Another MSM swipe at SKWAWKBOX and what it illustrates

The SKWAWKBOX

An interesting item popped up in the Twitter feed this morning. The New Statesman‘s deputy editor had had a bit of a ‘pop’ at the SKWAWKBOX on Wednesday – it came up this morning because a follower replied and ‘tagged’ the blog:

It’s a bit feeble, of course. The part of the article Ms Lewis showed in her tweet says “it’s unlikely” – and as a commenter on the article pointed out when it went up, ‘live’ feeds usually have a built-in delay to allow the feed to be switched if there’s a mishap or incident. Which we pointed out:

Of course, the point about ‘it’s unlikely’ wasn’t addressed. And another respondent noticed the logical and moral hole that was dug by the claim to be aware of broadcast delays in live feeds:

If the intent was to scoff, it didn’t go too well. Nor was it too in…

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Tories Set to Destroy NHS Dentistry with Majority Considering Leaving Health Service

Beastrabban\'s Weblog

I found this very worrying article by Rachel Burnett in Monday’s I, for the 2nd October 2017. Entitled ‘NHS dentistry facing ‘existential crisis’ with majority set to leave, it reads

More than half of dentists are planning to leave the NHS within the next five years, a survey has found.

A study by the British Dental Association (BDA) has revealed that around 58 per cent want to move on, mostly to private work. Others want to go overseas, retire or to move out of dentistry.

It also found that 53 per cent of young and newly qualified NHS dentists, aged under 35, plan to leave.

Henrik Overgaard, BDA chairman of General Dental Practice, called for government reforms to avoid a “crisis”.

He said: “These young dentists are the backbone of the dental workforce, and losing them at the start of their careers raises existential questions about the future of…

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Handing Jeremy Corbyn The Keys To Downing Street?

Guy Debord's Cat

Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party, one phrase that had been uttered every now and again, but which now features more frequently in the speech of hyperventilating Tory MPs on their tour of the nation’s TV and radio studios, is “Handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to Downing Street”, or variations thereof. But what does that phrase really tell us about the Conservative Party?

First, it shows the Tories are scared of Corbyn’s Labour. This is in marked contrast to the language they first used when he became leader. Then, he was painted as a ‘disaster’, who would make it easy for them to rule with a massive majority for all eternity. How wrong they were, but even when they claimed Corbyn would consign their enemy – his party – to oblivion, they did so knowing that he posed a threat to their control of mainstream political…

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Can we please drop the nonsense of ‘tax payer’s money’?

Think Left

Can we please drop the nonsense of ‘tax payer’s money’?  The phrase is just political advertising, intended to manipulate us in to accepting cuts and constraints which are not good for us or the economy.   (Christopher Bacon explains why it’s a nonsense in his article ‘The Myth of Tax Payer’s money’ which is copied below.)

However, like all successful advertising slogans, the phrase ‘tax-payer’s money’ invokes what psychologists call a schema…. a whole body of emotions, experiences and knowledge which mediate our response.

Hence, ‘Tax payer’s money’ is intended to create a direct link between government spending and the individual.  You are invited to visualise your hard-earned pennies being frittered away unwisely ……. which is hugely convenient for a politician intent on running down public services, so that they can be privatised.  Also implicit in the schema is the threat that if the government spends more, you’ll have to…

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Tories sneak out announcement of £4.64 billion social rent increase

Speye Joe

The Tories think social landlords deserve 4 times the increase of a police officer, nurse or teacher as that is what they announced yesterday.

How nice of the Conservatives to announce yesterday that social tenants rent will increase by £4.64 billion?  What? You missed this and thought yesterday was about the Tories and more council housing?

UPDATE: To avoid any confusion the £4.64 billion social tenant rent increase figure is the cost in 2024/25 and for that year only.  The cumulative cost over the 5 year period is £13.56 billion more in social rent from £858m more in 2020/21; £1.75bn more in 2021/22; £2.68bn more in 2022/23; £3.64bn in 2023/24 and £4.64bn more in 2024/25 – £13.56 billion in social housing rent increases the Tories announced yesterday!

That council housing won’t happen by the way but there is little doubt about the £4.64 billion that social tenants will be shafted…

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Government reveals £10bn “Help to buy Election” scheme | The Evening Haröld

http://eveningharold.com/2017/10/06/government-reveals-10bn-help-to-buy-election-scheme/

DWP Actually Do Mean No Reassessments for LCWRA (Support Group)

blueannoyed

Well I said  seeing is believing well they have surprised me ……..Not ……….no right to appeal

From the 29 September 2017, when considering the re-referral period, the HCP will consider
whether the condition or its functional effects meet the new Severe Conditions criteria. Where the
criteria is met, the HCP will advise no further assessments are needed (unless there is a change
in circumstances).

Q: How can I dispute a decision not to be placed within the severe conditions criteria?

The severe conditions criteria sits alongside the current re-referral periods of 3,1,2,18,24 or 36 months, and comes within the Secretary of State’s discretion as to how often the DWP should review a claim or ask for further information, to which there is no right of appeal.

We can of course look again at any claim where asked by a claimant who feels it has not been processed correctly. However this…

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Corbyn’s remainer popularity shows his opponents misjudging

The SKWAWKBOX

Electoral gambler Mike Smithson tweeted polling published by Yougov for QMUL (Queen Mary University of London). The results – answers to a question posed exclusively to ‘remainers’ in London about which party leader would make the best Prime Minister – are remarkable:

As Smithson somewhat eccentrically observes, Theresa May scrapes in just ahead of LibDem leader Vince Cable, with 13% of the vote.

However, the more obvious headline news is that Jeremy Corbyn received more than three times more support than either of them – or almost double the votes of both combined.

Among remainers.

The ‘bubblista’ pundits and journalists, along with so-called ‘centrist’ Labour MPs, have made a point of criticising Labour’s supposedly alloyed position on Brexit, with a particular focus on Corbyn’s leadership and imposition of the party ‘whip’ for various Brexit-related votes.

The LibDems have staked their entire political future on a clear stance of wishing to…

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Conservatives to replace May with some other odious shitbag

News Toad

The Conservative party are to replace Prime Minister Theresa May with some other shitbag according to Government sources.

“It’s a long standing conservative tradition to elect a leader who is an odious shitbag and then act surprised when the public realise that they’re an odious shitbag and then replace them on the premise that they are an odious shitbag and then elect another odious shitbag. It’s all very complicated and that’s why normal people need to leave all this important stuff to us.” Leadership hopeful Jacon Rees-Mogg told us today.

“And if I’m not the perfect example of this I don’t know who is. I’ll win by a landslide, become Prime Minister, outlaw abortion and make all working class people wear caps, and then I’ll be heralded as the biggest mistake since Iain Duncan Smith.” He added.

It’s thought that Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson is unlikely to win any…

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Noam Chomsky Diagnoses the Trump Era

FREE WILL

This interview has been excerpted from Global Discontents: Conversations on the Rising Threats to Democracy, the new book by Noam Chomsky and David Barsamian to be published this December.

David Barsamian: You have spoken about the difference between Trump’s buffoonery, which gets endlessly covered by the media, and the actual policies he is striving to enact, which receive less attention. Do you think he has any coherent economic, political, or international policy goals? What has Trump actually managed to accomplish in his first months in office?

Noam Chomsky: There is a diversionary process under way, perhaps just a natural result of the propensities of the figure at center stage and those doing the work behind the curtains.

At one level, Trump’s antics ensure that attention is focused on him, and it makes little difference how. Who even remembers the charge that millions of illegal immigrants voted for Clinton, depriving the…

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