Biggest thing Tories need to do (probably impossible) is slash energy, fuel and mortgage costs.
Kiboshing inflation is the best tax cut there is.
Useless to the Tories on two counts:
1. A long-term project, and political parties generally are rarely interested in doing anything useful that won't bear fruit within the current electoral cycle 2. Involves doing things - greatly increasing electricity generation capacity, especially from renewables, and building lots and lots and lots of new houses - that their elderly Nimby base are going to loathe
Besides, the £67 a month we've all been getting off our energy bills is about to come to an end, and I don't think anyone thinks it would be sensible to rerun it.
As for mortgages, we will all be gradually shifting to higher interest rates as fixed rate terms end. Again, there's not a lot to be done about that. (But being totally calculating, a lot of Conservative voters are in the "already paid off their mortgages" category.)
Contrary to the stereotype of young eco-warriors scolding their elders, these results also suggest that a belief in the need for greater environmental action slightly increases with age. Among the 18-24 age bracket, 35% agree that green issues are given too much emphasis, with the same figure for the 25-34 group. This falls to 28% of those aged between 35 and 44, 27% of the 45-54 group, 26% of the 55-64 group, and 27% of over-65s. Overall disagreement rises from 35% among the 18-24 bracket up to 44% among the oldest bracket.
Not what you would expect but perhaps the young have more pressing concerns.
I disagree with the header, I think this is the right policy for Sunak to win the next election. The fact that it's not popular in safe Labour seats doesn't matter under FPTP.
Since the policy’s been announced Labour’s turned that frown upside down…
I disagree with the header, I think this is the right policy for Sunak to win the next election. The fact that it's not popular in safe Labour seats doesn't matter under FPTP.
Since the policy’s been announced Labour’s turned that frown upside down…
Can work well with foreign leaders (44% | 29%) Can build a strong economy (42% | 29%) Is a strong leader (33% | 31%)
Starmer leads on:
Cares about people like me (36% | 27%) Can bring British people together (36% | 32%)
RedfieldWilton
Yes, the Tories are going to get gubbed,
These are seats where Labour were third.
I'm not so sure now, the mood among my previously Tory voting friends is definitely changing. Especially wrt Rishi, the NI deal has helped a lot and, given who I know, the swift handling of a potentially economy breaking bank failure has gained him a lot of credit.
The economy is definitely turning around as well and it's being noticed by ordinary people IMO. I think all of the predictions of 2 year long recessions and other various doom predictions has also helped Rishi because none of it has materialised and it is unlikely to do so.
Overall I'd rate 1992 as an unlikely rather than impossible outcome which is a marked change from just last month.
On the doorsteps, I'm finding those that always hated the Tories now REALLY hate the Tories; the previous Tory vote is holding surprisingly well, especially for the council elections. Those who voted in the past who are underwhelmed are still hoping there will be a rise in their performance, to give them a reason to vote Tory again.
FWIW.
Agreed. People are noticing Rishi is really good.
So why didn't Conservative members when they had the choice between Sunak and Truss ?
A very good question. Some got too high on their own supply taking their lines directly from the Mail/Express.
Worth noting Rishi ran her much closer than expected though, even then.
Was there anything more to it than wishful thinking that Truss was the 'new Thatcher' based on misunderstanding of what the original Thatcher did ?
I thought the first rule about ban hammer was that you don't talk about ban hammer.
I'm less bothered by the ban hammer than I am the bugger this I'm off contingent.
Ok so some of the people who drove off previously prolific posters and thread authors have now also been banned, but we're in danger of losing too many people here.
You and I disagree on a lot of topics but neither of us are persecuting the other trying to drive them away. As some have done to people.like Cyclefree who then upped and left
I disagree with the header, I think this is the right policy for Sunak to win the next election. The fact that it's not popular in safe Labour seats doesn't matter under FPTP.
Since the policy’s been announced Labour’s turned that frown upside down…
Biggest thing Tories need to do (probably impossible) is slash energy, fuel and mortgage costs.
Kiboshing inflation is the best tax cut there is.
Useless to the Tories on two counts:
1. A long-term project, and political parties generally are rarely interested in doing anything useful that won't bear fruit within the current electoral cycle 2. Involves doing things - greatly increasing electricity generation capacity, especially from renewables, and building lots and lots and lots of new houses - that their elderly Nimby base are going to loathe
Besides, the £67 a month we've all been getting off our energy bills is about to come to an end, and I don't think anyone thinks it would be sensible to rerun it.
As for mortgages, we will all be gradually shifting to higher interest rates as fixed rate terms end. Again, there's not a lot to be done about that. (But being totally calculating, a lot of Conservative voters are in the "already paid off their mortgages" category.)
Oh absolutely, the Conservatives have no incentive to do anything to stem house price inflation at all. The Tory core vote consists of minted elderly homeowners and their expectant late middle aged heirs.
That's why, when he was Chancellor, Sunak invented the Health and Social Care Levy: in essence yet another tax hike on working incomes (NI rather than Income Tax being targeted because it's not paid by pensioners, of course,) to be used to pay for services that are either predominantly (healthcare) or overwhelmingly (adult social care) directed at the aged. The point being that, once established, the Levy could've been jacked up on a ratchet, over and over again, to bleed the young white for all the costs of wiping old people's bottoms, so that raids on the immense property wealth of the elderly would never be necessary. Any repeat of the Dementia Tax debacle was to be avoided at all costs.
The only useful thing that Liz Truss achieved was to kill it.
I disagree with the header, I think this is the right policy for Sunak to win the next election. The fact that it's not popular in safe Labour seats doesn't matter under FPTP.
Since the policy’s been announced Labour’s turned that frown upside down…
Contrary to the stereotype of young eco-warriors scolding their elders, these results also suggest that a belief in the need for greater environmental action slightly increases with age. Among the 18-24 age bracket, 35% agree that green issues are given too much emphasis, with the same figure for the 25-34 group. This falls to 28% of those aged between 35 and 44, 27% of the 45-54 group, 26% of the 55-64 group, and 27% of over-65s. Overall disagreement rises from 35% among the 18-24 bracket up to 44% among the oldest bracket.
Not what you would expect but perhaps the young have more pressing concerns.
Many aged homeowners are probably quite happy to recycle their old newspapers, buy fair trade produce and perhaps ride a bicycle. Try putting up a wind turbine within ten miles of their pile of fantastically expensive bricks, on the other hand, and see what kind of reaction you get.
I thought the first rule about ban hammer was that you don't talk about ban hammer.
I'm less bothered by the ban hammer than I am the bugger this I'm off contingent.
Ok so some of the people who drove off previously prolific posters and thread authors have now also been banned, but we're in danger of losing too many people here.
You and I disagree on a lot of topics but neither of us are persecuting the other trying to drive them away. As some have done to people.like Cyclefree who then upped and left
Didn't know @Cyclefree had left. Very disappointed to read that.
