Politics

[TicTacWoe 0]

That is possibly the best thing I've ever read

 

'My mate turned gay, and started listening to Erasure. He doesn't like to talk about it now'

 

The whole interview is mostly Erasure related

[ADP 0]

http://www.guardian....riage-interview

 

Christ.

 

 

What a fucking moron.

[Meenzer 15518]

That's a bit special...

[Tooj 17]

http://www.mirror.co...d-tells-1534632

 

Put your kids on a sofa bed: Out-of-touch Tory tells separated dad his children don't need own bedroom

14 Jan 2013 23:00

 

The former banker suggested BBC Radio 5 Live caller did not deserve a spare bedroom for his three children to sleep in at weekends

 

OUT-of-touch Welfare Minister Lord Freud sparked fury today by telling a separated dad-of-three his children should share a sofa bed when they stay with him.

 

The former banker suggested BBC Radio 5 Live caller Graeme Gair did not deserve a spare bedroom to put them in as they only stay with him at weekends and during ­holidays.

 

He had gone on Victoria ­Derbyshire’s show to defend the Government’s “bedroom tax”, which will see council and housing ­association tenants docked benefits from April if they have a spare room.

 

More than 600,000 will be hit, with those who have one extra room losing 14% of their housing benefit. Those with two lose 25%.

 

The peer, who earned a fortune in the City before being hired to slash the benefits bill, was accused of not living in the real world by Labour’s Teresa Pearce.

 

She predicted that the short-sighted “bedroom tax” will end up costing money in the long run.

 

She said: “Dads like this who try to do the right thing face losing contact with their children as they grow up and want some privacy.

 

“The cost to society is ridiculous for the sake of a bit of support.”

 

And Ken Sanderson of campaign group Families Need Fathers said: ­“Children aren’t ‘visitors’, they are family members who require proper care and support.

 

“If the Government is serious about putting family life at the centre of policy making, they will review the impact of these changes as a matter of urgency.”

 

Lord Freud also suggested that another caller, Janine Moxon, should take in a lodger if her 16-year-old son joins the Army so she could afford the benefit cut.

 

But she hit back: “That’s against the rules of my housing association.”

 

Truly in it together.

[Tooj 17]

http://welfarenewsservice.com/register-for-new-universal-credit-using-your-paypal-account/#.UP25oSfclLg

[Park Life 71]

 

 

More on the current in out stances here.

 

http://www.dailymail...uence-laws.html

 

 

Should get out while we can. 70% of UK law is now superceded by EU law made by anonymous apparatchinks somewhere in Burssels at a rate of 7,000 new pieces of legislation a year. The euro is fucked and half the countries in it bankcrupt. Get out!!!

[Howmanheyman 33149]

http://www.mirror.co...d-tells-1534632

 

 

 

Truly in it together.

About to go to bed but I read a bit about this only recently.

 

Only a buffoon or a callous, calculating Tory cunt could've thought up this 'bedroom' tax on the poor. Words don't do justice to how I feel about these bastards to be honest. As has been said, this recession is the best opportunity these bastards have of getting their way with the poor and out of work for years. It's their best chance to get people so desperate they'll accept anything any employer will chuck at them. Heaven help the poor worker in this country should we ever leave Europe.

[Kevin Carr's Gloves 3888]

Should get out while we can. 70% of UK law is now superceded by EU law made by anonymous apparatchinks somewhere in Burssels at a rate of 7,000 new pieces of legislation a year. The euro is fucked and half the countries in it bankcrupt. Get out!!!

 

Can you give proof of this please?

[Happy Face 29]

About to go to bed but I read a bit about this only recently.

 

Only a buffoon or a callous, calculating Tory cunt could've thought up this 'bedroom' tax on the poor. Words don't do justice to how I feel about these bastards to be honest. As has been said, this recession is the best opportunity these bastards have of getting their way with the poor and out of work for years. It's their best chance to get people so desperate they'll accept anything any employer will chuck at them. Heaven help the poor worker in this country should we ever leave Europe.

 

Wonder how this will affect my registered disabled mother who lives alone in the 3 bedroom family home and receives some assistance for the mortgage.

