2011 and 2012

What are they feeding our kids?

Now we don't even know what shit we are feeding our kids! Famous last words from the government, 'there is no need to worry'.  These horses have been fed on bute, which has now entered the human food chain.
"Bute can cause a potentially fatal blood disorder in humans called aplastic anaemia, in which the bone marrow fails to produce enough blood cells. Because it is not possible to say what triggers the disorder, it is not possible to identify a safe level of residue in meat".

BBC News - Horsemeat found in some school dinners

Stigmatise the unemployed?

I am tired of the media blaming 'shirkers' for this country's problems, a quick search of the real data is enough to see the real picture.  Firstly, most unemployed have been unemployed for less than a year, they paid their National Insurance and are fucking entitled to dole, that's the fucking point! Nationally there are 5 people for every job vacancy, that goes up to 35 here on The Wirral, 35 people for every available vacancy, it's not rocket science, that means no jobs for 34 people!The majority of long term unemployed are over 50 years old, the group who are discriminated against the most in the job market. 

There most certainly are some lazy bastards out there, milking the system, and more needs to be done to find them, but the numbers are 5% of the total at the very most.
Give people on the dole a fucking break, they are not animals who need to be punished and stigmatised, if you want them off the dole choose a fucking government that will create jobs and not just give tax breaks to the rich.
Remember- you may be one of those on the dole, and that doesn't make you scum.
n.b. I am not on the dole, and if after being here for 6 months or so and I can't find any decent work, i have the option of finding it elsewhere. 

Source:LabourForceSurvey
Nationally there are 5.1 unemployed for every vacancy.
The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 for September to November 2012 was 71.4%, There were 29.68 million people in employment aged 16 and over, up 90,000 from June to August 2012.
The unemployment rate for September to November 2012 was 7.7% of the economically active population, There were 2.49 million unemployed people.
The inactivity rate for those aged from 16 to 64 for September to November 2012 was 22.5%, There were 9.03 million economically inactive people(this includes me, not claiming and not working) aged from 16 to 64,
WHO IS UNEMPLOYED?
HOW LONG?
32% up to 3 months
20% 3months to 6 months
26% 6-12 monthss
That means 73% of claimants claim for less than 1 year.

27% claiming more than 12 months for all ages
highest group 36% over 50 yrs old.
less than 10% claim more than 2 years, tthe majority of those 50+ years old
6.5% all workers on temporary work
24% part time work
2.5% have 2 part-time jobs

Source
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-222531

enquiries: labour.market@ons.gov.uk

Time to boycott Amazon

Amazon electronically tag workers in the UK and pay no tax. Time to boycott these fuckers!
http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/14/when-did-lowly-paid-become-offence

Also;
Project Gutenberg

Germany's largest network ARD reports how Amazon employs foreign subcontracted labour paying them ridiculously low wages and lodges them in overcrowded cottages watched by neonazi security firm HESS.In German. Share with your German friends

http://www.ardmediathek.de/das-erste/reportage-dokumentation/ausgeliefert-leiharbeiter-bei-amazon?documentId=13402260

Ausgeliefert! Leiharbeiter bei Amazon - Reportage / Dokumentationwww.ardmediathek.deDie Reportage deckt auf, was sich hinter der Fassade von Amazon.de verbirgt und wer dafür zahlt, dass die schöne neue Warenwelt des Internethändlers so billig zu haben ist.

Slave labour

Nothing wrong with making people work, but it must be for minimum wage, as part of benefits. Companies have been using these schemes to get cheap labour, thereby reducing the number of real workers employed. Minimum wage is £6.19 per hour, most people on dole would quite happily work the 11 hours needed to earn their £70 dole.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21426928

A university graduate has won a legal challenge on appeal, claiming that a government scheme forces people to work without pay.Cait Reilly, 24, claimed that requiring her to work for free at a Poundland store breached laws banning slavery and forced labour.The University of Birmingham geology graduate lost her original case at the High Court, but has now won on appeal.Her solicitors said this could have major implications for jobseekers.

(No) Care for the elderly.

THE Tories announced another major policy yesterday: Care home costs will be given a maximum limit of£75,000. Sounds reasonable at first, but when looked at closely it becomes apparent, it is all lies, as usual, and helps nobody. Independent analysts recommended a £35,000 cap.
A £75,000 cap would not kick in for four years, by which time the average person in care would have died. The average length of time in social care in a BUPA home, funded to the tune of 70% by the state, is two years."If the cap is set at £75,000 it will take people four or more years before they hit the cap. The vast majority of people in residential care homes would have passed away before that happens."