Can work well with foreign leaders (44% | 29%) Can build a strong economy (42% | 29%) Is a strong leader (33% | 31%)
Starmer leads on:
Cares about people like me (36% | 27%) Can bring British people together (36% | 32%)
RedfieldWilton
Yes, the Tories are going to get gubbed,
These are seats where Labour were third.
I'm not so sure now, the mood among my previously Tory voting friends is definitely changing. Especially wrt Rishi, the NI deal has helped a lot and, given who I know, the swift handling of a potentially economy breaking bank failure has gained him a lot of credit.
The economy is definitely turning around as well and it's being noticed by ordinary people IMO. I think all of the predictions of 2 year long recessions and other various doom predictions has also helped Rishi because none of it has materialised and it is unlikely to do so.
Overall I'd rate 1992 as an unlikely rather than impossible outcome which is a marked change from just last month.
On the doorsteps, I'm finding those that always hated the Tories now REALLY hate the Tories; the previous Tory vote is holding surprisingly well, especially for the council elections. Those who voted in the past who are underwhelmed are still hoping there will be a rise in their performance, to give them a reason to vote Tory again.
FWIW.
Agreed. People are noticing Rishi is really good.
So why didn't Conservative members when they had the choice between Sunak and Truss ?
A very good question. Some got too high on their own supply taking their lines directly from the Mail/Express.
Worth noting Rishi ran her much closer than expected though, even then.
Was there anything more to it than wishful thinking that Truss was the 'new Thatcher' based on misunderstanding of what the original Thatcher did ?
Lady Whiplash's less-than-adept efforts to copy the Iron Maiden's fashion sense were shirley a tip-off?
Personally thought LT's attempts at looking like MT were WTF?
I thought the first rule about ban hammer was that you don't talk about ban hammer.
I'm less bothered by the ban hammer than I am the bugger this I'm off contingent.
Ok so some of the people who drove off previously prolific posters and thread authors have now also been banned, but we're in danger of losing too many people here.
You and I disagree on a lot of topics but neither of us are persecuting the other trying to drive them away. As some have done to people.like Cyclefree who then upped and left
Didn't know @Cyclefree had left. Very disappointed to read that.
Same here. Sorry to see her go. She always posted very thoughtful topics.
Listening to the SNP leader debate Kate Forbes is head and shoulders above the other two
If she wins Scons could have s real problem
Been saying this for a while. If she wins I am really not sure there will be any Tory MPs from Scotland in the next Parliament. Might be quite a few more Scottish Labour MPs though.
I think the Scottish border seats and maybe Aberdeenshire West will stay Tory even v Forbes, though Moray and Banff and Buchan will go back to the SNP who held them under Salmond.
Scottish Labour would gain a fair number of central belt seats though v Forbes and seats in the big cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow especially which are more socially liberal than Forbes
The Guardian suggesting free childcare to be extended down to 1 and 2 year olds. Would be a huge, huge policy. I hope they extend to 35h and for outside of term time too. It will remove a huge barrier to getting people back into work. Though we don't qualify we know a lot of our friends where the wife is working part time or taking a career break because childcare is so expensive for them. My sister does a 3 day week at the moment, I think she'd easily push up to 4 days if childcare costs went down.
Additionally it's a good policy to try and get families to have one more child.
With a 7 week old baby it seems a bit far off but time is passing and the wife will be back at work in Jan. Childcare at the uni is north of £60 a day, so going to be expensive…
Plus your lucky if you can find it, or so i'm told by breeders.
Listening to the SNP leader debate Kate Forbes is head and shoulders above the other two
If she wins Scons could have s real problem
Been saying this for a while. If she wins I am really not sure there will be any Tory MPs from Scotland in the next Parliament. Might be quite a few more Scottish Labour MPs though.
I think the Scottish border seats and maybe Aberdeenshire West will stay Tory even v Forbes, though Moray and Banff and Buchan will go back to the SNP who held them under Salmond.
Scottish Labour would gain a fair number of central belt seats though v Forbes and seats in the big cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow especially which are more socially liberal than Forbes
I think the SNP under Forbes could also gain Dumfries and Galloway. The Lib Dems must surely be hopeful of gaining Aberdeenshire West.
Can work well with foreign leaders (44% | 29%) Can build a strong economy (42% | 29%) Is a strong leader (33% | 31%)
Starmer leads on:
Cares about people like me (36% | 27%) Can bring British people together (36% | 32%)
RedfieldWilton
Yes, the Tories are going to get gubbed,
These are seats where Labour were third.
I'm not so sure now, the mood among my previously Tory voting friends is definitely changing. Especially wrt Rishi, the NI deal has helped a lot and, given who I know, the swift handling of a potentially economy breaking bank failure has gained him a lot of credit.
The economy is definitely turning around as well and it's being noticed by ordinary people IMO. I think all of the predictions of 2 year long recessions and other various doom predictions has also helped Rishi because none of it has materialised and it is unlikely to do so.
Overall I'd rate 1992 as an unlikely rather than impossible outcome which is a marked change from just last month.
On the doorsteps, I'm finding those that always hated the Tories now REALLY hate the Tories; the previous Tory vote is holding surprisingly well, especially for the council elections. Those who voted in the past who are underwhelmed are still hoping there will be a rise in their performance, to give them a reason to vote Tory again.
FWIW.
Agreed. People are noticing Rishi is really good.
Overstating it somewhat, I suggest!
It’s simply relief at having adult in charge after the two immature PMs prior.
I thought the first rule about ban hammer was that you don't talk about ban hammer.
I'm less bothered by the ban hammer than I am the bugger this I'm off contingent.
Ok so some of the people who drove off previously prolific posters and thread authors have now also been banned, but we're in danger of losing too many people here.
You and I disagree on a lot of topics but neither of us are persecuting the other trying to drive them away. As some have done to people.like Cyclefree who then upped and left
Didn't know @Cyclefree had left. Very disappointed to read that.
Same here. Sorry to see her go. She always posted very thoughtful topics.
I've not been on so much because I am now a humble public sector employee expected to turn up for work at specific time. I completely missed that. What happened?
Unemployment is now only an issue in inner urban areas and a few grotty northern mill towns and coastal areas.
Bolsover now has lower unemployment than any North London borough - something which would have been unconceivable when Dennis Skinner was in his prime.
Constituencies where the male unemployment rate is over 3% higher than the female unemployment rate:
Belfast North Belfast West Birkenhead Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Hall Green Birmingham Hodge Hill Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Perry Barr Birmingham Yardley Bootle Bradford West Foyle Glasgow North-East Glasgow North-West Liverpool Walton Liverpool Wavertree Middlesborough Nottingham East
So what's the answer to welfare dependent blokes in urban grot holes ?
Listening to the SNP leader debate Kate Forbes is head and shoulders above the other two
If she wins Scons could have s real problem
Been saying this for a while. If she wins I am really not sure there will be any Tory MPs from Scotland in the next Parliament. Might be quite a few more Scottish Labour MPs though.
