Theresa May 4

Yes Ana I read that although the government suggests people for State Visits the Queen agrees it ( although she would never say no, one supposes.)

Mays pledge to care for the "just managing" seems to be under a good deal of pressure, as the government is being warned that those less well offs are likely to experience a decline in their living standards by 2% over the next couple of years. Whilst those of the wealthiest are set to rise by 5%. This is because of the governments unequal policies on tax and benefits.

The reason is slow wage growth, rise in oil prices, and of course the fall in the value of the pound. This together with the rollout of more than £12bn welfare cuts.

This represents the sharpest decline in the poor income since records began in the 1960s.

May is going to have to work hard to fulfil her pledge. Brexit of course has ended the period of ultra low inflation -something that always benefits the poor more than the wealthy. This inequality can be measured 3 different ways.
90:10 income ratio
80:20 ratio
Palma ratio

All these show large increases in inequality which will reach record highs by 2020.

This is stark contrast to the trend over the past 20 years which saw inequality flat or declining.

This is seen as a huge challenge.

The queen's role in our unwritten constitution is to rubber stamp acts of parliament and play her part in things like state visits. She can advise prime ministers and give her opinion but she won't say NO. Because she doesn't run the UK.
So she may well have said to the PM "Are you sure this is a good idea my dear?"

I wonder what she makes of them all - all those PMs over the last 60 years - wouldn't we love to know.
She definitely made her views known though after the Chinese visit (do I need to post the garden party link again?) .

The Queen's life isn't all wonderful is it, those long State dinners ( when one only longs for a poached egg on toast on a tray!)

...curled up on the sofa, wearing a onesie!

At least the corgis will keep her safe from wandering hands.

In front of the vintage 2 bar electric fire.

Doesn't the Palace run to gas? Much cheaper than electricity - someone should tell her.

When your cosy lounge is a high-ceilinged barn sized room in a Grade 1 listed building it is the time to be grateful that one is a resilient member of the aristocracy who is hardened to such privations.
My source is books by Nancy Mitford etc

Wot....no central heating!

I dunno. It would cost a fortune wouldn't it to heat something that big... Anyone ever been to the Palace and checked it out? (I went to the House of Commons recently and checked out the heating. An empty committee room with blasting heating and leaky windows!) This is one of the reasons why the H of C needs a major refurb maybe?

I can remember visiting Sandringham years ago and it must have been some time in the winter. There were staff everywhere but no heating!! Duke apparently didn't think it necessary when family not in residence.

I read somewhere that her father comissioned or suggested that thousanda of council houses should be built. Obviously the monarch can say something so why doesn't she say something? Charles will definitely not remain silent.

The thing is that whether she does or doesn't we will never know for at least 30 years after her death.

Oh is that treason?!!

Just for you, roses.

politicalscrapbook.net/2017/02/may-says-she-wants-to-heal-divisions-after-brexit-vote-then-calls-remainers-losers/

www.facebook.com/PoliticalScrapbook/photos/pb.148379514217.-2207520000.1486153408./10155229793159218/?type=3

On Monday morning, between 9 and 10 there is a discussion with Hilary Benn on this website, livestreamed.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/events/scrutinising-brexit-conversation-rt-hon-hilary-benn-mp

livestream.com/accounts/5208398/events/6893181

White paper with the good wheeze of "encouraging" old people out of their houses to free them up for families.

Oh good - seems to me that this blame game is being used by everyone.

So NO! I will move out of my 3 bedroomed house which I own if I chose to do and for no other reason. I am not about to help dig this government out of its rubbish housing policies.

Build Houses!!!!! Simples. If the large developers won't do it forcibly buy the banked land and build them ourselves. God are they dim!!!

This is another interesting case happening this week. Campaign Against the Arms Trade has been given permission to go to judicial review about the UK selling arms to Saudi Arabia.

www.caat.org.uk/resources/countries/saudi-arabia/legal-2016

Yes Caroline Flint (Lab) was having a go at the housing minister on the Peston programme, about the massive land banks held by a small group of major house builders.
What's the betting that the White Paper is just a lot of lukewarm words.
The tories have made lots of announcements about housing in the last 6.5 years and done little except for subsiding a few first time buyers (or is it subsidising the builders...?) There has been a very low level of house building on their watch.

Except in my village......!

It all depends on where you live, here in the South there is mucho building going on,
My own village has doubled in size in the last three years and is more the size of a small town now.

Not much going on in my neck of the woods in the South. 6 houses just about to be finished on a redundant public house site. 600 to be built next to Shoreham airport. But that's the first I can remember for years. Will hardly touch the surface. No extra school places or doctors surgery. Excellent planning I call that.

Mind you planning or not, in Newark (Sussex) the council held a referendum about where houses should be built, so the council and population made a planning decision. Tories overrode them. So much for the judgement that decisions should be made locally.

If you look at the stats the building of new houses is at a very low ebb. So individual examples are misleading.
I think it makes sense to make it easy for older people to downsize. This has to be one of the easy ways to help the housing shortage.
Man on the radio saying that the supply of retirement homes is about 25% of the potential demand. Instead house builders build 4 bedroomed homes because that's what suits them best if they can get away with it.
Shortage of nice, new energy-efficient, low-maintenance, safe accommodation is a barrier to downsizing.
Where I live there are loads of LA built bungalows that use a lot of land, built in 50s and 60s. Nobody's built any of these for years. But they haven't been building an alternative either, despite a rising retirement population (fuelled by people moving to the seaside when they retire).
A more recent model is the retirement village approach pioneered by Extracare. There are two large facilities in Milton Keynes - where there is still plenty of building land. The last government should have been looking forward and supporting housing associations to do more along these lines
www.extracare.org.uk/villages-and-schemes/retirement-villages/shenley-wood-village/#shenleywoodvillage-village-btn:selected=true