It’s not often an old post gets resuscitated by readers of this blog, but this one – on the chequered past of Moirai Capital – the company chosen for the Exmouth seafront development, posted in July, has suddenly sprung to life again – hmmm:
Daily Archives: 6 Oct 2015
Are under-25s too lazy to deserve the National Minimum Wage?
TORY SAYS PEOPLE UNDER 25 ARE TOO LAZY FOR MINIMUM WAGE:
Workers under the age of 25 are not “productive” enough to warrant being paid the new National Living Wage, according to Government Minister Matthew Hancock.
In this summer’s budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced a new minimum wage for over 25s would come into force from next April, starting at £7.20 an hour and increasing to £9 by 2020. But those under 25 will be on the old minimum wage rates, meaning they are entitled to £6.70 an hour, down to £5.30 for 18 to 20 year olds and £3.87 for under 18s.
Trade union Unison said the remarks showed the Government was “out of touch”. A Survation poll for the Huffington Post published last week showed the majority of Britons – 66 per cent – believe the new higher rate should be given to under 25s.
Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester this afternoon, Mr Hancock defended the different rates. He said: “This was an active policy choice. Youth unemployment, whilst falling quite sharply, is still a long way above the unemployment rate for the over 25s.
“Anybody who has employed people knows that younger people, especially in their first jobs, are not as productive, on average. “Now there are some who are very productive under the age of 25 but you have to set policy for the average. It was an active choice not to cover the under 25s.”
A UNION OFFICIAL DISAGREES:
Reacting to the remarks this afternoon, Unison General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “Remarks like this show just how out of touch the government is. Young people are every bit as productive as older workers, and can have just the same responsibilities as their more mature workmates.
“A young home care worker, for example, has to do exactly the same stressful job as the older colleagues on their team, and probably isn’t even getting the minimum wage as many aren’t paid for their travel between appointments.
“Younger workers under 25 with families face a double whammy. First they are denied a pay rise and then they get hit hard by the planned cuts to tax credits. “Thanks to the meanness of this government, under 25s with one child doing a 35 hour week on the national minimum wage won’t get the £910 a year pay increase next April, but they will still lose £1,754.20 from the tax credit changes. “Ministers should think again on tax credits, and on their decision to deny young workers the pay rise others are getting.”
Source: today’s Huffington Post UK
Tory MP demands greater transparency over health cuts
” … the former GP [Sarah Woollaston, Conservative Totnes] had some stern words for Mr Hunt regarding his department’s attitude to transparency. The health secretary has consistently pushed for “transparency and openness” about NHS performance. However, earlier this week it emerged two reports on the state of services due to be published last month have not yet been released, and Dr Wollaston said she is still awaiting details of a review on the affects of sugar. “We’ve heard the word transparency mentioned several times by the secretary of state but I’m afraid transparency has to apply to him as well,” she said.”
Why one party councils are dangerous
“In modern democracies one of the main pillars of good government and control of cor- ruption is elections and electoral accountability. The change of political leadership or the risk of such change is expected to discipline holders of political power to use it for the public good rather than for their own private benefit. In addition, a strong opposition in parliaments and local councils can also increase scrutiny of the governing party through institutional checks and balances such as setting up investigative committees or using legal challenge. …
… For the purposes of this report, corruption is understood in a broad sense going beyond outright bribery. In public procurement, the aim of political or high-level corruption is
to steer the contract to the favoured bidder without detection recurrently in an institu- tionalised fashion (Fazekas & Tóth, 2014; World Bank, 2009). This is done in a number of ways, including avoiding competition (e.g., unjustified sole sourcing or direct contract awards), favouring a certain bidder by tailoring specifications, or sharing inside informa- tion. Such corruption may involve bribery and transfers of large cash amounts, but it is more typically done through broker firms, subcontracts, offshore companies, and bogus consultancy contracts to name a few typical instruments.