I think the Scottish border seats and maybe Aberdeenshire West will stay Tory even v Forbes, though Moray and Banff and Buchan will go back to the SNP who held them under Salmond.
Scottish Labour would gain a fair number of central belt seats though v Forbes and seats in the big cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow especially which are more socially liberal than Forbes
I think the SNP under Forbes could also gain Dumfries and Galloway. The Lib Dems must surely be hopeful of gaining Aberdeenshire West.
So could Labour who held Dumfries and Galloway until 2015. Aberdeenshire W was LD until 2015 too yes
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
I thought the first rule about ban hammer was that you don't talk about ban hammer.
I'm less bothered by the ban hammer than I am the bugger this I'm off contingent.
Ok so some of the people who drove off previously prolific posters and thread authors have now also been banned, but we're in danger of losing too many people here.
You and I disagree on a lot of topics but neither of us are persecuting the other trying to drive them away. As some have done to people.like Cyclefree who then upped and left
Didn't know @Cyclefree had left. Very disappointed to read that.
Same here. Sorry to see her go. She always posted very thoughtful topics.
I've not been on so much because I am now a humble public sector employee expected to turn up for work at specific time. I completely missed that. What happened?
A humble public sector employee? Does that mean my taxes are paying your wages? You’ll be voting Labour next!
Unemployment is now only an issue in inner urban areas and a few grotty northern mill towns and coastal areas.
Bolsover now has lower unemployment than any North London borough - something which would have been unconceivable when Dennis Skinner was in his prime.
Constituencies where the male unemployment rate is over 3% higher than the female unemployment rate:
Belfast North Belfast West Birkenhead Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Hall Green Birmingham Hodge Hill Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Perry Barr Birmingham Yardley Bootle Bradford West Foyle Glasgow North-East Glasgow North-West Liverpool Walton Liverpool Wavertree Middlesborough Nottingham East
So what's the answer to welfare dependent blokes in urban grot holes ?
Retraining and courses to get them actively seeking work to claim welfare
Listening to the SNP leader debate Kate Forbes is head and shoulders above the other two
If she wins Scons could have s real problem
Been saying this for a while. If she wins I am really not sure there will be any Tory MPs from Scotland in the next Parliament. Might be quite a few more Scottish Labour MPs though.
I think the Scottish border seats and maybe Aberdeenshire West will stay Tory even v Forbes, though Moray and Banff and Buchan will go back to the SNP who held them under Salmond.
Scottish Labour would gain a fair number of central belt seats though v Forbes and seats in the big cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow especially which are more socially liberal than Forbes
I think the SNP under Forbes could also gain Dumfries and Galloway. The Lib Dems must surely be hopeful of gaining Aberdeenshire West.
I suppose it really depends how much of the residual Scottish Tory vote is truly Unionist, and how much of it is simply looking for the party most committed to a platform of low taxation and burning the ungodly at the stake?
Unemployment is now only an issue in inner urban areas and a few grotty northern mill towns and coastal areas.
Bolsover now has lower unemployment than any North London borough - something which would have been unconceivable when Dennis Skinner was in his prime.
Constituencies where the male unemployment rate is over 3% higher than the female unemployment rate:
Belfast North Belfast West Birkenhead Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Hall Green Birmingham Hodge Hill Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Perry Barr Birmingham Yardley Bootle Bradford West Foyle Glasgow North-East Glasgow North-West Liverpool Walton Liverpool Wavertree Middlesborough Nottingham East
So what's the answer to welfare dependent blokes in urban grot holes ?
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
Ash Regan - Nick Clegg Humza Yousaf - Liz Truss Kate Forbes - Gordon Brown Nicola Sturgeon - Tony Blair Alex Salmond - Harold Wilson. John Swinney - no, I'm not going to be cruel to Heath.
I thought the first rule about ban hammer was that you don't talk about ban hammer.
I'm less bothered by the ban hammer than I am the bugger this I'm off contingent.
Ok so some of the people who drove off previously prolific posters and thread authors have now also been banned, but we're in danger of losing too many people here.
You and I disagree on a lot of topics but neither of us are persecuting the other trying to drive them away. As some have done to people.like Cyclefree who then upped and left
Didn't know @Cyclefree had left. Very disappointed to read that.
Same here. Sorry to see her go. She always posted very thoughtful topics.
I've not been on so much because I am now a humble public sector employee expected to turn up for work at specific time. I completely missed that. What happened?
A humble public sector employee? Does that mean my taxes are paying your wages? You’ll be voting Labour next!
To be honest I still seem to be earning more on the side than through the wages but I am now contracted to work 220 days a year as an Advocate Depute. I started a new rape trial today which will keep me going for the rest of the week and possibly into next.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
You’ll be pleased to know I voted for Forbes. Regan 2nd preference to help kick Yousaf out and upset the SNP establishment.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
Ash Regan - Nick Clegg Humza Yousaf - Liz Truss Kate Forbes - Gordon Brown Nicola Sturgeon - Tony Blair Alex Salmond - Harold Wilson. John Swinney - no, I'm not going to be cruel to Heath.
Kate Forbes - a socially conservative Liz Truss Ash Regan - Penny Mordaunt Humza Yousaf - A less bright and less competent Rishi Sunak
How have Stuart and Leon managed to be banned simultaneously? Some mutual expiration of Scottish subsamples I assume?
Leon, Dickson and CHB all within 72 hours. No one can accuse the bans of being partisan anyway.
The Horse too? Crikey!
All for the same reason? Subsampling? Or what??
AfaIcs it was because the mod(s) found them increasingly irritating, which seems a little...petulant.
I'd better watch out.
On that basis, I’d have been treble-banned by @TheScreamingEagles seven times in just the last day.
Before myths start.
Some were banned for dropping the C bomb (at other posters), some for posting stuff that will get OGH into trouble, some for being rude about OGH.
As a general rule, those get you into trouble.
OGH and RCS spend a lot of time and money so we can all post in real time, it isn't wise to abuse that hospitality.
With respect to last point, I wish to take this opportunity, to apologize unreservedly, repeatedly, abjectly, for ever referring to Smithson the Elder as a Liberal Democrat.
As for Smithson the Younger, the fact that he is a lifelong Marxist (Grouchoist) is so obvious as to be beyond apology.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
You’ll be pleased to know I voted for Forbes. Regan 2nd preference to help kick Yousaf out and upset the SNP establishment.
Yes, if Forbes win the SNP will have their very own Liz Truss. A leader most of the MPs and MSPs opposed but who members elected anyway, however like Labour with Corbyn but unlike the Tories with Truss they have no mechanism for their parliamentary representatives to remove her by VONC if she proves a dud
On a passing note, is "Budget Purdah" just history now? The main budget elements seem to be leaked every day for weeks.
Ancient history. Who was the last Chancellor not to pre-announce policy?
Though there's bound to be a rabbit hidden somewhere.
