Government Watch

www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/dec/17/osborne-hands-advisers-big-pay-rises-while-freezing-public-sector-wages

All right for some. Working for Osborne gives you a 42% pay rise. Working as a teaching assistant gets you a pay cut.

gallery.mailchimp.com/ef1f3f5b8067610251b19fb6c/images/mcvid_youtube_mWNw7knAo60_.jpg

Rail sell-off. There's a consultation. If you want to comment it should be in by Christmas Eve. Not long to go.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWNw7knAo60

That was just the picture. This should be the video from www.weownit.org.uk

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2015/12/18/we-are-living-in-a-contemptuous-state/

424 announcements on the last day of parliament. How contemptuous is that?
We will find out next year what they have managed to privatise over the Christmas break.
Any guesses?

qna.files.parliament.uk/ws-attachments/439230%5Coriginal%5C2016-17%20Mandate.pdf

This was one of the announcements that the government thought okay to just give in a written statement on the final day before the Christmas break, along with all the other minor announcements.
The NHS mandate for 2016-7. They had over 130,000 submissions for it which is good considering they did not want to let on that the public could give a view.
Hopefully parliament will be given a chance to debate it early next year.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2015/12/22/osbornes-long-term-economic-plan-is-looking-increasingly-like-a-shambles/

I wonder what his record is for the number of mentions of his long term economic plan in any one speech.
Or Cameron's for that matter.
I wonder if he will stop mentioning it next year.

www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2095549/Right-wingers-intelligent-left-wingers-says-controversial-study--conservative-politics-lead-people-racist.html

That's science for you. Could explain a lot.

Another anti-democratic point.
I have just discovered that both my sons are in Non-UK families.
This is described as a family where one partner was not born in the UK.

Over a million of them in the country. I wonder why this happened last October.

The intelligence link. It has always been so in the theatre world , so often actors who support the left are dismissed as being a labour lovey or Champagne Socialist. Martin Sheen was mocked recently on another thread, the man does so much work for UNICEF yet is mocked for it . What a great PM he would make

Jen, if your sons are in non UK families think of Boris Johnson

Yes I do recognise the argument. Will say no more

Never thought of that, Annie. If he ever ends up without a job, can he be deported?
We can but hope!

Michael Sheen?

He'd definitely know how to mock Cameron or whoever takes his place.

Is Glenda Jackson the only actor who has become an MP?

Can't think of one Jen, Michael Cashman gave up acting to go into politics and was a labour member of the European parliament for quite a few years , he has done much work on human rights

If you know anyone on DLA to be moved to PIP, the government wants over half of them to lose benefit altogether or have it reduced.
There is a consultation this monthh.
You can find the questions here.

kittysjones.wordpress.com/2016/01/10/consultation-as-government-seek-to-limit-eligibility-for-pip/

Even if you do not know anyone like that, it's still worth a read to see what the government is contemplating and to respond if you want to.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/10/labour-expecting-6m-loss-in-funding-through-trade-union-bill

This is to be debated tomorrow as well, whitewave's second anti-democratic point.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tory-who-approved-25-ex-7161747

This should be against the law. No wonder MPs can walk into any job in the industry they were supposedly ruling over. The head of the body overseeing it herself has an outside job.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/westminster-gravy-train-full-list-7153687

www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/12/david-cameron-denies-backsliding-on-the-environment

This man is such a liar. Surely he can't really believe what he says, or believe that we believe him.

One good bit of news on renewable energy. Last year enough wind energy was produced to power 97% of Scottish homes. In six out of the twelve months there was enough power to supply more than 100% of Scottish household needs.

Has anyone else used the FoI act to find out anything?

www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jan/20/government-foi-commission-lord-mcnally-freedom-of-information-act

The government commission looking into it is rigged.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35354139

Does anyone else see the flaw in this?
Police needed to police the non-police.

So a volunteer decide to carry out a search but only with the approval of the chief constable! I can imagine hundreds ringing up to get the bosses permission, not forgetting police officers not of high rank don't get to ever meet the boss.

Cut back on the force numbers and the ones who keep their jobs are to police the volunteers who have come in to help the police officers who are policing them ?

They are also talking about cybercrime. If you can do cybercrime, you can volunteer for this, no problem.

How can you have a serious unbiased discussion, when comments like Conservatives are Nazis, are bandied about. To compare the suffering endured under the Nazi regime with a Conservative is disgusting and insulting and certainly would trust the judgement of someone so radical.

Should have been, would not trust the judgement with such radical views, I believe in seeing all sides of an issue, not from a purely personal perspective.