New year/term, same old poo.
First anti-democratic point - £600 to be charged for information under the FOI
Second anti-democratic point and something that far left MP David Davis described as Franco's Spain. The requirement under the trade union bill for names, movement, social media use, etc to be given to the police prior to any action taken.
We went into the East Sussex countryside today for lunch and were struck by the appalling amount of really bad pot holes and rubbish. All as a result of cut backs to the council grants. It never used to be like this, what people from abroad must think - it is embarrassing.
Along with homeless figures increasing significantly, here are some headlines from the start of this year:
Failing academies six times less likely to improve than schools under local authority control
Pay growth likely to be weaker than expected in 2016
A&E hit by children's mental health crisis
Schools hit by "woeful" lack of new teachers
Bedroom tax has left children "too hungry to learn"
One million British workers will soon be on zero-hours contracts (up by 15% - 100,000 - in last year)
Growing numbers of closures of local authority day centres supporting elderly and disabled (this has happened in my area too)
Super-rich are getting even richer (Oxfam report)
Tuition fee rise adds to pressures on undergraduates (huge increase in students seeking counselling for anxiety and depression)
Council homes sell-off "will hit elderly people" (bungalows in short supply and, because of age of occupants, more likely to become available for sale)
Patients in UK relying on charity to see the dentist (a charity that usually provides help in developing world)
Small companies fail to prosper
"Back room deal" abolishes grants for poor students
Private jail is "violent and overcrowded" (HMP Dovergate, Staffs)
Cost of fit-to-work scheme exceeds £1 billion benefit cuts.
Attack on "dire" services as rail fares increase (up by 25% since 2010)
Water firms tap £1.2 billion bills rip-off
Soaring rents fuel huge housing benefit bill
US health giant makes fortune from NHS - but pays hardly any tax
City advisers "misleading" on values for state assets
"Slow death of social housing" - 88,000 homes will be lost by 2020
First time buyers need twice their salary as deposit
Care home crisis as experts quit over pay cut (CQC inspectors' pay halved and they are refusing to work for £8.25 an hour on new zero hours contracts)
Council rents rise four times quicker than wages (rose 27% between 2010-11 and 2013-14 - wages rose by only 6% in same period)
And so it goes on.
Thank heaven we are not governed by the government when it comes to education
Heard on the news this morning that it will also mean that parent governors disappear.
Listening to the news on this it was said teachers are angry and believe this to be a move towards privatisation
According to grans on another thread the gold standard of parental choice, is being ditched along with so much else. Schools are being forced to become academies regardless of parental choice as in my daughters village where the secondary school is still not an academy as a result of the parents.
I know some have. That's what matters.
You'll never know, though, will you? 
And some people will not even look at the blog at all.
Why would Labour supporters find the tables 'very rewarding'? Do they need rewarding for something...? 
For those who enjoy statistics, look at these tables.
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/03/13/the-conservatives-have-been-the-biggest-borrowers-over-the-last-70-years/
Labour supporters will find them very rewarding.
Tory supporters will not believe their eyes, and ignore the facts, and will probably not even read down to the bottom of the blog.
Whitewave, there was an article in today's Guardian about the number of people who sleep in bins.
31 in 2014
93 in 2015
175 in the current financial year.
11 people have been killed in the past five years, because of sleeping in bins, most of them crushed to death.
I feel sick and ashamed.
They sleep in bins because it makes them feel safer than on the streets.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/shabana-mahmood/budget-2016-george-osborne_b_9435914.html
About Osborne's record in cutting benefits and taxing the poor.
She's a good MP for Ladywood.
Homelessness has doubled since this government came to office according to Andrew Neil -- how utterly shameful.
Railman, they cost a lot more than your average kettle.
There are a lot of areas where the government buys things, then does not follow up on the guarantees. Road repairs come to mind, although they do not cost as much as a fighter.
Have heard today that the sale of arms to Saudi is going to be looked at. About time.
Here is something else that the government appear to have got wrong according to their own laws.
What's the betting they change the law.
thepoorsideoflife.wordpress.com/2016/03/10/dwp-workers-please-read/
Durhamjen Your post about the Type 45 destroyers got me digging. The diesels and gas turbines on these ships are built by Rolls Royce and Wartsila, in the UK and Germany.
However, the power conversion equipment and the motors that drive the ship are from GE in the USA. These are the bits that are constantly failing apparently. Of course, we used to make these key components in the UK, at Alstom in Staffordshire - and which are used in a number of electrically powered ships around the world.
Like you, I find this a worrying trend - when we originally bought Trident from the USA, we wanted the D5 version, but were sold the older D4 (Classically shown on TV doing a sort of Catherine wheel loop before plunging back into the sea on a test firing).
More worryingly still perhaps is the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), or as it is otherwise known the Lockheed Martin F35 - this too has been grounded numerous times for electrical failures. And, we have to put catapults and steam arrester cables on the new carriers, because the JSF carrier version cannot land on the deck without them - unlike our own Harrier and Sea Harrier designs. But not to worry Lockheed Martin is developing an STOL version for us.
If it was a kettle you'd take it back to the shop and get a refund!
weownit.org.uk/act-now/stop-out-control-outsourcing
A link to write to your council to stop outsourcing.
www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/mar/04/councils-outsourcing-local-authorities-contract-services
I know this is about local government, but central government provides the laws and cuts the council grants.
Liverpool has decided to officially support the www.weownit.org.uk campaign to stop outsourcing to companies that hide behind commercial confidentiality.
Good for Liverpool. Now we want more councils to follow them.
Whitewave, you'll be pleased to hear they are not going to alter the FOI act.
Also, the Lords has again defeated the government on cutting the ESA.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/29/lords-rebuff-tory-plan-to-cut-esa-for-second-time
www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/26/mps-pay-rise-breaking-government-public-sector-cap
Poor things. They6 really need it don't they?
I wonder if they will take themselves to a tribunal.
Looking forward to a few more strikes.
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/02/27/osborne-is-categorically-promising-to-make-us-worse-off/
A long read, particularly if you read the comments.
Amnesty has highlighted the downgrading of human rights by the UK government as a "gift to dictators the world over, and fatally undermines our ability to call on other countries to uphold rights and laws"
It is undermining the "culture of impunity" which grew throughout the later half of the 20th century.
Amnesty also argued that the UKs attitude towards China, Saudi Arabia and Egypt showed that it had lost its passion to promote human rights. It continues to provide billions of £s worth of arms to Saudia Arabia-led militia in the Yemen even though thousands of Yemenis have been killed. The Foreign Office opposes any independent enquirer into Saudi Arabian action in the Yemen.
There has also been a shift from human rights expertise to trade expertise, and Osborne failed to mention human rights issues when visiting China last year.
Amnesty was also astonished that Egypt was not amongst the countries listed as concern in last years humon rights report. Egypt was taken out for political reasons.
Last but not least Amnesty pointed to the plans to scrap the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights as extremely worrying.
A continuation of the last link.
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/02/23/the-right-to-speak/
I agree with Richard Murphy. It's not the sort of country I thought I was living in.
We can say what we want on here within reason. However, academics and charities will not be allowed to speak for ordinary people if what they want to say is contrary to government policy.
That can't be right in a democracy.
Registering is free, easy, and means you can join the discussion, watch threads and lots more.
Register now »Already registered? Log in with:
Gransnet »Get our top conversations, latest advice, fantastic competitions, and more, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
