Politics live blog – Wednesday 15 February8.45am: It's another day heavy with economic news. We've got the unemployment figures out in less than an hour, and then Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, will be holding a press conference to mark the publication of the Bank's latest quarterly GDP and inflation forecasts. There is also going to be a debate about alcohol. David Cameron is going to signal his suppport for a minimum price for alcohol. But a spokesman for the Wine and Spirit Trade Association has just told the Today programme that such a move is "probably illegal" and that the WSTA would challenge it in the courts.Here's the agenda for the day.9.30am: Unemployment figures are published.
The decisions that men make, they have got to understand the effect they have on women. But one of the best ways of making sure decsions are made that do not ignore the needs of women is having women at the top of our politics and as part of our boardrooms.? He said there there should be more women leading trade unions. "There are not that many women trade union leaders and that is a really, really important point," he said.2.38pm: Ed Miliband is taking part in a webchat with Mumsnet.2.50pm: Here's a short afternoon reading list.? Gavin Kelly at the New Statesmen on the longterm political impliations of the autumn statement.For the Liberal Democrats, perhaps more than any other party, yesterday may turn out to be seismic.
Nations – like Brazil – who should be shaping the agenda, offering unique insights, being part of the big decisions, and then using your power to see those decisions through.Huge strides have been taken in establishing multilateral co-operation over the last 60 years, but the reality is,
kate spade bags, unless new actors are brought fully into the multilateral system, they will increasingly look for other ways to operate and our international institutions will become increasingly defunct. The UK doesn't want to see that happen. That's why we actively support a permanent seat for Brazil at the UN security council.10.10am: Ed Miliband was speaking at the Times CEO summit this morning, in front of an audience that included the News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch.
Of course everything that went into my speech was checked. I gather that there has been some question now from a spokesman questioning that and of course I will look at it again.On her Reality Check blog, Polly Curtis has gone into great detail explaining why May was wrong.2.06pm: Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, has now had a go at Theresa May over the cat story. The ITV's Lucy Manning has posted this on Twitter.Ken Clarke tells ITN I had a Victor Meldrew expression on 'I don't believe it' when he heard Theresa Mays cat story(After almost three weeks, the party conference season has finally produced a decent cock-up/row story. In the press room, the mood is looking up.)2.56pm: David Cameron has been giving yet more interviews, to Sky, the BBC and ITV.
But the allies that Cameron will need on the pro-EU wing must first own up to their past mistakes and errors of judgment. We look to Lance Armstrong to show them the benefits of confessional contrition with Oprah.Ukip gets its Christmas presents earlyGosh, Christmas has come early for Ukip's leader, Nigel Farage. Still only November and he's opened two presents already: the gift-of-a-row over the foster parents case in byelection Rotherham on Saturday, and then a Conservative party report suggesting that David Cameron sign a non-aggression pact with Farage's stop-the-world-we-want-to-get-off party before the 2015 general election.Admittedly the report was written by Michael Fabricant, the likeable MP for Lichfield,
cnnhkids, famous for his blonde wigs, whose authorship would require us to take him seriously, a word I have not previously heard attached to Fabricant in thought or deed, nice, herbivorous man though this former DJ – known as "Mickey Fab" – undoubtedly is.
) This poor targeting creates economic as well as fiscal costs – with this policy providing no incentive to work harder or grow the tax base. Indeed, by making tax avoidance more attractive to middle income families this policy may shrink the tax base. There is a stronger case for cutting the 50p rate. Yet while the tax system would clearly be better without the 50p rate this was not the biggest challenge facing the tax system. It was probably not as damaging to entrepreneurship and enterprise as policies such as restricting visas for skilled migrants from outside the EU or clawing back personal allowances and pension tax relief. Further, by combining the cut to the 50p tax rate with the introduction of measures like a higher stamp duty land tax rate and a cap on overall tax reliefs, the overall tax system has become more hostile.
Unite said its 100,
cnnhkids.com,000 health service members will walk out on May 10, a day after the Queen's Speech, which is expected to include a Parliamentary Bill on the Government's controversial reforms.Other workers are expected to join the strike and there could be further industrial action in June.Unite said its NHS members, including health visitors, pharmacists and paramedics, face paying an average of ￡30 a month more for their pensions.The dispute has been raging for well over a year and sparked a strike by more than 1.5m public sector workers last November. 3.05pm: Thanks to everyone who responded to my query about the worst budget ever. I haven't had time to do some proper research, and so the considered thesis on this is going to have to wait, but the comments have been interesting.
Chat Sentinela
