Which Tyler Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 So, following the predictable millionaires' budget; our rating for civil liberties has officially dropped a level as well (unrelated to the budget, but very much related to the government) https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/16/hostile-authoritarian-uk-downgraded-in-civic-freedoms-index Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A wilding Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 You just beat me to thread creation. On civil liberties: they are also having another go at their"Online Safety Bill", aka snoopers charter to give them full access to monitor everything anyone does online. On the budget: Free childcare is obviously good. But I note that it is only going to "start" being phased in in over a year's time, i.e. probably not until shortly before the next election. Which means they can smugly hand over something popular but unaffordable to whoever wins that election. I suppose we can't really object to the tax increases by stealth (thresholds not increasing in line with the 10%+ inflation), which were carefully not mentioned. But at the same time the budget gives a massive tax cut to the 1% with the pension changes, hidden behind the fig leaf of encouraging consultant doctors not to retire early. Not only in upping the maximum pension value (full disclosure - I had been keeping a wary eye open not to reach it), but still more by increasing the annual contribution limit to 60K. We obviously could not expect anything to rein in the ultra rich or profiteering companies. So all in all this felt like quite a clever budget. I suppose that was to be expected since Hunt is one of the very few Tories left over from the pre Brexit populism days. ants 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 57 minutes ago, A wilding said: Free childcare is obviously good. But I note that it is only going to "start" being phased in in over a year's time, i.e. probably not until shortly before the next election. Which means they can smugly hand over something popular but unaffordable to whoever wins that election. I was speaking to my son's nursery manager this morning, they have no spaces for 1-2 year olds until next September due to over subscription, unless someone is going to build a load of nurseries this helps almost nobody get back to work (it will be nice for people who are already paying and have spaces though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 Yes, both the childcare and pensions measures appear to do more to hand money to upper middle class people already in work than to get economically inactive people back into work, which is their stated intention. I don't necessarily object to that, at least as far as the childcare subsidy goes: middle class earners should get benefits from the state, it gives them a stake in the system. But both things do look like tinkering with the economic issues rather than fixing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 6 hours ago, BigFatCoward said: unless someone is going to build a load of nurseries This happened in Germany. They promised everyone free places about 10 years back and they're still building new nurseries to keep up with that demand. ants and Fragile Bird 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 I have no problem with strikes, but can someone explain how the first train is later the day after the strike, than on the actual day of the strike. Do the people who are working just abandon the trains in random places for maximum inconvenience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 Really pleased for those striking workers who have secured improvements to their pay and conditions. No thanks to Starmer, who, frankly, should be ashamed of the way he has handled these disputes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 Didn't I hear some senior police officer bleating recently about his inability to get rid of problem officers? ants 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 Lol Mr. Chatywin et al. and ants 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted March 19, 2023 Share Posted March 19, 2023 Evil Matrim Fox Cauthon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 (edited) Oh dear, that's not very good reading. Racist, homophobic and sexist. Edited March 21, 2023 by BigFatCoward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog-days Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 But on the bright side, the Met chief says it isn't institutional. /irony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 16 minutes ago, dog-days said: But on the bright side, the Met chief says it isn't institutional. /irony To be fair, that's like how football managers don't criticise their players in public. If he loses the dressing room he has no chance of turning it round. A wilding 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Will read the full thing later but this is scathing ants 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A wilding Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Well if there was ever any doubt that Cressida Dick needed to go, this report has laid that to rest. And yes, Mark Rowley has a mountain to climb, but to do him justice he had already started trying to climb it well before this report came out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A wilding Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 On a totally different subject, I see Sunak is defending his pension tax breaks for the rich on the grounds that they "will reduce NHS waiting lists". That is just so stereotypical of the Tories. A few years back we had the campaign slogan "leave the EU so we can spend an extra 350 million a week on the NHS" which has now morphed into reality as "help the NHS by giving tax cuts to the rich" Prince of the North and mormont 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 (edited) Break the Met up https://news.sky.com/story/metropolitan-police-is-institutionally-racist-sexist-and-homophobic-and-may-have-more-officers-like-couzens-and-carrick-review-finds-12838717 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65019879 Edited March 21, 2023 by Derfel Cadarn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Hum, trying hard to make a they haven't even read bfc's posts here joke work, but I kinda keep on failing at this. Maybe, I can coax him into saying something about implementing sharia law at Newcastle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 I see Boris Johnson has adopted the classic Tory tactic when caught doing something wrong: the passive voice. https://www.itv.com/news/2023-03-21/does-boris-johnsons-defence-hold-water Quote Almost at the beginning of the former prime minister Boris Johnson's written statement to the Commons Privileges Committee, he says: "I accept that the House of Commons was misled by my statements that the Rules and Guidance had been followed completely at No.10". 'Was misled by my statements'. They were misled by something I said, but I didn't do it. It just sort of happened. Words came out of my mouth, and incidentally almost, people were misled by them. Perhaps an evil fairy cast a magic spell on the words as they crossed the air to the ears of the people listening. The important thing is, I didn't mean it. Don't judge me by my words, or the consequences of my words. Judge me by a mysterious inner state of intentionality that only I can ever hope to know for certain. Anything else would be completely unfair. ants and A wilding 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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