 

I guess she'll be forced to sell her home of decades and move into a shitty one room bedsit.

 

Lovely.

[Tooj 17]

About to go to bed but I read a bit about this only recently.

 

Only a buffoon or a callous, calculating Tory cunt could've thought up this 'bedroom' tax on the poor. Words don't do justice to how I feel about these bastards to be honest. As has been said, this recession is the best opportunity these bastards have of getting their way with the poor and out of work for years. It's their best chance to get people so desperate they'll accept anything any employer will chuck at them. Heaven help the poor worker in this country should we ever leave Europe.

 

That's a massive concern for me like. Or even if they get there way and don't have to answer to Europe on Labour Laws.

[Park Life 71]

Can you give proof of this please?

 

What are you some kind of dimwit? Read the internets ffs!!

Edited January 22, 2013 by Park Life

[Renton 21594]

 

 

 

Should get out while we can. 70% of UK law is now superceded by EU law made by anonymous apparatchinks somewhere in Burssels at a rate of 7,000 new pieces of legislation a year. The euro is fucked and half the countries in it bankcrupt. Get out!!!

 

You seem to be getting confused with the European court of human rights in Strasbourg which has little to do with the EU. Would you like us to withdraw from this? Surprised you of all people would rather trust the Tories with work legislation rather than the status quo as well, unless you are on a wind up.

[Dr Gloom 21913]

good to see these austerity measures really working. another two years anyone? sure why not? the medicine isn't working, let's not bother changing it. let's increase the doseage. tory fuckwits.

 

UK deficit higher than expected

 

By Sarah O’Connor, Economics Correspondent

 

Britain was forced to borrow more than expected last month to plug the gap between spending and revenues as the government struggled to improve the public finances at a time of economic malaise.

The budget deficit was £15.4bn in December, more than the £14.8bn in the same month a year ago and a touch higher than City economists were expecting. Corporate tax receipts were roughly the same as last year, while government spending rose more than other government receipts such as income tax.“Government borrowing appears on course to be higher than planned for the current year, as austerity measures have failed to reduce government spending and weak economic growth has resulted in disappointing tax revenues,” said Chris Williamson, an economist at Markit, the data company.

“The danger is that the data add to the risk of the UK losing its AAA credit rating, a risk that will intensify significantly if Friday’s gross domestic product report shows the UK entering a new downturn.”

All three of the main rating agencies have put the UK’s top triple A sovereign credit rating on watch for a potential downgrade.

Over the financial year so far, government borrowing is about 20 per cent lower than at the same point a year ago, but this reflects the one-off transfer of the Royal Mail’s pension fund to the government books, which has flattered the figures.

After stripping out that effect, public borrowing is about 7 per cent higher than a year ago as the government’s plan to balance the books remains off track. The year-to-date figures looked a little better than last month, thanks to official revisions to previous months’ borrowing figures.

Last month, George Osborne said he would have to extend austerity measures by an extra two years to 2018 to close the structural current budget deficit. On the forecasts of the official fiscal watchdog, he will also miss his target to have public debt falling as a share of output by 2015. Last month, the level of public debt rose to 70.7 per cent of gross domestic product, up from 66 per cent a year earlier.

The Treasury said: “These figures underline what the chancellor said at the Autumn Statement: it’s taking time, but the economy is healing. The deficit has come down by a quarter since 2010 and more than a million private sector jobs have been created.”

Government current spending rose 5.4 per cent while current revenue rose 3.6 per cent, including a 2.4 per cent rise in income tax receipts and a 0.2 per cent rise in corporation tax receipts.

 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/10b9c6b8-647d-11e2-9711-00144feab49a.html

[Christmas Tree 4725]

Record-breaking 30million Britons now in work:

 

 

Unemployment falls to 7.7% in 10th consecutive quarterly decline.

 

Rise in private sector jobs makes up for continuing cuts in public sector.

 

 

 

The number of people in work is at a record high of almost 30million.

 

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the total workforce across public and private sectors last year was 29.7million, the largest number since records began in 1971.

 

At the same time, unemployment dropped by 185,000, the biggest annual fall for more than a decade, to 2.49million. This is around the same level as when David Cameron entered Downing Street in May 2010.

