Fog Dude Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Worrying news ahead of the budget as regards the education system. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35814215 The first line of that article explains that this applies to England only... but yeah, taking schools out of local council control is further proof that the Tories don't have a democratic bone in their body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted March 15, 2016 Moderators Share Posted March 15, 2016 I know it applies to England only, my comprehension is fine. It's worrying news for education. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted March 16, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) Anything to keep religion out of schools is a good thing for me. Local authorities always shove the religion down our throats up here in Scotland. Edited March 16, 2016 by bAzTNM#1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members unfitfinlay Posted March 16, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted March 16, 2016 Anything to keep religion out of schools is a good thing for me. Local authorities always shove the religion down our throats up here in Scotland. I think that might just be a West Coast thing to be honest, Baz. I can't remember religion being a big deal at all at School in Fife. Even people I know who went to the local Catholic School said there wasn't much religion involved. For me, the shocking thing about the Academy process is that the schools have to be handed over to private companies, who are still funded by public money. Paying a private company to run a school seems daft, anyway, but actually giving them the school, playing fields and all, is just insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 The Tories will have finally sold the whole fucking country off by 2020. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Finally some good news this year with IDS fucking off and leaving the government looking a right state. Shame the cunt didn't walk off a cliff. Cameron must be fuming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted March 19, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted March 19, 2016 Must be a "Sun on Sunday" story waiting on IDS. What is this really all about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members stumobir Posted March 19, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted March 19, 2016 The terrifying thing is that even he sees these cuts on disability welfare as going too far. It's a sorry state of affairs when IDS is appearing to be the more moral government minister. Although the cynic in me sees this as a political move and I think we'll see him align himself with BoJo with the promise of the Chancellor's job. These cunts do fuck all for the "good of the nation", everything's a ploy with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted March 19, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted March 19, 2016 May be unrelated but they lost a legal challenge ( for the third time) on Thursday to stop the publishing of papers relating to information about Universal Tax Credits. Two guys put in a freedom of information request for internal documents 4 years ago. At best the reports apparently say that internally they had concerns Universal Credit would fail. At worst there may be information that they have deliberately mislead the public over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted May 3, 2016 Moderators Share Posted May 3, 2016 (edited) Time to put the cross in the box on Thursday. Welsh Assembly elections, London Mayoral, Local Elections, guessing the Scottish are voting on something. Exciting times. How are we looking at voting? I'm voting Plaid Cymru in both the constituency and regional lists. My constituency candidate, Mabon ap Gwynfor, has a solid track record of engagement with community matters and a passion for North Wales which Labour, the Tories and UKIP lack - seemingly wanting more to palm us off to Manchester and Liverpool as the "Northern Bullshit Powerhouse" rather than an important part of Wales. Actually the rise of UKIP in Wales is a surprising one. According to polls (I know, I know), they look likely to pick up 7 or 8 seats which is mental in Wales as we've always been a pretty left wing kinda place. Someone wanna fill me in on the London Mayorals and how they're going? I know George Galloway is running and he follows me on twitter so I hope he wins. So yeah, let's get democratic... Edited May 3, 2016 by PowerButchi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted May 3, 2016 Moderators Share Posted May 3, 2016 Zac Goldsmith isn't the biggest cunt in the Tory party but his campaign has been a shocker. Glad it has been picked up on by the media a bit though, as I was pretty disconcerted when my mate got the maildrop from him specifically targetting British Indians. I guess I'll vote for Sadiq. He's not awful, I guess. A better less-bad-choice than Milliband was in the General, but equally lacking in presence and charisma. He seems a bit awkward; he can't even get through pre-taped segments without stumbling over his words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted May 3, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted May 3, 2016 If anyone's planning to vote in the police commissioner elections and has had absolutely toss-all in the way of debate/information, you can go to https://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/and read statements from all the candidates in your area. We've got all-out council elections in Bristol, but they are taking a backseat to the election for mayor, who pretty much has complete control. (As with London, the only say councillors have is if 2/3rds of them vote to reject his budget and replace it with a fully-costed alternative.) The first time round Bristol voted for an independent who has turned out to pretty much be a dictator pursuing policies that weren't in his manifesto, including ignoring a 49-2 vote in the council asking him to halt his resident parking zone system. As with the last election, it's really a two-horse race with him and the Labour candidate. However, we have 13 candidates, including all sorts of people charitably described as single issue. At one of the hustings the current mayor was sat next to a stand-up comedian, porn star Johnny Rockard, and a legit Nigerian prince (working here as a cabbie) who's real first and middle names are Mayor Festus. The downside for political junkies/people who like having a say is that after this week nobody in Bristol gets to vote in any sort of election until the Euros in 2019 (assuming we stay in.) However, in 2020 we have a single day where we vote for MP (first past the post), councillors (vote for two candidates), mayor (second preference) and PCC (second preference) which is going to be a logistical joy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fog Dude Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Gorgeous George is only on 0-2% in the London polls I'm afraid, Butch. His second preferences will probably flow to Khan, who is certainly preferable to Goldsmith and likely to win. My better half is planning to vote Plaid twice in North Wales as well, despite my pleas to use the list vote for the Greens. A second preference for the independent Police Commissioner candidate would be wise, since you can't (validly) vote twice for the same party in that election. Bristol might have to vote for an 'Avon' 'metro mayor' between now and 2019, Lister. The Man in the Red Trousers caused a nice upset last time, but I hope Rees is able to topple him this year. Turnout will be much higher in the city proper than in the rest of the policing area, so my Green vote will count for a lot and could help the candidate get his £5,000 deposit back with 5% of the vote. I'll probably chuck the Lib Dems my second preference out of sympathy. We have no councillors to vote for here this year, but make up for it with the County Council next year and district and parish on the same day as the Euros in 2019. Labour will also easily hold the mayoralty in Liverpool and Salford. Scotland will re-elect the SNP, almost certainly with another overall majority. There are only about a dozen constituencies where they realistically might not win. Don't forget that Northern Ireland is voting on Thursday too, although there'll still be a 'cross-community' government there for the next 5 years, no matter what the outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted May 3, 2016 Moderators Share Posted May 3, 2016 (edited) Undecided for my 2nd pref for PCC but will probably perk for the independent. Arfon Jones, who's the Plaid candidate, is a councillor in a neighbouring ward to me and is marvellous at his job as well as a total gent. Hoping for a local sweep, me. Edited May 3, 2016 by PowerButchi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MungoChutney Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 I'll be going with my current SNP MSP, John Mason, for my constituency vote. He's got some controversial views about gay marriage because of go's religious beliefs but he really came through for me on a personal matter a few years ago. I've had a couple of pints with him as well to discuss stuff and he's very down to earth and actually still lives in a very modest flat in the local area. Still undecided on my list vote but edging towards Green at the moment. Not entirely convinced by the performance of the SNP at the kind of mid-level. The top dogs, Sturgeon, Swinney et al. seem to know what they're doing but my local MPs shambolic showing has made me wonder if they've had too much success too soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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