Polly Toynbee's excellent article looks at the true picture.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/11/jeremy-hunt-will-not-solve-care-crisis

Securing more of older people's savings is partly funded by freezing the inheritance tax threshold, sending the Tory party into new paroxysms of fury. The front pages of the Telegraph and Times blasted, "Cameron abandons inheritance tax pledge" and "Osborne stealth tax on inheritance". Note how those same voices that call for more cuts to benefits for the near destitute want inheritance tax (IHT) exempt from a freeze.
As it is, only couples with property worth more than £650,000 pay any inheritance tax. That is only some 3% of the population.
Britain is a country profoundly ignorant about the distribution of its wealth, the electorate suffering under a conspiracy to deceive them. The persistent misrepresentation of the true"middle" leaves most voters clueless as to where they stand on the spectrum of incomes. Even the poor imagine they are much nearer the middle than they are, as the rich pretend to themselves that they are only middling.

New figures show the widening income gap: 1% of people now take 10% of all income while the entire bottom half receives only 18% of national earnings. Wages keep falling and wealth is sucked ever upwards.

A typical cost(in a care home) is £800 a week, so families will still pay a £360 a week top-up, plus £240 board and lodging.
People will get a nasty shock when they need care for a parent, only to discover how much they will still have to pay, and how bad is the care they receive. To cap the cost is a good idea: Andrew Dilnot called for a £35,000 maximum. But at £75,000 Hunt's words turn to dust for most, as few ever reach this level of cost.

Is that our most pressing priority, when families are queuing at food banks?

While the rich and their press fume over inheritance tax betrayal, the danger is that voters think money has been found to cure the care crisis, when nothing new has been added. So be prepared for some Mid Staffs-sized scandals soon in nursing homes and in people's front rooms soon. "Care" may become a word spoken only in irony. With no useful solution, the government should have left this snake's nest alone.

Shale future.

The UK has found enough shale gas to power the nation for 1500 years.  The US has its own reserves and has begun to extract it.For the UK this means a future not reliant on Russia or The Middle East.  In the medium term, energy prices should stabilise. This country is far from finished. Expect full scale extractions to 'begin' before the end of this year, although production and  sale is still a number of years away.
http://ktwop.wordpress.com/

Foreigner!

My mother has been told twice this week she is a foreigner, first by the bank and second by her work who asked her to send her passport to prove she is eligible to work here! She has worked for them for 5 years!I told her to tell them to bugger off, and point out she has lived here for 55 years, has voted in numerous general elections, paid tax for 55 years and had 2 sons and a husband in the British Army.As well as that Irish people don't need a passport to enter the UK and NEVER have, long before the formation of the EU and our entry into the EU. Liverpool was built and maintaned by a steady stream of Irish for centuries, and to a lesser extent most of our major cities.This country is shooting itself in the head with ridiculous red tape and spurious, needless checks. There has to be a certain amount of common sense when trying to detect if someone is a johnny foreigner, picking on 70 yr old women who have worked for half a century and sound about as foreign as Hilda Ogden is not the way.I could understand myself being asked as I seem to be mistaked for South African, Australian or German.

Explosions

Duty of care.

There are 3 problems which are dominating UK news at the moment, which all have the same solution.  First within the NHS and Care homes for the elderly and also in Kindergartens and Nurseries. All nurses are now required to be educated to degree level,  while quality of care seems to  be hurtling downwards at the same time.
Whilst a certain number of highly educated nurses is needed,  there really is no reason for all to have proven academic qualifications.  Surely those who are able to apply their caring ability and practical skills should also be sought?
The same basically applies to childcare, those who possess child care skills should work alongside those with teaching backgrounds.
A degree does not make a good carer or a good child carer.

Residential Homes for the elderly is a slightly different problem, substandard conditions  due to a  culture of complacency, and  a lack of real care, leading to horrific conditions for the elderly.

The old, the sick and children. 
The vulnerable.

30 years ago, their care was seen as a right.What changed?

