The future of Government (if any)

[anaconda]

Latest post of the previous page:

Oliver Letwin blocked help for black youth after 1985 riots

David Cameron’s chief policy adviser has apologised after he helped to ward off cabinet pleas for assistance for black unemployed youth following the 1985 inner-city riots with the argument that any help would only end up in the “disco and drug trade”.

Met him once briefly with Nick. I didnt get around to asking about his views on race! He was a bit oily though.

[Nick]

Hmmm.... being Jewish, I suspect Oliver Letwin knows a thing or two about racial discrimination. I wonder how that oily rag the Grauniad would have said if a black gentleman had been described as "oily".....

And of course, the Grauniad is spinning again, telling lies, and more concerned with righteous indignation than any meaningful analysis. As usual.

He's a atheist, btw. He told me so.

[Dave B]

Jewish and atheist eh?



I think the Jews of Israel are demonstrating the basic principles of racial prejudice and hatred quite well.

[Alan H]

And a very happy and wealthy New Year to all our bankers: Banking culture inquiry shelved by regulator FCA

The FCA had planned to look at whether pay, promotion or other incentives had contributed to scandals involving banks in the UK and abroad.

[Alan H]

No doubt caused entirely by the increased availability of empty doorways: London rough sleepers double in five years

[anaconda]

Hmmm.... being Jewish, I suspect Oliver Letwin knows a thing or two about racial discrimination. I wonder how that oily rag the Grauniad would have said if a black gentleman had been described as "oily".....

And of course, the Grauniad is spinning again, telling lies, and more concerned with righteous indignation than any meaningful analysis. As usual.

He's a atheist, btw. He told me so.

Hmm I'm thinking oily in a Kenneth Baker/ Spitting Image type way. Much like many Tories I've met. Inbreeding perhaps??

[anaconda]

And a very happy and wealthy New Year to all our bankers: Banking culture inquiry shelved by regulator FCA

The FCA had planned to look at whether pay, promotion or other incentives had contributed to scandals involving banks in the UK and abroad.

Yes it wouldn't do to look too hard would it. We all know how much we need bankers, and quasi self regulation works just fine.

[Dave B]

And a very happy and wealthy New Year to all our bankers: Banking culture inquiry shelved by regulator FCA

The FCA had planned to look at whether pay, promotion or other incentives had contributed to scandals involving banks in the UK and abroad.

It was reported that even some bankers wanted this inquiry because they actually wanted the transparency it might have given.

But I think this sort of thing only enhances the suspicions that there are conversation in the fat cat clubs, that "Yes, Minister" is not far from fact.

[Alan H]

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr: Saudi Arabia executes top Shia cleric

Saudi Arabia has executed the prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the interior ministry said.
He was among 47 put to death after being convicted of terrorism offences, it said in a statement.

Sheikh Nimr's arrest in the following year, during which he was shot, triggered days of protests in which three people were killed.

His death sentence was confirmed in October 2014, with his family saying he had been found guilty among other charges of seeking "foreign meddling" in the kingdom.

Why is the Governement still dealing with this utterly barbaric regime?

[Alan H]

You're in power and you and your friends quite like it there. What would any self-serving Tory do to entrench their position and cripple the opposition? The end of ‘pairing’? Opposition parties respond to Tory plan to cut their funding

Labour is considering withdrawing cooperation with the Conservatives in Westminster over a proposed 19 per cent reduction in state money to opposition parties in parliament.

Party officials confirmed they would consider halting cooperation with the Tories over parliamentary business unless the government considers rowing back on plans to cut “Short money” (named after Ted Short, a former leader of the Commons) announced in the autumn statement. Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has described the cuts as an attack on democracy… not the cost of politics as the government claims.

Opposition parties claim the government proposal shows the Tories are attempting to halt the ability of opposition parties to scrutinise legislation at the same time as they are increasing the numbers of Tory special advisers.

[Alan H]

David Cameron vows crackdown on poverty on same day as figures reveal homelessness has doubled under his premiership

David Cameron has used his New Year message to commit his last four years in Downing Street to beating poverty.

But on the same day new figures revealed that homelessness has doubled in London under his premiership, with the Conservative government’s cutbacks to housing benefit and its poor record on provision of affordable housing cited as key factors behind the worrying rise in people sleeping rough.

More than 7,500 people were left without a home in the capital, compared to 3,673 in 2009/2010 – the year he entered Number 10 – according to figures collected by the Combined Homelessness Information Network.