Why Chancellors continue to think it's a good idea, in the face of decades of evidence to the contrary, to leak the good stuff in advance so the bad stuff dominates headlines for days afterwards remains a mystery.
As for your question, I can't tell you who the last was, although I would guess it was Howe. I can tell you who the first was - Hugh Dalton. He was sacked on the spot for it by Attlee.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
SCons though are praying for a Yousaf win, they would hold all their seats and even gain some SNP seats like Gordon if he wins.
SLab and the Greens by contrast are praying for a Forbes win who will turn off urban social liberals now voting SNP in droves
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
On a passing note, is "Budget Purdah" just history now? The main budget elements seem to be leaked every day for weeks.
Ancient history. Who was the last Chancellor not to pre-announce policy?
Though there's bound to be a rabbit hidden somewhere.
Why Chancellors continue to think it's a good idea, in the face of decades of evidence to the contrary, to leak the good stuff in advance so the bad stuff dominates headlines for days afterwards remains a mystery.
As for your question, I can't tell you who the last was, although I would guess it was Howe. I can tell you who the first was - Hugh Dalton. He was sacked on the spot for it by Attlee.
Brown kept most under his hat. Mostly to keep Blair in the dark, I think.
Unemployment is now only an issue in inner urban areas and a few grotty northern mill towns and coastal areas.
Bolsover now has lower unemployment than any North London borough - something which would have been unconceivable when Dennis Skinner was in his prime.
Constituencies where the male unemployment rate is over 3% higher than the female unemployment rate:
Belfast North Belfast West Birkenhead Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Hall Green Birmingham Hodge Hill Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Perry Barr Birmingham Yardley Bootle Bradford West Foyle Glasgow North-East Glasgow North-West Liverpool Walton Liverpool Wavertree Middlesborough Nottingham East
So what's the answer to welfare dependent blokes in urban grot holes ?
Retraining and courses to get them actively seeking work to claim welfare
Benefit sanctions have been a thing since the year dot.
I honestly don't know how much time and money is spent on offering training to the unemployed. Not a lot, I suspect. What do we think that Jobcentre Plus is more geared towards, getting people into good jobs or just getting them off their books as quickly as possible?
Besides, every pound spent on training schemes is one pound less that's available to spend on pensioners.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
SCons though are praying for a Yousaf win, they would hold all their seats and even gain some SNP seats like Gordon if he wins.
SLab and the Greens by contrast are praying for a Forbes win who will turn off urban social liberals now voting SNP in droves
Agreed, except that the Greens may want a Yousaf win, so that they remain part of Government.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Er, I think that should be 'fortunately Scotland is not Alabama'.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Surely it is fortunate that Scotland is not Alabama!
The Guardian suggesting free childcare to be extended down to 1 and 2 year olds. Would be a huge, huge policy. I hope they extend to 35h and for outside of term time too. It will remove a huge barrier to getting people back into work. Though we don't qualify we know a lot of our friends where the wife is working part time or taking a career break because childcare is so expensive for them. My sister does a 3 day week at the moment, I think she'd easily push up to 4 days if childcare costs went down.
Additionally it's a good policy to try and get families to have one more child.
How will the Guardian afford this? Are they finally going to put their website behind a paywall?
They are saying that Hunt will announce it in the Budget.
Tax and spend, spend and tax - the Tory way these days.
Nah, this is a policy that will eventually pay for itself due to higher labour force participation and an increase in the fertility rate and all of the extra spending it comes with.
There's a risk that the government try to do it on the cheap. What they promise to pay childcare providers isn't enough to cover their costs, and so you end up with a reduction in childcare supply at the same time as an increase in childcare demand. Then effectively you have the NHS system, where supposedly it is free, but actually it is rationed by restricting supply, and so you have lots of people on waiting lists waiting for a place for their child at the local nursery, just as people are on waiting lists for ages for NHS treatment.
On a passing note, is "Budget Purdah" just history now? The main budget elements seem to be leaked every day for weeks.
Ancient history. Who was the last Chancellor not to pre-announce policy?
Though there's bound to be a rabbit hidden somewhere.
Why Chancellors continue to think it's a good idea, in the face of decades of evidence to the contrary, to leak the good stuff in advance so the bad stuff dominates headlines for days afterwards remains a mystery.
As for your question, I can't tell you who the last was, although I would guess it was Howe. I can tell you who the first was - Hugh Dalton. He was sacked on the spot for it by Attlee.
Brown kept most under his hat. Mostly to keep Blair in the dark, I think.
Really? If you didn't know about the abolition of the 10p tax band until the budget you must have been the only person in Europe in the dark.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
I am not that bothered by her religious views. She has been very clear to anyone willing to listen that is how she chooses to live her life but she doesn't expect others to do the same. I admire the fact she can put a moderately complex sentence together and maintain a line of thought for more than a minute or two. These are not high bars but Ash is borderline demented and Yousaf is both stupid and incompetent. Scotland needs better.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Surely it is fortunate that Scotland is not Alabama!
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
I am not that bothered by her religious views. She has been very clear to anyone willing to listen that is how she chooses to live her life but she doesn't expect others to do the same. I admire the fact she can put a moderately complex sentence together and maintain a line of thought for more than a minute or two. These are not high bars but Ash is borderline demented and Yousaf is both stupid and incompetent. Scotland needs better.
I just discovered today that on Friday the government announced that they plan to spend* £20 billion on carbon capture and storage. A bit of a jump from £1 billion.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Er, I think that should be 'fortunately Scotland is not Alabama'.
HYUFD's spiritual homeland is Antrim which is probably as close as you can get to Alabama in the UK. The heart wants what the heart wants.
Fats Waller: I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter And make believe it came from you I'm gonna write words, oh so sweet They're gonna knock me off my feet A lotta kisses on the bottom I'll be glad I got 'em
Listening to the SNP leader debate Kate Forbes is head and shoulders above the other two
If she wins Scons could have s real problem
Been saying this for a while. If she wins I am really not sure there will be any Tory MPs from Scotland in the next Parliament. Might be quite a few more Scottish Labour MPs though.
I think the Scottish border seats and maybe Aberdeenshire West will stay Tory even v Forbes, though Moray and Banff and Buchan will go back to the SNP who held them under Salmond.
Scottish Labour would gain a fair number of central belt seats though v Forbes and seats in the big cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow especially which are more socially liberal than Forbes
I think the SNP under Forbes could also gain Dumfries and Galloway. The Lib Dems must surely be hopeful of gaining Aberdeenshire West.
So could Labour who held Dumfries and Galloway until 2015. Aberdeenshire W was LD until 2015 too yes
There is precisely zero chance of the LibDems winning Aberdeenshire W. Their vote has evaporated. It's a Tory/SNP marginal. And there's zero chance for Labour in D&G for much the same reason.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Er, I think that should be 'fortunately Scotland is not Alabama'.
As Tom Lehrer said: "We'll try to stay serene and calm When Alabama gets the bomb. Who's next?"