 

 

The ONS also said the number of job vacancies has jumped to nearly 500,000, the largest since 2008, the year the recession began.

 

 

Part-time employment fell by 23,000, but this was offset by a 113,000 increase in the numbers employed full-time in the three months to November.

[Dr Gloom 21913]

Economic data due tomorrow pointing to a triple dip recession. Gordon Brown was right about austerity

[Howmanheyman 33149]

Wow! Good times ahead, break out the bubbly!

 

 

Meanwhile........

 

http://www.channel4....le-out-of-homes

 

http://www.guardian....at-has-no-logic

[Renton 21594]

Usual cherry picking by CT there I see. No mention of the imminent triple dip or Olivier Blanchard of the IMF admitting austerity hasn't worked and telling the government to reign it in. Advice I'm sure they will dogmatically ignore.

 

Got to admit though that the employment and unemployment figures are puzzling considering the economy is faring disastrously by any other metric. Those figures seem to be the anomaly, really not sure why.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Renton

[Dr Gloom 21913]

Statistics cast doubt on coalition's '500,000 new jobs' claim

 

Labour accuses government of 'fiddling figures' after ONS data shows 105,000 of total on mostly unpaid back-to-work schemes

 

 

Government claims to have created an additional 500,000 jobs in the past year have been called into question after it was revealed that one in five of the people involved are on government work schemes, including tens of thousands still claiming unemployment benefits.

In the last few months the government has trumpeted "record high" employment and the net creation of half a million jobs over the past year.

But figures obtained by the Guardian from the Office for National Statistics show that just over 20% of this total (105,000) involves those on largely unpaid government back-to-work schemes, the majority of whom are still claiming jobseeker's allowance.

They include unpaid workers doing voluntary and mandatory work experience in supermarkets and charity shops.

Many more tens of thousands with no jobs, training or pay, who simply attend regular job hunt workshops as part of the work programme run by the Department for Work and Pensions, are also being counted as employed.

The ONS, which is responsible for employment figures, says it is following guidelines set out by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and counts people as employed if they are adding to the nation's economic output, regardless of whether or not they are paid.

But Labour accused the government of "fiddling the figures" by continuing to highlight them.

Ministers said that they were aware of the "quirk" in the system and had asked the ONS to alter its methods but still insisted that it made little difference to the overall picture.

Figures released in November showed that in the year from September 2011 510,000 net jobs had been created in the UK.

In December's autumn statement, the chancellor, George Osborne, highlighted these statistics, saying employment was "at a record high" and that it was forecast to continue to rise, adding that Britain now had "a greater proportion of its people in work than either the eurozone or the US".

But of those "employed", 105,000 were in back-to-work schemes. While people on such schemes have been counted within the employment figures for years, last year there was a dramatic increase in their number. This growth was partly down to new ONS 2012 counting criteria, under which the statisticians stopped tracking people on Labour's back-to-work schemes as the programmes were being wound down, and started tracking those on the new schemes of the coalition.

Though some of the people on government schemes were doing paid work while being helped as part of the work programme's support service, data from the Labour Force Survey, upon which employment figures are calculated, shows that at least 26,305 of these were doing voluntary unpaid work experience.

Overall a substantial majority of the 105,000 were likely to be subsisting on unemployment benefits – given that several DWP schemes are entirely unpaid – and only a minority of people on the work programme would have been in paid work placements.

Paul Bivand, from the research organisation Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion, said: "People who are unemployed should be counted as unemployed, whether or not they are on government schemes.

"The ONS should recognise that people who are not in a paid job, and are required to look for work to get their benefit, are unemployed. Whether they are getting job search help from Jobcentre Plus or work programme providers is immaterial."

A parliamentary answer from the ONS director general, Glen Watson, given in October last year, confirms that even if people were claiming jobseeker's allowance, they could still be counted as employed.

He said: "Those participants [in government schemes] whose activity comprises any form of work, work experience, or work-related training, are classified as in employment. This is regardless of whether the individual is paid or not."

