New research published today by JRF leaves us wondering whether there is enough political will to fix the broken housing market. Last week saw a new housing minister, Mark Prisk, and a welcome new wave of housing announcements. With a promised £10 billion of Government guarantees to fund new...
I’ve come across an interesting email among the FOI disclosures from the member Trusts of the South-West NHS pay cartel. I believe that this is the first time that it has been made public, but I can’t say so for certain. Since its official formation in June and the...
We have confirmation that the DWP is actively considering axeing employment and support allowance (ESA) payments for claimants who challenge a decision that they are fit for work. Instead, claimants will have to try to sign on for jobseeker’s allowance, where they will face a harsh new regime which,...
The first achievement highlighted by the Prime Minister in his Sunday Times article was deficit reduction: "We’ve got the deficit down by a quarter already" This statement is true. But what the Prime Minister didn't say was that the economic outlook the Prime Minister inherited was for precisely this...
This week, a British youth named Azhar Ahmed was found guilty of the crime of causing offence. Following the massacre of Afghans by, according to the eye witnesses, a group of US soldiers, the young Bradford man in question did what we all do occasionally and wrote a stupid...
A mixed picture for the people of Dorset. By far the worst figures locally are in Weymouth and Portland who sit at 71st out of 308 nationally. Next comes North Dorset at 141; West Dorset at 144; East Dorset at 264 and Christchurch at 276. Not surprisingly the City of...
In a tumble of boulders quite near the hill called Wonderkop, yellow spray paint defaces the ancient granite. This is not graffiti, yet something far worse than vandalism took place here, at the spot locals dismissively refer to as Small Koppie.
One rock, encompassed closely on all sides by solid...
The Tory right, friends of chancellor George Osborne, are now arguing openly that they want Britain's living and working standards to meet Asia's.
There was something of a storm last week after it emerged that a group of Tory MPs close to George Osbourne claim in a new book that...
I have just come back from the DPAC Organised protest against Atos over their treatment of the disabled on Employment Support Allowance (ESA). The protest was supported by UK Uncut in the form of at least two members. I spoke to one member of DPAC and her interview will...
Below is a letter I have written to a national newspaper on the subject of fair and equal treatment of the Paralympics on behalf of a group of disabled people, and as a part of a growing internet campaign. To Whom it may concern, It has come to my...
