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| Battery Britain: We live in hen hutches |
According to the Guardian, which claims to have seen papers
from the DWP, people earning between £330 and about £1,050 a month – just under
the rate of the national minimum wage for a 35-hour week – could be mandated to
attend jobcentre meetings where their working habits will be examined as part
of the universal credit programme.
Some of those deemed to be "not working enough"
could be instructed to take on extra training – and if they fail to
complete tasks they could be stripped of their benefits. We know how that works of course. Targets are set and people are stripped of their benefits because the manager's bonus/reputation/promotion prospects are at risk if insufficient money is saved.
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| What a lot of jobs we created; and people like part time work! Well, not any more they won't |
The DWP said that their overall plans for those in low-paid
work were not yet definite and recognised that supporting working families to
increase their income was a complex area into which the state hadn't previously
intervened. But the department estimates there are one million people in this
lower-paid bracket. So much for the small state.
You can smell Iain Duncan Smith all over this, can't you? Just like a rotten fish dump next to a sewage farm.
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| Oh look, would you believe it. Little Norway is doing better than us...again! |
The Tories and Liberals brag that they have created many new jobs in their time in office, but figures show that 80% of them are in the lowest paying industries, paying less than £8 an hour, and many are part time, or zero hour contracts. The coalition partners will not be happy until they have made every single low paid person in the UK, utterly and completely miserable.
And what will Labour do to reverse this if and when they come to power?
"And what will Labour do to reverse this if and when they come to power?"
ReplyDeleteF all mate, they'll do f all. Is it easy to migrate to Norway? Because if it's no next year, I don't hold out much hope for Scotland.
Yep, I know. They won't dare do anything to upset the banking classes.
ReplyDeleteI imagine it's relatively simple to move to Norway, but you'd have to do it before the Uk comes out of the EU.
Norway is an EFTA member and as such I think you can live there by rights.
Downside is the language, which seems pretty complex. Although most people speak English, I think it would be a) pretty hard to live in a county where you didn't speak the language, and B) pretty bad manners to do it.
So if we go, we shall all have to learn Norwegian.
Norge er et flott land. Leve kong Harald
Puff...your threads are getting a faster turnover than Labours 'policy' changes tris.
ReplyDeleteThe UK has for decades shortchanged its citizens to fund their corporate friends which is why they have crammed more and more people into a shrinking area under the premise of its the economy stupid. The sooner we kick them up the backside starting with a yes next year is the only way anything will change for everyone within the UK prison.
LOL
DeleteThe articles have all been pretty rubbish lately CH, so when I read them back I think... hell, better put something up and maybe folk will miss this.
I agree with you.
Funding corporate friends and of course saving money from every budget so they could buy bigger and better weapons in a desperate bid to stay important for just a little longer.
I choked myself laughing at the Russian response to Cameron bobbing around trying to catch Mr Obama's eye.
Nobody really cares what Britain thinks about anything. It's a little island off the coast of Europe.
And yes, it did once have an empire and it did win the war (with a little help from Russia's predecessor, the Soviet Union, with, I was shocked to learn, over 22 million deaths (14% of the population compared with less than 1% of British population).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties
This sceptered isle, this En.....
ReplyDeleteThe gift that keeps giving.
Losing our trust will bring about the BBC's downfall
The sceptered isle, this England.
DeleteWhat a fool that man is. At this time of all times to quote that...
Everything that he bragged about in Britain is in the past; a great deal of it down to warmongering and pillaging.
What about now, low wages, hen hut houses,pensions half or even a third the size of continental counterparts, 50 year old trains, single carriageway roads between major centres of population, no democracy, drugs, teenage pregnancy, illiteracy..
Might be worthwhile noting that even when the British Empire was at its height and the wholesale stealing of other people's property and land was going apace, in the industrial revolution that he bragged about, people in towns all over the UK were living 12 in two rooms with an outside toilet shared by 4 families. So it was always a selfish self centred rip off place.
Has he heard of Beethoven, Mozart, Puccini, Rachmaninov..? Does he know anything about Arab music, Eastern music?
Nope, just Elgar, the Beatles and One Direction...
And literature. Just because he hasn't read anything that didn't come from England doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
The man is a buffoon with a tendency to tantrums that will get the better of him one day.
I wish he could be forced to debate with Alex.
Excellent piece on the BBC. As he says, the establishments butt licker living from one massive grab of our money to the next so that they can hand it out in vast amounts to management idiots that turn blind eyes to and all manner of perverts...
A pox on them.
tris
ReplyDeleteYeah well ! they got bigger house cos they got bigger hearts
Bill Walker resigns as MSP after pressure over domestic abuse convictions
ReplyDeleteIn a statement, Walker said he had submitted his resignation to the Scottish Parliament as MSP for Dunfermline.
He added: "It has been increasingly difficult for my wife and my staff to deal with the media interest in my case. That same media onslaught has also made it impossible to properly represent my constituents and their interests.
"My trial process on domestic abuse charges still continues at Edinburgh Sheriff Court with the sentence not due to be announced until September 20 after the receipt of the reports ordered by the court.
