mockingbird_franklin Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 It's not just tribunals that the Government are messing with, http://mikesivier.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/perverting-the-course-of-justice-once-a-crime-now-government-policy/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Graphs which use something other than zero as the base are misleading. Nevertheless, there's no mistaking the long-term trend line here, even if it should be flatter than presented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Didn't see this before The news that the Government is considering retrospectively hiking interest rates on existing student loans has rightly caused outrage. Now we have learned of ministers’ plans to rip up the loans agreement with 3.6 million graduates and hike up their repayments in order to help make the overall student loan book more attractive to potential investors as a policy paper commissioned by ministers and submitted to BIS in 2011 has come to light. With the failure of George’s Osborne’s economic plan, which has led to the government borrowing £245 billion more than planned, ministers are desperate to make a quick buck by selling off the student loan book. Their policies have failed, so now they are coming after graduates. Millions of students took out a student loan in good faith and as graduates pay back a proportion of their income every month in the knowledge that they were slowly working towards the full repayment of their student debt. Now they are being asked to pay for the government’s failure. Retrospective changes to repayment terms would set a worrying precedent for the future, destroying confidence in the system and make it impossible for graduates to plan their finances because they will always be concerned of the prospect of new hikes to their repayment. How can people starting courses now have confidence that their terms won’t be altered in a similar way? Since graduating, people have made decisions, bought homes, taken jobs and managed their finances on the basis of stable agreed terms on the repayment of their student loan. But now the government is tearing this certainty and stability to shreds and is drawing up plans to burden them with extra costs at a time when incomes are already being squeezed on an unprecedented scale. This secret plan is also revealing of the Government’s priorities – it would be deeply regressive, hitting middle income earners the most, a group the Government seems happy to disregard in its pursuit of ready cash to plug the hole left by the Chancellor’s failure. Universities Minister David Willetts has publically promised time and time again that he wanted to give students more informed choices about the decisions they make. Just last month he told a conference that “university represents a huge and life changing choice for people and they are entitled to the key information so they can make the right decision for their particular circumstances”. On that point, I would agree with him. But behind closed doors he was betraying that pledge by planning to make graduates pay much more than they were told they would when taking out their loans, plotting a move which would create huge uncertainty and instability. The government’s 2011 Higher Education White Paper announced its intention to examine selling off the student loan book. But no one imagined that this study would lead to such a public betrayal of students and graduates. It is no wonder that ministers didn’t want this report to see the light of day: BIS tried to stop the document coming out because of the politically damage it could cause. It’s time to bring these plans out of the shadows and allow proper scrutiny of the future of student loans by the public that took them out so that they could benefit from the life-changing benefits of a higher education. The Government must move quickly to restore confidence for the millions of graduates now fearful that their monthly repayments are about to be hiked up and come clean about their plans. We need a system which underpins long term certainty and allows people to plan for the future. Shabana Mahmood is Shadow Minister for Universities & Science and MP for Birmingham Ladywood LabourList Well they will never have the student vote and the Lib Dems are toxic to students and graduates so hell, why not got for it? Get in all your horrible policies while you still can! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 It's not just tribunals that the Government are messing with, http://mikesivier.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/perverting-the-course-of-justice-once-a-crime-now-government-policy/ The last sentence in that piece is especially worth quoting again. As Mr Meacher wrote: David Cameron’s instincts are “that there is no such thing as the rule of law, and that the only things that ultimately matter are power, fear and money”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Graphs which use something other than zero as the base are misleading. Nevertheless, there's no mistaking the long-term trend line here, even if it should be flatter than presented. Hopefully they will one day be just a horrible chapter in a history book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 To be fair to everyone here, whatever colour you take your politics, driving around in a van asking illegal immigrants, most of whom can't read, to text the authorities about going home is perhaps the shittest idea I have ever heard. Yes. But then it's not aimed at the illegal immigrants. It's aimed at the tory voters who might drift to Ukip. That's why it's in English. Without making this petty political despite the best efforts of others anyone and I really do mean anyone that genuinely (ie: not in the cynical political sense) thinks this is a good idea to impact on illegal immigration really ought to check themselves in to Dignitas now and do the rest of the human race a favour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Graphs which use something other than zero as the base are misleading. Nevertheless, there's no mistaking the long-term trend line here, even if it should be flatter than presented. Hopefully they will one day be just a horrible chapter in a history book. If you genuinely believe that you're far more naive than I've given you credit for. Like them or no they have been around for the last 300 years and there will always be a political party to represent