I salute all unsung heroines on the grounds of its a 100 years since women were first granted to the right to vote and proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with all women who use their right to vote, the downside of this women are still fighting for gender equality and equal pay. How long will they have to wait for another 100 years to achieve their aims and objectives surely this is not right. Women still face abuses and harassment from all walks of life even today which is wrong. Parliamentarians should do more to address this, sure there is legislation to address this but more needs to be done to address this in a form of zero torrence.
Debt crisis has increased by four times faster than wages in UK. Data published by UK Finance shows households had outstanding loans worth £37bn in 2016/17. It’s no surprise that Christians Against Poverty (CAP) said January 2018 was its busiest ever month for people seeking debt advice.
British companies are facing a recruitment crisis, with labour shortages hitting critical levels in some sectors, according to a business leader who has urged the government to produce details on a post-Brexit immigration system. The director general of the British Chambers of Commerce said the lack of candidates for some jobs was biting hard, and he warned ministers against bringing forward a “draconian and damaging” visa or work permit system.
Surveys by the BCC showed that nearly three-quarters of firms trying to recruit had been experiencing difficulties “at or near the highest levels since [BCC] records began over 25 years ago”, he said. Marshall said the failure of ministers to act swiftly could force companies out of operation. “The simple fact is that many businesses can’t afford to wait much longer for a clear UK immigration policy to emerge,” he said, pointing to further delays to the government’s immigration white paper, an early draft of which was leaked to the Guardian. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Angela Merkel has called for details on British demands after Brexit ahead of a meeting with Theresa May on Friday.
The prime minister went to Berlin for a bilateral session with Merkel, the German chancellor, which is expected to cover security cooperation and trading relationships. May is then due to give the next speech in the government’s “road to Brexit” series in Munich. Merkel’s spokesman said the EU27 wanted a close and deep relationship with the UK, but added: “It is important for us for Britain to make concrete its ideas.”
The moves by May and senior ministers to flesh out more details over the next fortnight, with a series of speeches and cabinet away-days at Chequers, has led to a spike in pressure for different outcomes after Brexit. Merkel’s spokesman said the EU27 wanted a close and deep relationship with the UK, but added: “It is important for us for Britain to make concrete its ideas.”
The moves by May and senior ministers to flesh out more details over the next fortnight, with a series of speeches and cabinet away-days at Chequers, has led to a spike in pressure for different outcomes after Brexit.
Well blow me over a Labour policy is being promoted by Nicky Morgan (Chairwoman of Treasury Select Committee) says the return of maintenance grants could also remove barriers. The Treasury Select Committee is unconvinced by questionable claims in support of charging up to 6.1 percent on loans that cover fees and living cost. The report comes as the government prepares to unveil its review of university funding in England. There is no justification for such high interest rates on student loans.
Very intriguing to see the Joseph Rowntree Foundation stating housing supply has falling short of demand by 30,000 every year since 2011. This cumulative shortfall could reach 335,000 by the end of this parliament trapping families in insecure housing as a result. The short fall of new affordable homes in England will soon be equivalent to a city the size of Leeds.
Theresa May is facing a growing revolt among party donors, with one senior backer warning that the Tories will be “decimated” at an election unless the prime minister ends her indecision and shows leadership. With mounting accusations across the party that May is dithering over Brexit and lacking an inspiring domestic agenda, Sir John Hall, the former owner of Newcastle United, told the press that the prime minister was facing a make-or-break period of her premiership.
The north-east businessman, who has given the Tories more than £500,000 since 2007 and helped fund May’s snap election, said the prime minister needed to make clear where she wanted to take the country, even if doing so led to her removal. “She’s got to take the bull by the horns and say, ‘this is the road we are going. Do your damnedest – if you want to vote me out, vote me out’,” he said. “But we have to appear stronger. And we have to appear that we are going to make change, because we are not even looking at domestic affairs.
“It is up to Theresa now to convince everybody that she can be the leader who can stay. I think that’s the way most people in the party are looking at it. Show us your leadership. This is the time to stand up and show it.”
He added: “If we tried to change the leader now, would there be a danger of having to have an election? If we had an election, I reckon we’d be decimated. To me as a donor, the Conservative party has to look at itself in terms of where we’re going. She has got to stay, in my view, to such time that someone else comes forward. A new leader has to emerge – or she has to come through very strongly.” Other senior Tory donors have become increasingly frustrated. Some who backed Remain are particularly concerned at the government’s performance during the Brexit negotiations. “It has been like a Premier League team playing their best against Tranmere Rovers playing their worst,” said one senior backer.
Queen May will attempt to deal with the accusations of indecision by making her long-awaited speech on her Brexit plans in three weeks’ time. She will deliver it after senior ministers set out Britain’s “road to Brexit” in a series of keynote speeches, beginning this week with Boris Johnson, who will attempt to make the case for a “liberal Brexit” designed to reassure Remain voters, followed by an address by May on security co-operation. Brexit secretary David Davis and trade secretary Liam Fox will also give speeches, but Chancellor Philip Hammond and home secretary Amber Rudd – the leading advocates of a soft Brexit – have not been included. David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister who campaigned for Remain, will give an address.
May’s allies said the speech would reveal more about the degree to which she wants Britain to diverge from EU rules. The speech will take place after senior ministers gather for an away day in Chequers, the prime minister’s country retreat, to hammer out a position they can all accept.
