (£51.5bn).
6. Religion: we greatly overestimate the proportion of the population who are Muslims: on average we say 24%, compared with 5% in England and Wales. And we underestimate the proportion of Christians: we estimate 34% on average, compared with the actual proportion of 59% in England and Wales.
7. Immigration and ethnicity: the public think that 31% of the population are immigrants, when the official figures are 13%. Even estimates that attempt to account for illegal immigration suggest a figure closer to 15%. There are similar misperceptions on ethnicity: the average estimate is that black and Asian people make up 30% of the population, when it is actually 11% (or 14% if we include mixed and other non-white ethnic groups).
8. Age: we think the population is much older than it actually is – the average estimate is that 36% of the population are 65+, when only 16% are.
9. Benefit bill: people are most likely to think that capping benefits at £26,000 per household will save most money from a list provided (33% pick this option), over twice the level that select raising the pension age to 66 for both men and women or stopping child benefit when someone in the household earns £50k+. In fact, capping household benefits is estimated to save £290m, compared with £5bn for raising the pension age and £1.7bn for stopping child benefit for wealthier households.
10. Voting: we underestimate the proportion of people who voted in the last general election – our average guess is 43%, when 65% actually did.

http://www.rssenews.org.uk/2013/07/rss-commission-new-research-into-public-perceptions-of-statistics/

[colhint]

it often amazes me how thick some people are, 

[snowychap]

"May to investigate Mercury gorilla."

 

She thinks she's on a roll after getting Abu Qatada removed.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Some nice research here:

 

A new survey by Ipsos MORI for the Royal Statistical Society and King’s College London shows just how wrong public opinion can be on key social issues such as crime, benefit fraud and immigration.

 

The research lists ‘top ten’ popular misperceptions:

1. Teenage pregnancy: on average, we think teenage pregnancy is 25 times higher than official estimates: we think that 15% of girls under16 get pregnant each year, when official figures suggest it is around 0.6%.
2. Crime: 58% do not believe that crime is falling, when the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that incidents of crime were 19% lower in 2012 than in 2006/07 and 53% lower than in 1995. 51% think violent crime is rising, when it has fallen from almost 2.5 million incidents in 2006/07 to under 2 million in 2012.
3. Job-seekers allowance: 29% of people think we spend more on JSA than pensions, when in fact we spend 15 times more on pensions (£4.9bn vs £74.2bn).
4. Benefit fraud: people estimate that 34 times more benefit money is claimed fraudulently than official estimates: the public think that £24 out of every £100 spent on benefits is claimed fraudulently, compared with official estimates of £0.70 per £100.
5. Foreign aid: 26% of people think foreign aid is one of the top 2-3 items government spends most money on, when it actually made up 1.1% of expenditure (£7.9bn) in the 2011/12 financial year. More people select this as a top item of expenditure than pensions (which cost nearly ten times as much, £74bn) and education in the UK (£51.5bn).
6. Religion: we greatly overestimate the proportion of the population who are Muslims: on average we say 24%, compared with 5% in England and Wales. And we underestimate the proportion of Christians: we estimate 34% on average, compared with the actual proportion of 59% in England and Wales.
7. Immigration and ethnicity: the public think that 31% of the population are immigrants, when the official figures are 13%. Even estimates that attempt to account for illegal immigration suggest a figure closer to 15%. There are similar misperceptions on ethnicity: the average estimate is that black and Asian people make up 30% of the population, when it is actually 11% (or 14% if we include mixed and other non-white ethnic groups).
8. Age: we think the population is much older than it actually is – the average estimate is that 36% of the population are 65+, when only 16% are.
9. Benefit bill: people are most likely to think that capping benefits at £26,000 per household will save most money from a list provided (33% pick this option), over twice the level that select raising the pension age to 66 for both men and women or stopping child benefit when someone in the household earns £50k+. In fact, capping household benefits is estimated to save £290m, compared with £5bn for raising the pension age and £1.7bn for stopping child benefit for wealthier households.
10. Voting: we underestimate the proportion of people who voted in the last general election – our average guess is 43%, when 65% actually did.

http://www.rssenews.org.uk/2013/07/rss-commission-new-research-into-public-perceptions-of-statistics/

 

I blame the media & government influence in some quarters. I mean, how will the Tories get the crime vote if crime has been falling (and, generally speaking, people are less shit now) for years?

[villaajax]

"May to investigate Mercury gorilla."

 

She thinks she's on a roll after getting Abu Qatada removed.

 

She dealt with that rather swiftly to be fair. Didn't drag on at all.

[bickster]

There crime one is bollocks though as it isn't crime but recorded crime. People don't report crime anymore, not only that but the current system encourages the police to persuade you not to record crime. Both parties are guilty as charged on being responsible for that one

The religion one is also wrong, 54% of the population might say they are nominally christian but the reality is much lower when it comes to practising ones, much lower that 34% even

[Dr_Pangloss]

To be fair it didn't specify 'practicing' did it. Their estimate is probably based on one of their surveys where 59% checked the 'Christian' box.

[villaajax]

My mum sometimes ticks the Christian box despite not believing in god or the bible... don't ask me why.

[bickster]

To be fair it didn't specify 'practicing' did it. Their estimate is probably based on one of their surveys where 59% checked the 'Christian' box.

No I realise that but its still a shite stat all the same

[Jon]

 

To be fair it didn't specify 'practicing' did it. Their estimate is probably based on one of their surveys where 59% checked the 'Christian' box.

No I realise that but its still a shite stat all the same

 

Very shite.

 

Pointless, I'd say.

 

I'd like to know ehere that stat comes from. I was probably Christened (I think) but would describe my bself as agnostic or even atheist. Thus you can't count the number of christenings as a factual count of the nmuber of Christians.

 

When you get down to 'practicing' Christians, the number is really going to be VERY small.

 

If it's based on some sort of census question, again, it'd be a nominal figure where a massive amout tick 'Christian' but adopt few to no organised Christian religious practices.

[tonyh29]

If I recall there were more Jedi Knights than agnostics in the last UK census

[villaajax]

I put Jedi Knight on the 2001 census

I was 10/11, I might add.

[Jon]

I put Jedi Knight on the 2001 census

I was 10/11, I might add.

No more embarrasing that putting Christian.

[peterms]

On party donations, some research here on how half the Tory party's money comes from 50 "donor groups" who are using secrecy to evade the aims of the legislation and conceal the extent of their generosity.