Shortly after taking office in the last reshuffle in the autumn, the employment minister, Mark Hoban, wrote to the ONS director general seeking a change in the organisation's methods, saying he was "surprised to discover that a number of people on government programmes are classed as in employment".

Hoban wrote: "Many people struggle with the idea that someone in work-based training or a period of work experience can be categorised [as employed]."

The DWP dismissed as ridiculous any suggestion that it was creating back-to-work schemes involving work experience to boost overall job figures, saying its record of trying to deliver transparent figures spoke for itself.

Hoban said: "The fact is that there are 700,000 extra people in work compared to 2010 and unemployment has been falling since last spring. Any quirk in the way a small number of people on our schemes are counted makes little difference.

"These figures are independent of government and were collected in the same way under the previous administration, but I want them to be absolutely transparent which is why I've already raised this issue with the ONS last year."

The shadow employment minister, Stephen Timms, said that the government had been caught "fiddling employment figures".

He said: "105,000 of the claimed new jobs turn out to be just schemes. This helps to explain why employment seems to have risen when there has been no growth.

"Ever since the election ministers have accused the last government of fiddling employment figures – now they have been caught red-handed themselves."

Asked whether it was appropriate to count those on the jobseeker's allowance as employed, an ONS spokesperson said: "The classification of people as either employed, unemployed or economically inactive is based on an internationally agreed set of guidelines.

"This approach has been applied as consistently as possible to our labour market statistics for over 20 years, despite many changes to government training programmes and work-related benefits.

"The criteria are reviewed on a regular basis although no fundamental changes are expected in the foreseeable future."

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/15/statistics-doubt-coalition-500000-jobs

[NJS 4378]

The anomaly is that its mainly shit jobs being created - ones which are the aim of quitting the EU.

[Christmas Tree 4725]

Statistics cast doubt on coalition's '500,000 new jobs' claim

 

Labour accuses government of 'fiddling figures' after ONS data shows 105,000 of total on mostly unpaid back-to-work schemes

 

 

Government claims to have created an additional 500,000 jobs in the past year have been called into question after it was revealed that one in five of the people involved are on government work schemes, including tens of thousands still claiming unemployment benefits.

In the last few months the government has trumpeted "record high" employment and the net creation of half a million jobs over the past year.

But figures obtained by the Guardian from the Office for National Statistics show that just over 20% of this total (105,000) involves those on largely unpaid government back-to-work schemes, the majority of whom are still claiming jobseeker's allowance.

They include unpaid workers doing voluntary and mandatory work experience in supermarkets and charity shops.

Many more tens of thousands with no jobs, training or pay, who simply attend regular job hunt workshops as part of the work programme run by the Department for Work and Pensions, are also being counted as employed.

The ONS, which is responsible for employment figures, says it is following guidelines set out by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and counts people as employed if they are adding to the nation's economic output, regardless of whether or not they are paid.

But Labour accused the government of "fiddling the figures" by continuing to highlight them.

Ministers said that they were aware of the "quirk" in the system and had asked the ONS to alter its methods but still insisted that it made little difference to the overall picture.

Figures released in November showed that in the year from September 2011 510,000 net jobs had been created in the UK.

In December's autumn statement, the chancellor, George Osborne, highlighted these statistics, saying employment was "at a record high" and that it was forecast to continue to rise, adding that Britain now had "a greater proportion of its people in work than either the eurozone or the US".

But of those "employed", 105,000 were in back-to-work schemes. While people on such schemes have been counted within the employment figures for years, last year there was a dramatic increase in their number. This growth was partly down to new ONS 2012 counting criteria, under which the statisticians stopped tracking people on Labour's back-to-work schemes as the programmes were being wound down, and started tracking those on the new schemes of the coalition.

Though some of the people on government schemes were doing paid work while being helped as part of the work programme's support service, data from the Labour Force Survey, upon which employment figures are calculated, shows that at least 26,305 of these were doing voluntary unpaid work experience.

Overall a substantial majority of the 105,000 were likely to be subsisting on unemployment benefits – given that several DWP schemes are entirely unpaid – and only a minority of people on the work programme would have been in paid work placements.

Paul Bivand, from the research organisation Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion, said: "People who are unemployed should be counted as unemployed, whether or not they are on government schemes.

