… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Tag: boris johnson

  • Some light Christmas reading

    Spread the love

    A few politics articles for light Christmas reading …

    Why are taxpayers spending £60m on a bridge for Joanna Lumley?

    The bridge has been sold as a new public right of way by Johnson. In reality it is anything but. TfL’s business case suggests that just 0.03% of all those using the bridge will be people making new trips. The rest will be either tourists or others already on the Southbank.

    …

    So who will benefit from this bridge? Well according to the business plan, the biggest benefit of the bridge will be to “residential property values”. Incredibly, they estimate that the bridge will raise local property values by an estimated £84 million.

    So excellent news for the tiny number of wealthy property owners in central London. Not so good news for the millions of people struggling to afford the cost of their monthly travelcard to work.

    …

    TfL bury Boris bike fare hike under the Christmas tree

    Bullingdon Tory idiot Boris Johnson

    …

    The cycle hire scheme, perhaps Boris Johnson’s most notable achievement as mayor, has so far been serially underused, with a complex hiring mechanism turning potential users away.

    …

    Promised “at no cost to taxpayers” it remains substantially subsidised to the tune of millions of pounds a year.

    A poor value-for-money sponsorship deal with Barclays and a complex hiring mechanism, means that it has so far failed to generate anything like enough revenue to cover its costs.

    …

    Iain Duncan Smith to meet Universal Credit target in 700 years’ timeImage of IDS Iain Duncan Smith

    Ian Duncan Smith promised that more than a million people would be signed up to his universal credit scheme by April 2014, with twelve million signed up by 2017.

    However, new figures released today reveal the DWP currently have just 17,850 people on their caseload.

    This means that at the current rate of progress, it will take them almost 700 more years to meet their original target of twelve million.

    …

    Christmas cannot be captured in fairytale endings, Archbishop warns

    [T]he true spirit of Christmas cannot be captured in fairytale endings, the Archbishop of Canterbury will tell the faithful.

    …

    Life-size cardboard Ed Miliband cutout ‘held HOSTAGE’ after being ‘stolen’ from County Hall

    …

    A statement from Worcestershire County Council read: “We are aware that a life-sized picture has gone missing out of the Labour room within County Hall.

    “Staff and elected members are working closely to ensure that it is returned and this situation is concluded.”

    The cut-out is the same height as the Labour leader – at 5ft 9in.

    It is alleged that prior to its disappearance, some staff members turned the cardboard Ed around so people walking past could only see his backside in the window.

  • UK politics review – the lurch towards Fascism

    Spread the love

    UK political events combine into a lurch towards Fascism.

    The gagging law is passed. Called the Transparency of Lobbying Bill, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act it has nothing to do with transparency of lobbying and everything to do with silencing the government’s critics and opponents. It’s a huge blow against trade unions and other campaigning groups like 38degrees and charities. The Conservative-pretendLiberal coalition have attacked democracy by passing this law.

    Fascism is described by it’s creator Benito Mussolini as corporatism – the unification of corporations and government. This is entirely the action that the gagging law continues to excuse. Fascism is right-wing authoritarianism typified by attacks on trade unions and political opponents.

    Home secretary Theresa May wants to strip suspected terrorists of their nationality and leave them stateless. This is to be done through the use of secret courts. Theresa May has previously stripped dual-nationals of UK nationality so that they could then be renditioned, etc.

    This is intended to be done to suspected terrorists. If there was any evidence against them they would be terrorists. Political activists and dissidents are suspected terrorists. Terrorism as defined in UK law is not necessarily anything to do with explosives or arms or similar threats. Once again the government is seen to be silencing it’s critics and opponents.

    Madman and London Mayor Boris Johnson wants police to use water cannon and “get medieval” on protesters. The riots of 2011 were sparked by the police murder of Mark Duggan.

    Tory MP calls police on handful of retired constituents delivering petition against lobbying bill ‘gagging law’

    Mark Duggan: profile of Tottenham police shooting victim

    later edit: Home Secretary Theresa May’s intention is to deprive ‘naturalised’ subjects i.e. from abroad and granted UK status, of UK nationality. It’s still disproportionate since it only needs suspicion rather than any evidence and the powers are bound to be extended later. Politicians love terrorism because it gives them cover for Fascist laws.

    Although reported almost universally as suspected terrorists it is actually “… the Secretary of State is satisfied that the deprivation is conducive to the public good because the person, while having that citizenship status, has conducted him or herself in a manner which is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the United Kingdom, any of the Islands, or any British overseas territory.” [source] That seems far wider than suspected terrorists.

    5/2/14
    Rise in citizenship-stripping as government cracks down on UK fighters in Syria | The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

    Former British citizens killed by drone strikes after passports revoked | The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

    ‘Medieval Exile’: The 41 Britons stripped of their citizenship | The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

  • Commentary and analysis of recent political events

    Spread the love

    Number of homeless in England has risen for 3 years in a row, report says

    Homelessness has increased for three consecutive years, partly because of housing shortages and cuts to benefits, with an estimated 185,000 people a year now affected in England, a report says.

    Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Crisis found almost one in 10 people experience homelessness at some point in their life, with one in 50 experiencing it in the last five years.

    …

    Responding to the report, Emma Reynolds, the shadow housing minister, accused David Cameron of breaking his promises to tackle homelessness and get Britain building.

    “Homelessness has risen every year under this government, the number of families with children living in bed and breakfasts is at a 10-year high and house-building is at its lowest in peacetime since the 1920s,” she said.

    Leslie Morphy, chief executive of Crisis, urged the government to address a chronic lack of affordable housing and consider the impact of its cuts to housing benefit, such as the bedroom tax, welfare cap and shared accommodation rate.

    …

    Image of Accident and emergencyA&E Winter Crisis: Patients Wait 12 Hours

    Hundreds of patients are being forced to wait more than four hours to be seen by accident and emergency departments as the winter crisis begins.

    It is the first time since April that emergency departments have struggled to hit their four-hour targets as admissions to A&E hit the highest level since data started being collected in November 2010.

    According to NHS England figures, 3,678 patients across the country were forced to wait between four and 12 hours for treatment.

    Five patients were not seen for more than 12 hours last week – the busiest week of the year with 415,000 people visiting A&E departments.

    Waiting times were worst in major A&E wards where just 92.2% of patients were seen within four hours.

    …

    Free-Market Ideology: The Destruction of Lives

    The over-policing of America

    BoJo the bozo: Cycling safety campaigners slam Boris Johnson over lack of helmet and hi-viz 

    Idiot Johnson is not the only one setting a poor example. As a cyclist, I advise you to wear a helmet as I was advised by my GP (doctor). If you fall from a bike, you’re falling six feet or so possibly with your head impacting the ground. Even presidents can have a ‘bicycle accident’.

  • Politics news allsorts

    Spread the love

    Commentary and analysis of recent UK politics events

    Related: Over 1,000 cyclists stage die-in protest outside Transport for London HQ

    http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/12/george-osborne-becomes-first-senior-tory-criticise-boris-johnsons-iq-and-inequality

    George Osborne has become the first senior Tory to distance himself from Boris Johnson’s remarks about IQ and inequality.

    In a speech this week, the Mayor of London had said noted that 16 per cent of “our species” had an IQ of less than 85, and just two per cent of had an IQ of more than 130. Under such conditions, true equality was never possible, he said: “Indeed, some measure of inequality is essential for the spirit of envy and keeping up with the Joneses that is, like greed, a valuable spur to economic activity.”

    On the Andrew Marr Show, Osborne said: “I would not have put it like that. I don’t agree with everything he said. I think there is actually increasingly common agreement across the political spectrum you can’t achieve equality of outcome, but you should be able to achieve equality of opportunity. You should give everyone, wherever they come from, the best chance, and, actually, education is the key to this.”

    …

    I know someone who was cycling and ended up in the wheelarch of a London bus. The driver was very sorry and in shock. Luckily she wasn’t physically hurt.

    It’s not all bad news. George Osborne’s family has a cute new puppy.

  • Politics news allsorts

    Spread the love

    Comment and analysis of recent UK politics events.

    Image of a badger

    Major Tory party donor chosen as chair of government nature watchdog

    Like it says but apparently totally coincidental that an investment banker is appointed head of wildlife and nature watchdog, Natural England.

    The appointment comes at a sensitive time for both Natural England and the government, which has had to defend itself from accusations from 41 conservation groups that only four of its 25 pledges on environment and nature are progressing well.

    Bullingdon Tory idiot Boris Johnson

    Tory Bullinger [edit: Bullingdon] idiot employs a cornflake analogy to promote the Tories’ genetic superiority of the ruling elite thesis

    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/27/boris-johnson-thatcher-greed-good

    “Whatever you may think of the value of IQ tests it is surely relevant to a conversation about equality that as many as 16% of our species have an IQ below 85 while about 2% …” he said as he departed from the text of his speech to ask whether anyone in his City audience had a low IQ. To muted laughter he asked: “Over 16% anyone? Put up your hands.” He then resumed his speech to talk about the 2% who have an IQ above 130.

    Johnson then told the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, which helped lay the basis for Thatcherism in the 1970s: “The harder you shake the pack the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top.”

    “… greed [is] a valuable spur to economic activity.”

    Image of Royal Mail postboxRoyal Mail shares: Goldman Sachs sets price target of 610p

    Goldman Sachs has risked a further escalation of the Royal Mail privatisation row by putting a price target on the shares of 610p despite telling the government that the business should be floated at 330p last month.

    Analysts at Goldman said the postal group’s valuation should benefit from an increase in parcel deliveries, despite falling letter volumes.

    The investment bank’s 12-month price target of 610p represents an 85% premium on the flotation price, and gave further ammunition to those critics of the privatisation who argue the government sold off Royal Mail too cheaply.