http://electoral-reform.org.uk/sites/default/files/THE%20COST%20OF%20ONE-PARTY%20COUNCILS.pdf
Recent case law on the validity of Neighbourhood Plans
Muttering in the Local Authority ranks
… “Facing more cuts of as much as another 40%, the LGA’s submission to Osborne is a warning. Does he realise his own micro-managing policies, far from devolving, have imposed £10bn in new costs? A pre-election sweetener forcing councils to cut rents by 1% costs them £2.6bn. They are losing £3bn by the exemption Osborne has granted developers from a section 106 levy to pay councils for affordable housing. Universal credit loses councils more, and so does raising the minimum wage.
Osborne’s devolution may gift new powers, but as Nick Forbes, the Newcastle council leader, says: “Don’t pass the buck without passing the bucks.” Where’s the money? Osborne’s northern powerhouse project is a brilliant land-grab on Labour heartlands. He flattered seven northern leaders by sweeping them up on his grand China tour – though they had little face time to lobby him on council funding.”
…”The delusion here is that the Tories are invading the political centre ground, or the “common ground”, vacated by Labour. But remember how far to the right is Osborne’s turf. By 2020 the state will have shrunk to just 35% of GDP, smaller even than the United States, and far below the German 45% of GDP. His common ground will be a desolate desert, and what’s left of its public realm a miserable place. Few voters have been told this is his destination. Nor is it clear what his vision is for the country once he gets there.
That single-minded purpose is why there is no U-turn on tax credits: his £12bn benefit cuts are an act of faith. David Cameron and Osborne can only lie about the effects, defying the Institute for Fiscal Studies – the great arbiter – as “not right”. Preposterous claims by ministers that cutting tax credits means “cultural change” for people already in work show how far this is from being the “workers’ party”. Dangerously, they come to believe their own fictions, as Osborne repeats yet again that we have 1% of the world’s population and 4% of the world’s wealth, but spend 7% of the world’s welfare. Even the slowest brain works out that global welfare includes the likes of Somalia and Ethiopia.
Triumph sweeps caution away: they think they see Lib Dems vanquished, Labour departing the fray, boundary changes securing everlasting victory. They talk of standing in the foothills of a decade or more of power unrestrained: all they have to fear is themselves and their hubris. The NHS teeters on financial collapse, while the social care crisis risks scandals of neglect. David Davis and the Sun warn tax creditswill be their poll tax – while the referendum storm is gathering in their ranks. Europhobic invincibility makes them reckless: they may need no official opposition when they set so many land mines for themselves. …”
Hugo Swire accused of abandoning British political prisoner in Burma
“Burma Campaign UK today accused Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP of failing in one of his most fundamental duties, the support and protection of British citizens overseas.
Hugo Swire, the Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for Myanmar, has abandoned Philip Blackwood, a British political prisoner serving hard labour in the country’s notorious Insein Jail, the group said in a statement on 5 October.
.. when Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire visited Myanmar a few weeks ago, and met with government officials, he didn’t even call for the release of Philip Blackwood or the other two political prisoners in this case.
The Foreign Office is trying to treat this as a lower level consular case, rather than a political case where Ministers must intervene. They are also trying to hide behind Philip’s dual nationality, saying consular arrangements have to be made with New Zealand. This is a red herring, as this should not be treated as simply a consular case. There is no justice or rule of law in Myanmar.
“We have seen how the British government has abandoned Burmese political prisoners as it prioritises securing trade deals with Burma’s military backed government, but now it is even abandoning its own citizens,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK.
“Hugo Swire seems prepared to let an innocent British citizen and his colleagues rot in a Burmese jail rather than risk upsetting his new friends in the Burmese regime. It is time for a fundamental review of British policy on Burma, and a return to prioritising human rights.”
“Significant increases” to cost of beach huts
A report tabled VERY VERY late to Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting at 5.30 pm at Knowle
Click to access item-5-amf-beach-huts-chalets-4.pdf
Is such a late report legally allowed?
East Devon Watch 