An excellent blog over at An Englishman's Castle (via Devils Kitchen) explains that the report that too much red meat is giving us all cancer is massively overblown: "I have actually downloaded the report , all 537 pages of it. It is a vast data dredge. I have failed to... Read more...
Because I'm worth it Lord Falconer is scuffling with Gordon Brown over how much money we taxpayers will be forced to shell out to keep him in comfortable retirement. Brown's offering £50 grand pa: Falconer's demanding £100 grand. They'll be meeting in court.Meanwhile, the head of the Post Office- yes,... Read more...
Apparently it is Threatening Schools Week. Yesterday the Charities Commission threatened to remove charitable status from private schools they didn't think were doing enough to help poorer students. Today the Telegraph reports that Gordon Brown is threatening to close schools that don't reach a sufficient standard in GCSE results. ... Read more...
In what appears to be at least a partial climbdown, the Government is considering re-introducing a capital gains tax retirement relief of £100,000 for small businessmen who sell up and retire. The Times reports: "Three weeks after Mr Darling announced his plan for a single 18 per cent rateof capital... Read more...
It is reported in the Birmingham Post today that Birmingham City Council are looking to sponsor a proposed ‘media festival’ to the tune of at least £150,000. Read more...
The Telegraph reports that the Charities Commission are threatening to get tough with private schools who they believe don't provide sufficient benefit to poor students: "Charity officials may carry out snap inspections of independent schools to make sure they are benefiting poor pupils, it has emerged. They will have the... Read more...
The think tank Reform has released an updated version of its important report on the IPOD generation. This time, it focuses on government policies, or lack of them, to deal with the central problem that young poeple are facing - higher taxes to deal with an ageing population, but no... Read more...
A morbid and depressing display... funded by taxpayers Meet Alison Goulding. She has "five tellies - including a £1,000 widescreen - a hi-fi, Sky TV, two Play-Station 2s and four DVD players. Her huge garden boasts a full-size trampoline, two sets of swings and FIVE mountain bikes. She also has... Read more...
Better value at 40p "More than £50,000 has been spent on the famous "red boxes" used by government ministers over the past few years, according to an MP's survey.Prices of the boxes, which are used to store government papers securely, ranged from £385 to £750 each." (BBC: HTP Heather)The biggest... Read more...
Margarent McCartney's article in the Financial Times on superbugs is well worth reading. In particular, this section gets at how the inexperience and lack of subject knowledge associated with political management is crucial to the failure to control hospital infections: "Politicians are tackling MRSA with campaigning zeal. Gordon Brown has... Read more...
Consultants don't do flood defences In the news this week:Defra blows another £1.1bn on consultants- "Vital flood defence funding was cut while ministers spent a record £1 billion on management consultants... Defra spent £140million on consultants in 2002-3, reaching £290 million in 2006-7. It has spent £1.1 billion since 2002.... Read more...
Yesterday a council instructed a community-aware couple not to tend to a grass verge by their house because it prevented council staff from ‘monitoring’ when it needed to be cut. Today Oakley and Deane Parish Council have ordered residents not to feed the ducks because, and I never knew this,... Read more...
Leggett's article for Comment is Free is so idiotic it is positively painful. I'll fisk it and then quickly conclude with a little examination of his dubious byline: "When Britain and Germany raced to scale up their aircraft industries for war in the 1930s, the British competed rather well. Recovering... Read more...
How to get shameless workshy dole recipients back to work and earning their own keep is one of the oldest problems in welfare. Indeed, it was the principal driver for the Poor Law reforms of the 1830s (see this blog and James Bartholomew's outstanding Welfare State We're In for... Read more...
Still-rising levels of truancy, reported today by the Independent, are a result of the failure of an education system under political mangement. There are a few key failures at work here. 1) Children haven't learn to read Poor literacy standards mean that a child will often find the... Read more...
Around 40 TPA supporters and activists joined us last night at the Old Monk Pub for the first London area social. We had a great turnout, allowing the TPA staff to meet our activists working so hard campaigning for lower taxes and better government. It was also a good opportunity... Read more...
TPA says MPs "should be ashamed of themselves" Increase per MP calculated by TPA TPA calls on Commons authorities to follow Scottish Parliament in revealing itemised expenses Responding to the publication of MPs’ expense claims for 2006-07 today, the TaxPayers' Alliance described the rises as “extortionate”. TPA... Read more...
The TPA’s analysis of today’s expense claim figures for MPs ranks the main Parties by the average amount claimed per MP in expenses. Travel expenses are excluded given the different geographic spread of the Parties. Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: “Conservative MPs should be... Read more...
Have a read of this non-job an activist alerted us to: “Young Mayor Co-ordinator£27,800 - £34,100 pa inc. In October 2007, the young people of Newham have voted for their first ever Young Mayor. You will provide principal support to the Young Mayor, working with him to deliver... Read more...
In the wake of the TaxPayers’ Alliance inadvertently attracting media attention for their “non-job” of the week - as advertised by Sandwell Council - another job of ambiguous merit has surfaced on the Coventry City Council website… Community Lifestyle Coach £22,293 - £27,492pa A physical activity professional, you... Read more...
Can’t council bureaucrats find anything better to do than discourage social, voluntary activity helping the local community? If you’ve read the Telegraph this morning you’ll see the disappointing story involving Broxbourne Council asking Stan and Jean Chatterton to stop cleaning a grass verge near their house. In a letter... Read more...
The Telegraph reports statistics from the ONS showing that middle class professionals are outliving builders and cleaners by as much as eight years: One of the factors that the report cited as possibly affecting a person's life expectancy was interesting: "But the nature of people's jobs... Read more...
The Mail reports today that MPs are struggling to find employment on leaving work: "The study said employers have little use for former MPs - and some take more than a year to find a job. Those who do manage to find work often complain that they do not earn... Read more...
Yesterday we noted how Renfrewshire Council was spending £100,000 on desks. Today we learn that the government has been spending £57,000+ on ministerial red boxes in the past 5 years. A series of questions and freedom of information requests from Lib Dem MP John Hemming showed that the Department for... Read more...