On a passing note, is "Budget Purdah" just history now? The main budget elements seem to be leaked every day for weeks.
Ancient history. Who was the last Chancellor not to pre-announce policy?
Though there's bound to be a rabbit hidden somewhere.
Why Chancellors continue to think it's a good idea, in the face of decades of evidence to the contrary, to leak the good stuff in advance so the bad stuff dominates headlines for days afterwards remains a mystery.
As for your question, I can't tell you who the last was, although I would guess it was Howe. I can tell you who the first was - Hugh Dalton. He was sacked on the spot for it by Attlee.
Brown kept most under his hat. Mostly to keep Blair in the dark, I think.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Er, I think that should be 'fortunately Scotland is not Alabama'.
HYUFD's spiritual homeland is Antrim which is probably as close as you can get to Alabama in the UK. The heart wants what the heart wants.
I think he would be happiest living on the Shankill Road.
The Guardian suggesting free childcare to be extended down to 1 and 2 year olds. Would be a huge, huge policy. I hope they extend to 35h and for outside of term time too. It will remove a huge barrier to getting people back into work. Though we don't qualify we know a lot of our friends where the wife is working part time or taking a career break because childcare is so expensive for them. My sister does a 3 day week at the moment, I think she'd easily push up to 4 days if childcare costs went down.
Additionally it's a good policy to try and get families to have one more child.
How will the Guardian afford this? Are they finally going to put their website behind a paywall?
They are saying that Hunt will announce it in the Budget.
Tax and spend, spend and tax - the Tory way these days.
Nah, this is a policy that will eventually pay for itself due to higher labour force participation and an increase in the fertility rate and all of the extra spending it comes with.
There's a risk that the government try to do it on the cheap. What they promise to pay childcare providers isn't enough to cover their costs, and so you end up with a reduction in childcare supply at the same time as an increase in childcare demand. Then effectively you have the NHS system, where supposedly it is free, but actually it is rationed by restricting supply, and so you have lots of people on waiting lists waiting for a place for their child at the local nursery, just as people are on waiting lists for ages for NHS treatment.
They've already done that.
The Government stands accused of ‘shamelessly’ and ‘knowingly underfunding’ the early years sector, after private Government documents obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveal that ministers at the Department for Education were aware that it was severely underfunding providers of funded childcare places for three- and four-year-olds.
The briefing, shared today after a two-year Freedom of Information dispute with the DfE, shows that early years funding rates for 2020/21 were less than two-thirds of what officials estimated to be the true cost of ‘fully funding’ the scheme.
The documents also reveal ministers knew the inadequate level of investment proposed would result in higher costs for parents of younger children, and that nurseries, pre-schools and childminders would be forced to use maximum statutory adult-to-child ratios – despite the impact this could have on the quality of provision.
One briefing document obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveals that in 2015, civil servants at the DfE estimated the cost of providing a Government-funded early years place for a three- or four-year old would reach £7.49 per child per hour by 2020-21.
It suggests that providers should ‘become more efficient’ in order to reduce costs.
The end result of this was not that hard-pressed nurseries 'became more efficient to reduce costs.' They hiked prices for younger children to plug the gaps left by the scheme, or they folded.
Childcare is like most other things that this Government does. If it's not a priority for wealthy retirees then it gets done on the cheap or it doesn't get done at all.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Er, I think that should be 'fortunately Scotland is not Alabama'.
HYUFD's spiritual homeland is Antrim which is probably as close as you can get to Alabama in the UK. The heart wants what the heart wants.
I think he would be happiest living on the Shankill Road.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Er, I think that should be 'fortunately Scotland is not Alabama'.
HYUFD's spiritual homeland is Antrim which is probably as close as you can get to Alabama in the UK. The heart wants what the heart wants.
I think he would be happiest living on the Shankill Road.
Where all the houses have sash windows.
Sashaying down the Shankill Road conjures up the idea.
Unemployment is now only an issue in inner urban areas and a few grotty northern mill towns and coastal areas.
Bolsover now has lower unemployment than any North London borough - something which would have been unconceivable when Dennis Skinner was in his prime.
Constituencies where the male unemployment rate is over 3% higher than the female unemployment rate:
Belfast North Belfast West Birkenhead Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Hall Green Birmingham Hodge Hill Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Perry Barr Birmingham Yardley Bootle Bradford West Foyle Glasgow North-East Glasgow North-West Liverpool Walton Liverpool Wavertree Middlesborough Nottingham East
So what's the answer to welfare dependent blokes in urban grot holes ?
In General Hackett’s book The Third World War ends with Russia nuking Birmingham.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Er, I think that should be 'fortunately Scotland is not Alabama'.
HYUFD's spiritual homeland is Antrim which is probably as close as you can get to Alabama in the UK. The heart wants what the heart wants.
Don't forget his insistence on bringing Armalites into the political process. Plenty of AR-15s in Alabama.
The Guardian suggesting free childcare to be extended down to 1 and 2 year olds. Would be a huge, huge policy. I hope they extend to 35h and for outside of term time too. It will remove a huge barrier to getting people back into work. Though we don't qualify we know a lot of our friends where the wife is working part time or taking a career break because childcare is so expensive for them. My sister does a 3 day week at the moment, I think she'd easily push up to 4 days if childcare costs went down.
Additionally it's a good policy to try and get families to have one more child.
How will the Guardian afford this? Are they finally going to put their website behind a paywall?
They are saying that Hunt will announce it in the Budget.
Tax and spend, spend and tax - the Tory way these days.
Nah, this is a policy that will eventually pay for itself due to higher labour force participation and an increase in the fertility rate and all of the extra spending it comes with.
There's a risk that the government try to do it on the cheap. What they promise to pay childcare providers isn't enough to cover their costs, and so you end up with a reduction in childcare supply at the same time as an increase in childcare demand. Then effectively you have the NHS system, where supposedly it is free, but actually it is rationed by restricting supply, and so you have lots of people on waiting lists waiting for a place for their child at the local nursery, just as people are on waiting lists for ages for NHS treatment.
Already something of a problem; the government-funded hours for 3 and 4 year olds don't really cover costs properly, compensated by parents paying more for the commercial hours.
Still, the right thing to do, as long as it's done well.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
I am not that bothered by her religious views. She has been very clear to anyone willing to listen that is how she chooses to live her life but she doesn't expect others to do the same. I admire the fact she can put a moderately complex sentence together and maintain a line of thought for more than a minute or two. These are not high bars but Ash is borderline demented and Yousaf is both stupid and incompetent. Scotland needs better.
Neither am I. But this, actually, is far less significant than that her position appears to be a complete repudiation of the Sturgeon progressive project. That's why the entire SNP establishment is behind Yousaf despite him being an obvious dud. My pet theory is that they wish to keep the option of Nicola returning open. The election of 32-yr old Forbes could well close that down.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Surely it is fortunate that Scotland is not Alabama!