"However, circumstances have made it very difficult to continue as [an] MSP, hence my decision to withdraw now."
At least common sense has won and I hope the media leave him and his family alone to live with their own consciences as they see fit.
Best thing.
DeleteThere was some nonsense being spouted that he couldn't be forced to stand down if he were sent to prison. And he would only lose 80% of his salary!!!! So he'd get 20% for doing stir...
Life should be like that in Tescos!
What if one of his constituents wanted a matter raised? Would they have to go to to the BarL!
Don't know who made up the rules for these MSPs but high time that was changed.
Umm i spose the snp will now scour the highways and byways of each and every hamlet throughout the land to find another wife beating son of a bitch to replace him.
ReplyDeleteI hear that the new snp interview question for potential MSPS is
' when did you stop beating your wife '
ch says
' and I hope the media leave him and his family alone '
yeah well ! I bet you do as it reveals the rampant misogyny at the dark heart
of Scottish Nationalism .
Och Niko... It will be easy to get some crim from somewhere to fill the post:
DeleteI hear Eric Joyce is looking for a job... and if Margaret Moran hears about the possibility of £50 grand a year, I'm sure she'll be up here in a toot, completely cured of her depression and calling herself McMoron!
Then there's that wee fat lad with the drink problem... what was his name again? Devine Jim.. He's out of stir now...
And then there's Nigel Griffiths, bonking some "lady" he picked up, in his parliamentary office while he should have been a remembrance service
No shortage of MPs with experience... and you can have lords in the chamber in Edinburgh so old Matches Invergowrie is in with a chance...
:)
ch
ReplyDeletehttp://iainmacwhirter2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/on-yer-bike-chancellor.html
Talk about an open goal. The most unpopular Chancellor since Nigel Lawson, George Osborne, came north again this week, bearing Treasury propaganda disguised as objective analysis - and he seemed to get away with it. Where's the anger?
The independence campaign has not just stalled, it is in danger of going into reverse. People who were minded to vote Yes are flummoxed by the relentless stream of negativity from Westminster which the Nationalists seem unable to counter. Neither the SNP government, nor the Yes Scotland campaign seem able to mount a coherent, imaginative case for independence in a language Scottish voters can understand. I'm not surprised support for independence is back at its bedrock 25%.
Oh fecking hell what are you gonna do now err! i know
have pointless march wid a bunch of losers roaming about
wid snp flags!!!
best of you gonna need it
There is a reply button Niko as you will of noticed, just in case you are not to sure how it works try clicking it then we can converse in a coherent manner.
DeleteMy response to Iain Macwhirter on his post.
That poll puts Iain Gray as FM since 2011, I wonder what actually happened so please enlighten us as to the validity of that imaginary 25%. I believe there is another poll out on Monday and it might be an idea to go to confessional tomorrow if you believe in that sort of mumbo jumbo.
Niko.
DeleteI'm thinking that when the white paper is published, then the campaign will begin.
No has always been able to say what it stood for... more of the same. And for some that is fine (mainly, I'd have to say, the super rich).
Once the government publishes its proposals and the debate starts properly, I suspect that the yes campaign will start hitting harder. Well, at least I hope so.
The thing is, it still has loads of stuff up its sleeve. BT has fired all its salvos, ...unless it has something really big to hit us with, even the celebration of millions of deaths has been announced.
tris
ReplyDeleteBTs proposals are the same as the snp/yes campaign ie
keep the pound B of E the Queen, social UNION etc etc
I mean what do you need Independence for. From what ???
No Trident
DeleteNo unelected HoL
No punching above our weight for grandstanding
No foodbanks
No bedroom tax
No bowing to big business and letting them pay NO TAX by collecting it.
No more subsidising London elite in the city.
Bringing democracy and getting rid of elective Westminster dictatorship.
Having a written constitution made by the people not for the people not the aristocracy.
There are plenty other reasons which you are perfectly aware of but are reluctant to let go of your comfort blanket of red, white and blue it is time you grew up.
Edit Having a written constitution made by the people not for the people not the aristocracy
DeleteShould read Having a written constitution made by the people for the people not the aristocracy.
I agree with CH...
DeleteI'd add...
...getting the government we voted for. Not one elected on the basis of policies that are fit for the south of England;
... being allowed to raise our own taxes, not those thought suitable by a finance minister who has no political interest in the good of Scotland;
...being allowed to have a welfare budget which meets the needs of the population. I don't subscribe to the idea that we are more caring than the English, but I think we are probably more caring that the rich that live in the southeastern part of the UK;
...having democratic government (mentioned above). No rights for the monarchy or its hangers on to change laws to suit themselves; no unelected house; and a proportional representation element in the chamber to balance those parties not represented on the rich - poor constituency basis of the UK (ie centre of Liverpool always Labour; Huntingdonshire always Tory)
...Not being America's poodle;
...having our own voice in the EU, not England's fisheries minister/farming minister, etc
...having our own aid budget, not handled by the incompetents who currently waste money where is isn't wanted or needed and neglect places where it is desperately needed:
...Feeling that your government that handled the all the most important stuff (taxes, pensions, welfare, defence) was closer to home, instead of in a place you've only ever visited a couple of times.