[Alan H]

Why do we need social housing anyway when we have so many landlords with a social conscience all competing to provide cheap, warm and dry private rented accommodation? The End of Social Housing

Far from addressing the so-called housing ‘crisis’, the Bill has been designed to bring about the end of social housing in this country. To call it a Housing Bill doesn’t do justice to the real scope of its ambitions. The intrusive new measures it introduces for monitoring social housing tenants, and its centralisation of power in the Secretary of State, makes the Bill a social engineering plan that will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Britain.

Rather than alleviating the housing ‘crisis’, either by building genuinely affordable homes or by increasing provision of social housing, the Bill seeks to use that crisis for political and financial ends. On the one hand it forces local housing authorities to implement Conservative housing policy, and on the other it takes planning power away from those authorities. Both these hands will be wielded by what, if the Bill is passed, are the new and punitive powers of the Secretary of State, not only against the people who rely on social housing for a home, but also against the councils and housing associations that provide them.

[Nick]

"Genuinely affordable homes" Quite clearly someone who doesn't understand the problem.

[Alan H]

"Genuinely affordable homes" Quite clearly someone who doesn't understand the problem.

Yes, what would 'a collective of architects, urban designers, engineers, planners, building industry consultants, academics, photographers, web designers, writers and housing activists' know about the problem, eh?

[Alan H]

'Lift the penalties on council house building' - council leader

Britain needs more homes - over 200,000 homes a year homes at prices that everyone can afford. More homes need to be built, more empty houses brought back into occupation, houses for sale and houses for rent.

But who can afford to buy? The average price of a house in Stroud district is over £250,000, and prices rose by 15% last year – the biggest increase outside the south-east. According to the National Housing Federation, compared to the average salary, homes in the south-west are ten times more expensive and households would need an annual pay rise of more than £30,000 to afford an average home.

Worst off are young couples, often both in work and looking for a home of their own. Instead of buying a home they might consider renting. But this is also becoming less affordable. In our area the average cost of renting is nearly £700 a month, taking over a third of local incomes.

The government proposes starter homes that can be bought with a 20% discount on the price to make them more affordable. However according to homelessness charity, Shelter, these will be unaffordable for families on average incomes in almost 60% of local authorities in England. Those on the national living wage would be priced out of all but 2% of areas by 2020. Also the starter homes would replace the affordable rented housing that local councils can set as a condition on new developments.

[Nick]

"Genuinely affordable homes" Quite clearly someone who doesn't understand the problem.

Yes, what would 'a collective of architects, urban designers, engineers, planners, building industry consultants, academics, photographers, web designers, writers and housing activists' know about the problem, eh?

From what they have written, it would appear the answer to your question is "Not enough". The one area in which none is making a claim of expertise is the affordability of housing, the very area under discussion. And it shows.

[Alan H]

"Genuinely affordable homes" Quite clearly someone who doesn't understand the problem.

Yes, what would 'a collective of architects, urban designers, engineers, planners, building industry consultants, academics, photographers, web designers, writers and housing activists' know about the problem, eh?

From what they have written, it would appear the answer to your question is "Not enough". The one area in which none is making a claim of expertise is the affordability of housing, the very area under discussion. And it shows.

[Dave B]

One wonders if the Tories, with their vision being entirely blinkered by an outdated ideology and their herds of carefully chosen yes-men advisors, have any valid idea about the real world in which we live.

[Alan H]

One wonders if the Tories, with their vision being entirely blinkered by an outdated ideology and their herds of carefully chosen yes-men advisors, have any valid idea about the real world in which we live.

They do seem to have a somewhat quaint idea of what 'affordable' means to the vast majority.

I'm not aware that there is any social housing provided by the state in the USA and that all houses/apartments are privately rented. As far as I can see, the poorest in the US live in trailer parks - with all the derogatory stereotypes that go along with that being heaped upon those unfortunate souls. With the incessant Tory assaults on the bottom end of our society, perhaps that's where we're headed?

[Dave B]

One wonders if the Tories, with their vision being entirely blinkered by an outdated ideology and their herds of carefully chosen yes-men advisors, have any valid idea about the real world in which we live.

They do seem to have a somewhat quaint idea of what 'affordable' means to the vast majority.

I'm not aware that there is any social housing provided by the state in the USA and that all houses/apartments are privately rented. As far as I can see, the poorest in the US live in trailer parks - with all the derogatory stereotypes that go along with that being heaped upon those unfortunate souls. With the incessant Tory assaults on the bottom end of our society, perhaps that's where we're headed?

There are "projects" in America

So, what will British shanty towns look like, I wonder?

[Alan H]

There are "projects" in America

So, what will British shanty towns look like, I wonder?

I've a feeling I've heard of 'projects' before, but not realised what they were. Very interesting. Thanks!