Concerns increased last week as government sources said little had been decided after two cabinet Brexit committee meetings designed to find a common position on leaving the EU. Britain’s relationship to the customs union remains a major sticking point. Attempts to find a solution tha removes the need for a hard border in Ireland have been deemed “unworkable” by some in government.
Hall said he was concerned by the lack of a domestic agenda and called on May to back “capitalism with a social conscience”. Having voted for Remain, he also said he would now back May walking away from Brexit negotiations if she believed the EU was trying to “blackmail” Britain.“When things are against you and you are carrying forward a lot of problems, which she has done, it may be time [for a new leader], but I’m not inside the party,” he said. “The way things are going at the moment, I am horrified at the way that we are destroying ourselves from within. I’ve seen it before with John Major’s government. We cannot have that.
“She’s got to convince myself as a donor that in a sense, she is going to take the party forward so we can get another four or five years. I’m thinking, ‘where is the party going to go’? They have to convince me they have the balls to win the next election. Labour does not have a big lead in the polls. It’s all to play for.”
A Tory donor has paid £55,000 to spend a day with Theresa May, in an auction at the party’s annual Black and White fundraising ball.
The event allows wealthy Conservative donors to spend time with cabinet ministers – as long as they stump up about £10,000 a table.
As well as the prime minister, senior ministers who attended the ball on Wednesday night at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington included the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, the chancellor, Philip Hammond, and the home secretary, Amber Rudd. Jacob Rees-Mogg, who recently topped a ConservativeHome poll on who should be the next party leader, was also there.
Stanley Johnson, the foreign secretary’s father and a former MEP, said a bidder had paid about £55,000 in the silent auction for the privilege of spending a working day with May. Other auction lots included a dinner at a restaurant hosted by Stanley Johnson and the Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo – who appeared together on the ITV reality show I’m a Celebrity – which went for £15,000. Johnson described the evening as a “wonderful event” and said he thought the prime minister’s speech about the benefits of Brexit was “very good”.
Frankly I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or bang my head on the wall, has our nation become a nanny state or a nation of dictatorship. According to a Conservative MP (Jeremy Lefroy) families should switch off their television(s) and play games together. TV and social media stopped families talking to each other. Family breakdowns were overlooked as a cause of mental health problems in children.
A million children whose parents claim Universal Credit will miss out on free school meals because of a new earnings threshold, it was claimed. Children’s Minister Nadhim Zahawi has announced children in Universal Credit-claiming families with net earnings less than £7,400 will be entitled for free school meals. Zahawi said the move will see an extra 50,000 children entitled to help. But the Children’s Society and Labour have described the move as “a huge step backwards” that will see a million children who would have qualified miss out. Every child whose parent claims Universal Credit was due to qualify for free school meals from April, but the Government decided to make changes. While the new threshold is £7,400 per year, ministers say once benefits are taken into account, a typical family earning that amount will take home between £18,000 and £24,000. A million children whose parents claim Universal Credit will miss out on free school meals because of a new earnings threshold, it was claimed. Children’s Minister Nadhim Zahawi has announced children in Universal Credit-claiming families with net earnings less than £7,400 will be entitled for free school meals. Zahawi said the move will see an extra 50,000 children entitled to help. But the Children’s Society and Labour have described the move as “a huge step backwards” that will see a million children who would have qualified miss out. Every child whose parent claims Universal Credit was due to qualify for free school meals from April, but the Government decided to make changes. While the new threshold is £7,400 per year, ministers say once benefits are taken into account, a typical family earning that amount will take home between £18,000 and £24,000.
Whilst I concur with the statement from a committee of MPs one thing comes to mind where is the magic money tree to fund this idea given that local government has been cut by around 80 percent in some cases. To me its just more lip service given our government keeps on harping on about austerity. A committee of MPs calls on government to develop a new national strategy to deal with older people’s housing needs. Proposals includes funding for handymen service age proofing all new build homes and a national helpline to offer advice on housing options. Older people should be given more help with housing to help them stay healthy and reduce the need for residential care.
The Government’s flagship welfare programme has been dealt another blow as it was revealed claimants who forget their log-in details for the website cannot easily reset them. Instead, universal credit online users have to attend a face-to-face interview at a job centre to receive a new password.
Ministers have been aware of the issue for more than a month but have refused to set a date to fix it. Ged Killen, Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, said he was worried for claimants as his constituency was a “full-service” area for the universal credit programme. He had raised the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, urging Theresa May to set a deadline for fixing the service.
She should delay closing any more job centres, he said, until welfare claimants could perform “basic online functions” to manage their benefits. Mr Killen added that HMRC and some banks already offer such services. Mrs May responded by promising to ask Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey to “look carefully at ensuring a date is identified when that change is going to be made”.
The answer failed to satisfy Mr Killen, who said it was “beyond satire” that a “basic ‘reset your password'” function could not be added to the benefits online portal. “If your bank didn’t let you reset your password online, you might leave and find another bank,” he chided. “Universal credit claimants however are not given that choice.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions have replied by saying We are looking at updating our systems to allow a password reset function that maintains the highest level of protection for people’s personal information.” A source added there were “security considerations” and that other online services with highly sensitive information did not easily let people request new passwords. It is the latest in a series of controversies that has befallen the universal credit welfare programme, which combines six benefits into one single payment. For this reason I would urge all to vote Labour on the 3rd May 2018 in the Local Government.
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