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