...not being mistakenly referred to as England (as the Eton twerp did today... this England...)
There's more...I guess...after all, if we hadn't wasted our oil money on running the world we might have had the ridiculous amount of oil fund that Norway has.
It would have been nice to know that we had that money at our back, instead of a massive debt racked up by incompetent meddlers in world affairs, pathetic excuses for statesmen like Willie Hague...
Can you respond by telling us what is so good about being a part of the UK?
And seriously, Niko...what do you think Cameron would do to us when if we voted no?
Just in case anyone is considering voting NO in 2014 consider this.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2013-2014/0032/cbill_2013-20140032_en_2.htm#l1g1
As the bill appears at present it only covers England and Wales. First question........WHY only England and Wales, what is Westminster feart of, surely they don't think we too poor, too wee too stupid Scots might take offence at this bill and vote YES by any chance?
Once you get into the guts of this bill you find this brilliant little ditty:
Regulations shall also provide that the scheme shall include—
(a)a residential element, requiring that participants live away from home;
and
(b)an element of public service, comprising one or more of the following to be chosen by the individual—
(i)charitable work,
(ii)social action,
(iii)care for the elderly or disabled,
(iv)overseas development activity, or
(v)work connected with the National Health Service, the
emergency services or the Armed Forces.
Everyone participating in this 'National Service' a.k.a. slave labour will be paid the fantastic salary of the national adult MINIMUM wage.
Can you imagine the furore if they tried this in Scotland, I'd go as far as to suggest a massive run on folks saying they'll vote YES!
If anything is clear to me it is that should Scotland vote NO in 2014 then one thing above everything else is guaranteed and that is this, an amendment to this bill will be rushed through Westminster as fast as possible to ensure that the young folks of Scotland do not miss out on this fabulous opportunity to be forced into the slave labour market.
Thanks for that Arbroath.
DeleteI'm astounded that we have not heard of this before.
I'm also astounded that they can do that in England and Wales but not in Scotland or Ulster. You would have thought something like "National Service" would have been a NATIONAL obligation.
It's fraught with danger.
Of course I can see the benefits of it, in fairness, as long as there is no forcing of people into military service, or to do things that they couldn't cope with, or are markedly unsuitable for. It works in some European countries. A Czech friend of mine worked in a library for a year and German friend used the time to get experience of working in the German ministry of overseas development.
But I can see many flaws... most particularly the fact that it is enforceable by law. And of course that, it will be dependent on the connections you have, what kind of work you do; what kind of "away from home" accommodation you can have, etc.
(Question: If your son or daughter is sent on the and has to live away from home giving you a bedroom too many, do you have to pay the bedroom tax?)
What about people who are studying to be medical doctors, for example? Yes, it says that an option could be helping in the NHS for a year... as a doctor? or minimum wage?
Do I want someone forced to work on minimum wage looking after me in hospital? But then a lot of people working in the care industry are forced to work for minimum wage...
I guess it depends how it is done.
But yes. I can see that it will be a very controversial bill and that is undoubtedly why it will not apply in Scotland.
Much social security legislation seems to be different in Ulster... Maybe they use Irish law?
completely o/t but would it not be interesting if Labour for Independence stood in the bye-election caused by Bill Walker resigning?
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea John.
DeleteAllan Grogan to stand?
Tris
ReplyDeleteThe attacks on the poorest will continue because the poor don't have the energy anymore to fight back, the Labour Party is dead, the Unions can't get their arse in gear and we have allowed ourselves to be dragged back to the Victorian utopia of the wealthy.
It will come to a head at some point I would suspect but not anytime soon sadly. A YES vote might speed up the process south of the border and a YES vote is all that can save us. People like Niko and Dean get on my booboids at times with their defense of a system that has brainwashed them into their thought patterns and beliefs.
I am sorry but anyone who thinks we are better together need to get a grip, get out of the bubble and think about what is best for this country. From Miliband being unable to decide what hand to use to wipe his arse with, to Clegg and the imaginary £700 tax break and Cameron our England we are being shafted on all sides and there are times I really regret moving back here from the USA in 2000 when I see what Scottish people are willing to put up with. Some voters and the SNP have delivered a once in a lifetime opportunity to change not just Scotland but maybe even the world, I pray we do not blow it.
If we do,even at 45, I will be looking to be off to pastures new if I can as I don't want to live in a country that has no faith in it's own ability to run it's own affairs and is happy to be shat on for all time. I have more self respect than that.
Bruce
A wee side issue but if Dean and Niko wanted to know a really sad thing it's my next door neighbour, a single parent, moving out today to live with her Mum becuase of the bedroom tax. Yeah better efing together my arse.
Interesting that a discussion online suggests that some people in Labour (real Labour) in London, about they hope that Scotland gets independence so that something can happen in England.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine what they will do to us if we say no...