The main problem seems to lie within society itself. Where did the ethos  'duty of care' go? What happened to respecting the rights of others? Today the sick and the old are often left to lie in their own waste, sometimes malnourished and thirsty, how and by whom? People and especially those in the caring industry used to 'care'. What happened to the kindly nurses who would go that extra mile or the stern matron for that matter who made sure things got done? The truth is, is that they would not qualify today, and how many like them have been put off training because of the degree requirements?
Of course money is a factor, but not the whole reason.During 2 world wars hospitals ran under extreme circumstances.  But money of course still remains a major factor,  so as well as changing the mindset of what makes good care and who we need to be carers, maybe  this is the wrong time for the NHS to lose vast amounts of money and for local councils to be starved of the funds needed for care homes.

Falkland Islanders will determine their own future.

 The Argentine foreign minister Hector Timerman had a lot to say in London today, here are some excerpts and my comments underneath. 

 "We have been trying to find a peaceful solution for 180 years. I think the fanatics are not in Buenos Aires [but] maybe in the United Kingdom because they are 14,000km (8,700 miles) away from the islands.
1. Argentina didn't exist 180 years ago, it was part of the Spanish Empire. 

He also dismissed the forthcoming referendum - on whether the Islanders want to remain part of the British Overseas Territories - as meaningless.
1. Self determination is meaningless? Tell that to the Bosnians, Kosovans, East Timorese, Scots, Irish, etc.
 
On a visit to London, he claimed "not one" other nation supported UK sovereignty of the Falklands. 

1. The UN has recognized the FALKLANDERS right to choose their own fate.  

"If you ask the colonial people who came with a colonial power and replaced the people who were living in the islands, it is like asking the British citizens of the Malvinas Islands if they want to remain British," he said.

1. The islands were uninhabited before the arrival of the British.
2. Argentina itself was settled at the same time, replacing the indigenous people! 

"Argentina 'will control Falklands within 20 years"

1. Deluded twat!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21341578

In support of Lib Dem MP David Ward's right to express a considered opinion.

Having lived next to Belsen Concentration camp for 8 years,  the description of the Holocaust as 'the largest mass murder' in history is an accurate one, and we must never forget that fact. but like Mr Ward, I also find it distressing that the same people who survived that horrific era so quickly have become the oppressors of the Palestinian people, and refuse to adhere to continued appeals by the United Nations and flout international law. No mistake, the Israelis deserve their homeland(using the 1967 borders), but so do the Palestinians. 

Lib Dems condemn MP's criticism of Israel ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21194991

Mr Ward won a majority of just 365 votes at the 2010 general election
The Liberal Democrats have "condemned" their MP David Ward for his "use of language" in a statement about Israel's treatment of Palestinians, issued ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day.

He accused "the Jews" in Israel of "inflicting atrocities on Palestinians... on a daily basis".

Mr Ward has been summoned to a meeting with party whips next week.

But the MP told the BBC he had chosen his words carefully and did not regret the timing of the statement.

The MP said it was "regrettable" he had been reprimanded by Liberal Democrat officials.

'Sickening'
This Sunday - Holocaust Memorial Day - marks the 68th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, where more than one million people - mostly Jews - died.

Mr Ward, who has represented Bradford East since 2010, described Auschwitz as "the Nazi concentration and extermination camp which is the site of the largest mass murder in history".

It indicated that the MP supported efforts "to combat prejudice and racism today" by the Holocaust Educational Trust and had honoured "those who were persecuted and killed during the Holocaust" by signing a "Book of Commitment".

But it also included a statement from Mr Ward: "Having visited Auschwitz twice - once with my family and once with local schools - I am saddened that the Jews, who suffered unbelievable levels of persecution during the Holocaust, could within a few years of liberation from the death camps be inflicting atrocities on Palestinians in the new State of Israel and continue to do so on a daily basis in the West Bank and Gaza."

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said she was "deeply saddened" that the MP had "deliberately abused the memory of the Holocaust".

She added: "These comments are sickening and unacceptable and have no place in British politics."

'Positive response'
A Lib Dem spokesman said: "This is a matter we take extremely seriously. The Liberal Democrats deeply regret and condemn the statement issued by David Ward and his use of language which is unacceptable."

Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: "We are outraged and shocked at these offensive comments about Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the suggestion that Jews should have learned a lesson from the experience.

"For an MP to have made such comments on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day is even more distasteful, and we welcome the fact that the Liberal Democrats have sought to disassociate the party from David Ward's comments."

But Mr Ward told the BBC: "I've spoken to the chief whip, and he's got his views. I don't feel bad about it in any way. They consider my comments regrettable; I consider their reprimand regrettable."