I just discovered today that on Friday the government announced that they plan to spend* £20 billion on carbon capture and storage. A bit of a jump from £1 billion.
*Spend/Invest/Piss Away - Delete as you see fit.
This government's energy policy has been captured by complete clowns.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Surely it is fortunate that Scotland is not Alabama!
Sweet home Alba bama?
They'd be better off without the Alba dross around their necks.
Unemployment is now only an issue in inner urban areas and a few grotty northern mill towns and coastal areas.
Bolsover now has lower unemployment than any North London borough - something which would have been unconceivable when Dennis Skinner was in his prime.
Constituencies where the male unemployment rate is over 3% higher than the female unemployment rate:
Belfast North Belfast West Birkenhead Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Hall Green Birmingham Hodge Hill Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Perry Barr Birmingham Yardley Bootle Bradford West Foyle Glasgow North-East Glasgow North-West Liverpool Walton Liverpool Wavertree Middlesborough Nottingham East
So what's the answer to welfare dependent blokes in urban grot holes ?
In General Hackett’s book The Third World War ends with Russia nuking Birmingham.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Er, I think that should be 'fortunately Scotland is not Alabama'.
HYUFD's spiritual homeland is Antrim which is probably as close as you can get to Alabama in the UK. The heart wants what the heart wants.
The least Catholic local authority in NI is Ards & North Down.
The Guardian suggesting free childcare to be extended down to 1 and 2 year olds. Would be a huge, huge policy. I hope they extend to 35h and for outside of term time too. It will remove a huge barrier to getting people back into work. Though we don't qualify we know a lot of our friends where the wife is working part time or taking a career break because childcare is so expensive for them. My sister does a 3 day week at the moment, I think she'd easily push up to 4 days if childcare costs went down.
Additionally it's a good policy to try and get families to have one more child.
How will the Guardian afford this? Are they finally going to put their website behind a paywall?
They are saying that Hunt will announce it in the Budget.
Tax and spend, spend and tax - the Tory way these days.
Nah, this is a policy that will eventually pay for itself due to higher labour force participation and an increase in the fertility rate and all of the extra spending it comes with.
There's a risk that the government try to do it on the cheap. What they promise to pay childcare providers isn't enough to cover their costs, and so you end up with a reduction in childcare supply at the same time as an increase in childcare demand. Then effectively you have the NHS system, where supposedly it is free, but actually it is rationed by restricting supply, and so you have lots of people on waiting lists waiting for a place for their child at the local nursery, just as people are on waiting lists for ages for NHS treatment.
They've already done that.
The Government stands accused of ‘shamelessly’ and ‘knowingly underfunding’ the early years sector, after private Government documents obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveal that ministers at the Department for Education were aware that it was severely underfunding providers of funded childcare places for three- and four-year-olds.
The briefing, shared today after a two-year Freedom of Information dispute with the DfE, shows that early years funding rates for 2020/21 were less than two-thirds of what officials estimated to be the true cost of ‘fully funding’ the scheme.
The documents also reveal ministers knew the inadequate level of investment proposed would result in higher costs for parents of younger children, and that nurseries, pre-schools and childminders would be forced to use maximum statutory adult-to-child ratios – despite the impact this could have on the quality of provision.
One briefing document obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveals that in 2015, civil servants at the DfE estimated the cost of providing a Government-funded early years place for a three- or four-year old would reach £7.49 per child per hour by 2020-21.
It suggests that providers should ‘become more efficient’ in order to reduce costs.
The end result of this was not that hard-pressed nurseries 'became more efficient to reduce costs.' They hiked prices for younger children to plug the gaps left by the scheme, or they folded.
Childcare is like most other things that this Government does. If it's not a priority for wealthy retirees then it gets done on the cheap or it doesn't get done at all.
Looking back our experience of nursery in England was poor. It was just kids sitting bunched together in a room soiling themselves and crying with teenagers looking after them, who would be constantly changing. My son didn't like it but he only went for two mornings a week. It got an Ofsted good rating. I think our opinion in retrospect is that we should either have sent him to the nursery at the independent school or looked after him ourselves, as he got absolutely nothing out of going to this nursery.
The Guardian suggesting free childcare to be extended down to 1 and 2 year olds. Would be a huge, huge policy. I hope they extend to 35h and for outside of term time too. It will remove a huge barrier to getting people back into work. Though we don't qualify we know a lot of our friends where the wife is working part time or taking a career break because childcare is so expensive for them. My sister does a 3 day week at the moment, I think she'd easily push up to 4 days if childcare costs went down.
Additionally it's a good policy to try and get families to have one more child.
How will the Guardian afford this? Are they finally going to put their website behind a paywall?
They are saying that Hunt will announce it in the Budget.
Tax and spend, spend and tax - the Tory way these days.
Nah, this is a policy that will eventually pay for itself due to higher labour force participation and an increase in the fertility rate and all of the extra spending it comes with.
There's a risk that the government try to do it on the cheap. What they promise to pay childcare providers isn't enough to cover their costs, and so you end up with a reduction in childcare supply at the same time as an increase in childcare demand. Then effectively you have the NHS system, where supposedly it is free, but actually it is rationed by restricting supply, and so you have lots of people on waiting lists waiting for a place for their child at the local nursery, just as people are on waiting lists for ages for NHS treatment.
They've already done that.
The Government stands accused of ‘shamelessly’ and ‘knowingly underfunding’ the early years sector, after private Government documents obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveal that ministers at the Department for Education were aware that it was severely underfunding providers of funded childcare places for three- and four-year-olds.
The briefing, shared today after a two-year Freedom of Information dispute with the DfE, shows that early years funding rates for 2020/21 were less than two-thirds of what officials estimated to be the true cost of ‘fully funding’ the scheme.
The documents also reveal ministers knew the inadequate level of investment proposed would result in higher costs for parents of younger children, and that nurseries, pre-schools and childminders would be forced to use maximum statutory adult-to-child ratios – despite the impact this could have on the quality of provision.
One briefing document obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveals that in 2015, civil servants at the DfE estimated the cost of providing a Government-funded early years place for a three- or four-year old would reach £7.49 per child per hour by 2020-21.
It suggests that providers should ‘become more efficient’ in order to reduce costs.
The end result of this was not that hard-pressed nurseries 'became more efficient to reduce costs.' They hiked prices for younger children to plug the gaps left by the scheme, or they folded.
Childcare is like most other things that this Government does. If it's not a priority for wealthy retirees then it gets done on the cheap or it doesn't get done at all.
“maximum statutory adult-to-child ratios” are higher in this country than anywhere else in Europe, IIRC.
This gold plating of child care raised the cost to that of private school for those able to use the legit providers.
And just as in the days when only black cabs were legal in London, everyone else uses unregistered amateur help.
Unless they are rich enough to afford space for an au pair.
As a Yoon I don't have a say about who'll become first minister, but having seen and heard the candidates it will disappointment me if it's not Forbes. Otoh either of the others will be good for Yoonism.