the interests of the privileged and those that aspire to join them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) there will always be a political party to represent the interests of the privileged and those that aspire to join them. Well that is one way of describing them I guess but it doesn't quite tell the whole story does it. They are certainly a party that represents the privileged but you forgot to mention that whilst doing so they do it at the expense of **** over the poorest and most vulnerable in society. They are a party that lack any compassion or morals. The first role of any Government for me is to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable in society are taken care off. For this mob that has always been bottom of their list of priorities. I have been fortunate enough in my life to have never needed any help from the state. However I have genuinely been disgusted by the way the Tories, along with the lap dog lib dems, have gone about slashing public services that the poorest and most vulnerable in society are most reliant on. I really can't see how anyone with any decency about them can be comfortable with what is happening. It is shameful how they have stigmatised those claiming benefits and tarred them all with the same brush as the tiny minority who are swinging the lead. I have said before I am not rich by any stretch but I will happily pay a few more quid in taxes if it ensures that our public services are protected and those most in need are protected and I'd like to think most would agree. The Tories list of shame is simply never ending .Arguably their ultimate shame is yet to be realised in their wilful destruction of the NHS which is rapidly happening due to the reckless changes they are making. Thankfully they won't be in power long enough to see that through. Edited July 30, 2013 by markavfc40 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Graphs which use something other than zero as the base are misleading. Nevertheless, there's no mistaking the long-term trend line here, even if it should be flatter than presented. Graphs showing one party in isolation also don't really dispaly anything particularly meaningful. Over the last 7 elections, the average share of the votes for each part are: Conservative 37%, Labour 35.5%, Liberal 19%. It's obvious that the third party have taken a big share of the vote from the other two, and that there's a floating voter bloc of around 5%-10% who make all the difference to the results. Which is kind of depressing, and why the Tories are looking nervously at the UKIP voters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 It seems they get nastier and nastier http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23503095 Housing benefit challenge dismissed by High Court Disabled families have lost a court challenge to social housing benefit cuts for residents with spare bedrooms in England, Wales and Scotland ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 It seems they get nastier and nastier http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23503095 Housing benefit challenge dismissed by High Court Disabled families have lost a court challenge to social housing benefit cuts for residents with spare bedrooms in England, Wales and Scotland ....... Is the implication here that "they" also include the judiciary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 It seems they get nastier and nastier http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23503095 Housing benefit challenge dismissed by High Court Disabled families have lost a court challenge to social housing benefit cuts for residents with spare bedrooms in England, Wales and Scotland ....... Is the implication here that "they" also include the judiciary? The fact that the Gvmt are happy for this challenge to be defeated and they continue with this quite obscene attack on some of the most vulnerable in society means that most of contempt is aimed at them 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Border Police at Kensal Green station, stopping black people. What's he reaching for? Mirrored sunglasses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Border Police at Kensal Green station, stopping black people. What's he reaching for? Mirrored sunglasses? without any source material that picture could really be anything though .. it's hardly evidence of racist Britain , especially when one of the border officers is black 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 The first role of any Government for me is to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable in society are taken care off. when has any government ever done that ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted July 30, 2013 Author Moderator Share Posted July 30, 2013 The first role of any Government for me is to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable in society are taken care off. when has any government ever done that ?Do we really have to point out the obvious. Atlee's Labour government for starters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 The first role of any Government for me is to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable in society are taken care off. when has any government ever done that ? Do we really have to point out the obvious. Atlee's Labour government for starters you mean Atlee's Liberal Policy of Welfare state ( it was Beveridge was it not) but you know what I meant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) I think it is time we stopped using Churchill and Atlee as reference points, they both governed in exceptional circumstances and you really can't compare the rebuilding of the UK after being bombed half to hell to any time before or since. Atlee had a golden opportunity and in the main took it, but don't forget the upper classes still remained in their own bubble and no government has really taken a stance against nepotism and the vast amounts of land owned through inheritence. Edited July 30, 2013 by CarewsEyebrowDesigner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 without any source material that picture could really be anything though .. it's hardly evidence of racist Britain , especially when one of the border officers is blackRacist policies don't stop being racist when you pay some black people to get involved in implementing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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