"The ONS should recognise that people who are not in a paid job, and are required to look for work to get their benefit, are unemployed. Whether they are getting job search help from Jobcentre Plus or work programme providers is immaterial."

A parliamentary answer from the ONS director general, Glen Watson, given in October last year, confirms that even if people were claiming jobseeker's allowance, they could still be counted as employed.

He said: "Those participants [in government schemes] whose activity comprises any form of work, work experience, or work-related training, are classified as in employment. This is regardless of whether the individual is paid or not."

Shortly after taking office in the last reshuffle in the autumn, the employment minister, Mark Hoban, wrote to the ONS director general seeking a change in the organisation's methods, saying he was "surprised to discover that a number of people on government programmes are classed as in employment".

Hoban wrote: "Many people struggle with the idea that someone in work-based training or a period of work experience can be categorised [as employed]."

The DWP dismissed as ridiculous any suggestion that it was creating back-to-work schemes involving work experience to boost overall job figures, saying its record of trying to deliver transparent figures spoke for itself.

Hoban said: "The fact is that there are 700,000 extra people in work compared to 2010 and unemployment has been falling since last spring. Any quirk in the way a small number of people on our schemes are counted makes little difference.

"These figures are independent of government and were collected in the same way under the previous administration, but I want them to be absolutely transparent which is why I've already raised this issue with the ONS last year."

The shadow employment minister, Stephen Timms, said that the government had been caught "fiddling employment figures".

He said: "105,000 of the claimed new jobs turn out to be just schemes. This helps to explain why employment seems to have risen when there has been no growth.

"Ever since the election ministers have accused the last government of fiddling employment figures – now they have been caught red-handed themselves."

Asked whether it was appropriate to count those on the jobseeker's allowance as employed, an ONS spokesperson said: "The classification of people as either employed, unemployed or economically inactive is based on an internationally agreed set of guidelines.

"This approach has been applied as consistently as possible to our labour market statistics for over 20 years, despite many changes to government training programmes and work-related benefits.

"The criteria are reviewed on a regular basis although no fundamental changes are expected in the foreseeable future."

 

http://www.guardian....ion-500000-jobs

 

Summed up in the paragraph

 

This approach has been applied as consistently as possible to our labour market statistics for over 20 years

[Renton 21594]

Now you're not cherry picking articles, you're not even cherry picking paragraphs or sentences. You're actually cherry picking parts of sentences to completely distort their meaning! Are you aware you're actually doing this or just completely shameless?

Edited January 24, 2013 by Renton

[Christmas Tree 4725]

Now you're not cherry picking articles, you're not even cherry picking paragraphs or sentences. You're actually cherry picking parts of sentences to completely distort their meaning! Are you aware you're actually doing this or just completely shameless?

 

Im sure you are intelligent enough to understand that the very fact that they have been doing it the same way for 20 odd years should be enough for you to realise there is no great conspiracy here.

 

The line "guidelines set out by the International Labour Organisation" should really have been enough.

 

And then on top of all that the ONS is actually independent.

 

Shame that some cant simply enjoy a good news story.

[Dr Gloom 21913]

Im sure you are intelligent enough to understand that the very fact that they have been doing it the same way for 20 odd years should be enough for you to realise there is no great conspiracy here.

 

The line "guidelines set out by the International Labour Organisation" should really have been enough.

 

And then on top of all that the ONS is actually independent.

 

Shame that some cant simply enjoy a good news story.

 

shame you don't comprehend that the economy and the job market isn't a good news story right now

[NJS 4378]

If 500k "proper" jobs had been created I would have expected to see a huge increase in tax receipts. As this hasnt happen the only conclusion is they are mainly shitty jobs.

 

Another two million jobs wont help if it means no more tax.

 

Of course I want to see more people in work but not as virtual slaves.

[Christmas Tree 4725]

shame you don't comprehend that the economy and the job market isn't a good news story right now

 

The job market is a good news story.

 

The economy is going to bubble along the bottom for years to come. There is no magic bubble out there to change that like there was during the last 30 years.

 

This is now all about re-allignment be that wages, benefits etc. Not great I give you that, but thats the world we are in.