It is a dilemma but Scotland needs some competent management by someone whose idea of a decision is not to aim for the long grass or pick unnecessary fights. Yousaf as FM is a truly depressing prospect.
I am pretty relaxed about strong religious views, but I can see Forbes is too far out for modern politics.
Not quite, she would be fine in Alabama, unfortunately Scotland is not Alabama
Er, I think that should be 'fortunately Scotland is not Alabama'.
HYUFD's spiritual homeland is Antrim which is probably as close as you can get to Alabama in the UK. The heart wants what the heart wants.
Don't forget his insistence on bringing Armalites into the political process. Plenty of AR-15s in Alabama.
Even in Alabama, an actual tank would be considered cool.
Then again, a Covenanter wouldn’t be running very cool in that climate. They were prone to overheating in Northumberland. In winter.
Unemployment is now only an issue in inner urban areas and a few grotty northern mill towns and coastal areas.
Bolsover now has lower unemployment than any North London borough - something which would have been unconceivable when Dennis Skinner was in his prime.
Constituencies where the male unemployment rate is over 3% higher than the female unemployment rate:
Belfast North Belfast West Birkenhead Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Hall Green Birmingham Hodge Hill Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Perry Barr Birmingham Yardley Bootle Bradford West Foyle Glasgow North-East Glasgow North-West Liverpool Walton Liverpool Wavertree Middlesborough Nottingham East
So what's the answer to welfare dependent blokes in urban grot holes ?
In General Hackett’s book The Third World War ends with Russia nuking Birmingham.
The Guardian suggesting free childcare to be extended down to 1 and 2 year olds. Would be a huge, huge policy. I hope they extend to 35h and for outside of term time too. It will remove a huge barrier to getting people back into work. Though we don't qualify we know a lot of our friends where the wife is working part time or taking a career break because childcare is so expensive for them. My sister does a 3 day week at the moment, I think she'd easily push up to 4 days if childcare costs went down.
Additionally it's a good policy to try and get families to have one more child.
How will the Guardian afford this? Are they finally going to put their website behind a paywall?
They are saying that Hunt will announce it in the Budget.
Tax and spend, spend and tax - the Tory way these days.
Nah, this is a policy that will eventually pay for itself due to higher labour force participation and an increase in the fertility rate and all of the extra spending it comes with.
There's a risk that the government try to do it on the cheap. What they promise to pay childcare providers isn't enough to cover their costs, and so you end up with a reduction in childcare supply at the same time as an increase in childcare demand. Then effectively you have the NHS system, where supposedly it is free, but actually it is rationed by restricting supply, and so you have lots of people on waiting lists waiting for a place for their child at the local nursery, just as people are on waiting lists for ages for NHS treatment.
They've already done that.
The Government stands accused of ‘shamelessly’ and ‘knowingly underfunding’ the early years sector, after private Government documents obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveal that ministers at the Department for Education were aware that it was severely underfunding providers of funded childcare places for three- and four-year-olds.
The briefing, shared today after a two-year Freedom of Information dispute with the DfE, shows that early years funding rates for 2020/21 were less than two-thirds of what officials estimated to be the true cost of ‘fully funding’ the scheme.
The documents also reveal ministers knew the inadequate level of investment proposed would result in higher costs for parents of younger children, and that nurseries, pre-schools and childminders would be forced to use maximum statutory adult-to-child ratios – despite the impact this could have on the quality of provision.
One briefing document obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveals that in 2015, civil servants at the DfE estimated the cost of providing a Government-funded early years place for a three- or four-year old would reach £7.49 per child per hour by 2020-21.
It suggests that providers should ‘become more efficient’ in order to reduce costs.
The end result of this was not that hard-pressed nurseries 'became more efficient to reduce costs.' They hiked prices for younger children to plug the gaps left by the scheme, or they folded.
Childcare is like most other things that this Government does. If it's not a priority for wealthy retirees then it gets done on the cheap or it doesn't get done at all.
Whilst I agree with the overall thrust and appreciate the detailed news clip, I think your last paragraph is a touch churlish on the day that they announce/leak a huge childcare subsidy for 1 and 2 year olds.
Extremely impressed with Simon Fell MP on World Tonight on the phantom Barrow grooming case. Balanced, empathetic, nuanced and utterly focused on his constituents' needs, rather than political advantage and grandstanding. He's a Tory MP I could consider voting for. Not all Red Wall MP's are like the others. Should he lose in the next GE, any other seat would be blessed to have him.
Fats Waller: I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter And make believe it came from you I'm gonna write words, oh so sweet They're gonna knock me off my feet A lotta kisses on the bottom I'll be glad I got 'em
The Guardian suggesting free childcare to be extended down to 1 and 2 year olds. Would be a huge, huge policy. I hope they extend to 35h and for outside of term time too. It will remove a huge barrier to getting people back into work. Though we don't qualify we know a lot of our friends where the wife is working part time or taking a career break because childcare is so expensive for them. My sister does a 3 day week at the moment, I think she'd easily push up to 4 days if childcare costs went down.
Additionally it's a good policy to try and get families to have one more child.
How will the Guardian afford this? Are they finally going to put their website behind a paywall?
They are saying that Hunt will announce it in the Budget.
Tax and spend, spend and tax - the Tory way these days.
Nah, this is a policy that will eventually pay for itself due to higher labour force participation and an increase in the fertility rate and all of the extra spending it comes with.
There's a risk that the government try to do it on the cheap. What they promise to pay childcare providers isn't enough to cover their costs, and so you end up with a reduction in childcare supply at the same time as an increase in childcare demand. Then effectively you have the NHS system, where supposedly it is free, but actually it is rationed by restricting supply, and so you have lots of people on waiting lists waiting for a place for their child at the local nursery, just as people are on waiting lists for ages for NHS treatment.
They've already done that.
The Government stands accused of ‘shamelessly’ and ‘knowingly underfunding’ the early years sector, after private Government documents obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveal that ministers at the Department for Education were aware that it was severely underfunding providers of funded childcare places for three- and four-year-olds.
The briefing, shared today after a two-year Freedom of Information dispute with the DfE, shows that early years funding rates for 2020/21 were less than two-thirds of what officials estimated to be the true cost of ‘fully funding’ the scheme.
The documents also reveal ministers knew the inadequate level of investment proposed would result in higher costs for parents of younger children, and that nurseries, pre-schools and childminders would be forced to use maximum statutory adult-to-child ratios – despite the impact this could have on the quality of provision.
One briefing document obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveals that in 2015, civil servants at the DfE estimated the cost of providing a Government-funded early years place for a three- or four-year old would reach £7.49 per child per hour by 2020-21.
It suggests that providers should ‘become more efficient’ in order to reduce costs.
The end result of this was not that hard-pressed nurseries 'became more efficient to reduce costs.' They hiked prices for younger children to plug the gaps left by the scheme, or they folded.