The Lib Dem MP said any further disciplinary would be "a sad reflection on the values we all hold so dearly, particularly on free speech".

He also said his comments had received an "overwhelmingly positive" response from the public, with 80 unsolicited supportive emails, and just two from etractors.

While it was essential to remember the Holocaust as "one of the most horrific examples of man's inhumanity to man", he said, "should we not also remember when there are examples of atrocities being committed in the present?"

Duty

This government's treatment of the disabled is truly despicable. There are people being told to only take a bath once a week, to cut down on the number of visits by carers
We have a duty as a society to take care of the disabled.  It is 2013 not 1900.

Tax Starbucks and Amazom

http://twitpic.com/btcqnq

Tax vs benefits.

Benefit error including fraud is £1bn, which includes pensions, child benefit etc. This in comparison to figures ranging from a minimum of £23-70bn in tax avoidance, especially from large business. Why is this government obsessed with the smaller figure? Corruption reaches the very top, that's why.
Benefit fraud is just a distraction from real issue of tax dodgers http://on-msn.com/10Nv08g

18 December 2012 15:18 | By Richard Murphy

Benefit fraud is just a distraction from real issue of tax dodgers

Iain Duncan Smith is exaggerating one problem while the government try to hide another one.Share280Share1.9KIf I were the Chancellor, one of my very highest priorities would be to close the gap between what businesses owe in tax and what they actually pay.This government, however appears preoccupied by a different kind of fraud in the benefits system. Why?Well, Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, claims that £10 billion has been lost in fraud and error under the tax credit system introduced by Labour. That’s not £10 billion from the whole benefits system but just one part. As a result, IDS says, the tax credit system is "not fit for purpose".In fact the benefits system is quite inefficient - not because it wastes money but because it pays out far too little.It’s an interesting claim for a number of reasons.First of all, to come up with a big enough figure to make a headline, Iain Duncan Smith had to spread his calculations over a period of seven years from 2003 to 2010.And according to latest data on the error rate in the benefits system as a whole the cost of fraud is no more than 0.7% a year. In 2011/12 that meant £1.2 billion was paid because of fraudulent claims. And given that this fraud rate has been remarkably consistent over time, it also implies that in total fraud might have cost over all benefits, including the old age pension, just £7.6 billion during the Labour years to which Duncan Smith referred.Errors might add another £5.4bn meaning a total of £13billion incorrectly paid out from a total benefit spend of £1,089 billion.On this basis Mr Duncan Smith’s claims about one part of the system (tax credits account for about 15% of the total cost of the benefits) simply do not stack up.What is quite staggering is how little has been lost to fraud, not how much. Any system administered by humans or computers will make mistakes, and for an issue as challenging as benefits the error rate is tiny.In fact the benefits system is quite inefficient - not because it wastes money but because it pays out far too little to people who are entitled to claim but for one reason or another do not.Now, bearing that in mind, let’s have a look at the tax system.HM Revenue & Customs admit that tax fraud and error costs at least £23 billion a year. This figure is pure conjecture and there are many indications that it is a massive underestimate. My calculations suggest tax fraud in the UK is costing around £70 billion a year.Now we can disagree about whether the right number is £23 billion of £70 billion or somewhere in between, but however it is looked at, the impact of tax fraud is many, many times bigger than the £1.2 billion that benefit fraud will cost in total this year.And the government aren’t interested in looking at it ironically because they are fixated on cost savings at the Revenue, which has lost tens of thousands of staff in recent years. This is actually depriving the Treasury of much-needed cash and it is hurting honest businesses who are being forced to the wall by rivals happy to cheat.Iain Duncan Smith’s political attempts to malign the benefits system so that he can replace it with his universal credit are distracting from genuine issues that are undermining the economy and the national finances.The government are tackling the wrong issue and they are doing it on purpose.Richard Murphy is an accountant, economist and director of Tax Research LLP. You can find him on Twitter@RichardJMurphy.Share280Share1.9K< Back to #socialvoices

Rome burns.

People get the government they deserve, and there is now a sense of fear for normal working people, working or not. All bills continue to rise way above inflation, as do transport costs. Tax relief, benefits, spiral down in real terms.Cameron has been all over today's tv saying how great everything is, and he wants to stay in power until 2020. Nero fiddles as Rome burns.

Dancing at The Old China

Xmas 2012