Childcare is like most other things that this Government does. If it's not a priority for wealthy retirees then it gets done on the cheap or it doesn't get done at all.
“maximum statutory adult-to-child ratios” are higher in this country than anywhere else in Europe, IIRC.
This gold plating of child care raised the cost to that of private school for those able to use the legit providers.
And just as in the days when only black cabs were legal in London, everyone else uses unregistered amateur help.
Unless they are rich enough to afford space for an au pair.
I would much rather higher quality childcare workers than higher quantity.
Extremely impressed with Simon Fell MP on World Tonight on the phantom Barrow grooming case. Balanced, empathetic, nuanced and utterly focused on his constituents' needs, rather than political advantage and grandstanding. He's a Tory MP I could consider voting for. Not all Red Wall MP's are like the others.
Wasn't the Barrow case shamelessly ramped by some of the more excitable Islamophobes on here?
Comments
As for mortgages, we will all be gradually shifting to higher interest rates as fixed rate terms end. Again, there's not a lot to be done about that. (But being totally calculating, a lot of Conservative voters are in the "already paid off their mortgages" category.)
Not what you would expect but perhaps the young have more pressing concerns.
Ok so some of the people who drove off previously prolific posters and thread authors have now also been banned, but we're in danger of losing too many people here.
You and I disagree on a lot of topics but neither of us are persecuting the other trying to drive them away. As some have done to people.like Cyclefree who then upped and left
You display great endurance.
That's why, when he was Chancellor, Sunak invented the Health and Social Care Levy: in essence yet another tax hike on working incomes (NI rather than Income Tax being targeted because it's not paid by pensioners, of course,) to be used to pay for services that are either predominantly (healthcare) or overwhelmingly (adult social care) directed at the aged. The point being that, once established, the Levy could've been jacked up on a ratchet, over and over again, to bleed the young white for all the costs of wiping old people's bottoms, so that raids on the immense property wealth of the elderly would never be necessary. Any repeat of the Dementia Tax debacle was to be avoided at all costs.
The only useful thing that Liz Truss achieved was to kill it.
Barnsley and Hull all in the bottom 3, all held by Labour but all voted Leave. Hartlepool and Wolverhampton SE the only seats in the bottom 10.
Confirms on cultural issues the main divide is now Remain v Leave, a separate divide to the Tory v Labour divide still on economic issues
Personally thought LT's attempts at looking like MT were WTF?
Scottish Labour would gain a fair number of central belt seats though v Forbes and seats in the big cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow especially which are more socially liberal than Forbes
It’s simply relief at having adult in charge after the two immature PMs prior.
Belfast North
Belfast West
Birkenhead
Birmingham Erdington
Birmingham Hall Green
Birmingham Hodge Hill
Birmingham Ladywood
Birmingham Perry Barr
Birmingham Yardley
Bootle
Bradford West
Foyle
Glasgow North-East
Glasgow North-West
Liverpool Walton
Liverpool Wavertree
Middlesborough
Nottingham East
So what's the answer to welfare dependent blokes in urban grot holes ?
Humza Yousaf - Liz Truss
Kate Forbes - Gordon Brown
Nicola Sturgeon - Tony Blair
Alex Salmond - Harold Wilson.
John Swinney - no, I'm not going to be cruel to Heath.
Even when he moved on to Everton, he never forgot his roots, still a great bloke.
Ash Regan - Penny Mordaunt
Humza Yousaf - A less bright and less competent Rishi Sunak
As for Smithson the Younger, the fact that he is a lifelong Marxist (Grouchoist) is so obvious as to be beyond apology.
Though there's bound to be a rabbit hidden somewhere.
As for your question, I can't tell you who the last was, although I would guess it was Howe. I can tell you who the first was - Hugh Dalton. He was sacked on the spot for it by Attlee.
They’re being overcautious.
No alarms and no surprises, please.
SLab and the Greens by contrast are praying for a Forbes win who will turn off urban social liberals now voting SNP in droves
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/matt-cartoons-march-2023/
I honestly don't know how much time and money is spent on offering training to the unemployed. Not a lot, I suspect. What do we think that Jobcentre Plus is more geared towards, getting people into good jobs or just getting them off their books as quickly as possible?
Besides, every pound spent on training schemes is one pound less that's available to spend on pensioners.
(Luckily I have already digested my dinner.)
Trump says the Queen, Diana and Oprah Winfrey ‘kissed my ass’ in letters
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/14/queen-diana-oprah-kissed-my-ass-trump-book-letters
*Spend/Invest/Piss Away - Delete as you see fit.
I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter
And make believe it came from you
I'm gonna write words, oh so sweet
They're gonna knock me off my feet
A lotta kisses on the bottom
I'll be glad I got 'em
"We'll try to stay serene and calm
When Alabama gets the bomb.
Who's next?"
I think Howe is probably quite a decent guess.
The Government stands accused of ‘shamelessly’ and ‘knowingly underfunding’ the early years sector, after private Government documents obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveal that ministers at the Department for Education were aware that it was severely underfunding providers of funded childcare places for three- and four-year-olds.
The briefing, shared today after a two-year Freedom of Information dispute with the DfE, shows that early years funding rates for 2020/21 were less than two-thirds of what officials estimated to be the true cost of ‘fully funding’ the scheme.
The documents also reveal ministers knew the inadequate level of investment proposed would result in higher costs for parents of younger children, and that nurseries, pre-schools and childminders would be forced to use maximum statutory adult-to-child ratios – despite the impact this could have on the quality of provision.
One briefing document obtained by the Early Years Alliance reveals that in 2015, civil servants at the DfE estimated the cost of providing a Government-funded early years place for a three- or four-year old would reach £7.49 per child per hour by 2020-21.
It suggests that providers should ‘become more efficient’ in order to reduce costs.
https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/government-knowingly-underfunded-the-early-years-sector
The end result of this was not that hard-pressed nurseries 'became more efficient to reduce costs.' They hiked prices for younger children to plug the gaps left by the scheme, or they folded.
Childcare is like most other things that this Government does. If it's not a priority for wealthy retirees then it gets done on the cheap or it doesn't get done at all.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/10/texas-abortion-lawsuit/
Hmmmm.
Still, the right thing to do, as long as it's done well.
Sweet home Alba bama?
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1635751364264427521
This gold plating of child care raised the cost to that of private school for those able to use the legit providers.
And just as in the days when only black cabs were legal in London, everyone else uses unregistered amateur help.
Unless they are rich enough to afford space for an au pair.
Then again, a Covenanter wouldn’t be running very cool in that climate. They were prone to overheating in Northumberland. In winter.
Balanced, empathetic, nuanced and utterly focused on his constituents' needs, rather than political advantage and grandstanding.
He's a Tory MP I could consider voting for.
Not all Red Wall MP's are like the others.
Should he lose in the next GE, any other seat would be blessed to have him.
As the Dad of a 10 month old I'm going to be in fucking dreamland if this 1/2 yr old thing appears - it's the hope that kills...