But there's no alternative to hard slog, and smarter decisions on everything from tax rates and education to investment – not to mention disinvestment. The latter seems more popular with many British owners of capital who queue up to grab their cash from foreign buyers and run – despite getting most of the deregulation, flexible labour laws and soft tax regimes they first asked Margaret Thatcher for 30 years ago.For want of an alternative hero this summer the Tory panacea merchants are trumpeting Michael Gove's reforms to school structures and curriculums. On Andrew Lansley's health reforms they are strangely silent, perhaps because Gove is better at courting columnists. The Gove-ites make several good points, but they do not have a panacea.
The MPs demand a major overhaul of the admissions rules, including the abolition of the UCAS points system used to score the value of A-Levels and other qualifications.They also call for changes in the way state schools prepare children for university applications, and suggest a new system for using taxpayers' money to send the brightest children from poor homes to independent schools.The Fair Access to University Group (FAUG) of Conservatives is publishing its report on admissions to coincide with the controversial appointment of Professor Les Ebdon as head of the Office for Fair Access, the admissions watchdog. 10.55am: I'm interviewing the Unite general secretary Len McCluskey tomorrow.
For example, according to Treasury calculations based on current taxes, someone earning ￡50,000 would be informed that their taxes will fund ￡4,727 worth of welfare payments, including ￡493 of housing benefit annually and ￡860 in sickness benefits.Somebody earning ￡25,000 spends the equivalent of ￡1,900 on welfare payments — almost four weeks of paid work, the figures show.One government source said: "When people see how much they pay towards welfare,
marc by marc jacobs bag, the argument about whether to cap benefits will be brought into sharp relief." ? Chris Giles in the Financial Times (subscription) says the Office for Budget Responsibility will slightly upgrade its growth forecast for 2012.Treasury officials have expressed relief that the OBR's forecasts, which were finalised on March 7,
marc jacobs outlet, are moving in line with private sector forecasts and are therefore optimistic that there are no nasty surprises in the figures which will spook bond markets.
My fear is that the usual Tory MPs will fill the airwaves today to attack Nick Clegg and reinforce the Tory toff problem. Montgomerie has been pleased to see that three Tory MPs have already used Twitter to back his argument. Zac Goldsmith and Gavin Barwell have posted tweets saying they agree with Montgomerie's point about the need for the Conservative party not to attack Clegg. And Justin Tomlinson has posted this.@TimMontgomerie Absolutely, it is the best way 2 get money back into the pockets of those doing the right thing & working, has 2 be priority Photograph: Getty Images 9.36am: For students of New Labour, Lord Mandelson's interview on the Today programme this morning was a treat.
Miliband's comments came as Cameron said the government might consider introducing a "fat tax" to tackle Britain's growing obesity levels.? Boris Johnson has said that he does not expect to do "another big job in politics" after being London's mayor.? Michael Gove, the education secretary, has told the conference that the education system is biased in favour of the rich.The big divide in education in England is not between us and other nations; the really big divide in education in England is between rich and poor. There are five schools that serve some of the richest children in England that get more children into Oxford and Cambridge than 2,000 of the schools that serve our poorest young people.
Are the judges going to fork out to keep open the libraries which Gloucestershire and Somerset closed without due regard to their public sector equality duties, as the high court unexpectedly decided yesterday?Once you start looking for vicious circles on a gloomy day,
ytcgzx.net, there's no stopping. The big background picture gives little room for cheer. What with the eurozone's problems and the growing official acknowledgement that some of the loss of pre-recession output in Britain is permanent, not caused by the recession, the Bank of England's downgraded forecast yesterday is still more optimistic – the bank often is — than events may yet warrant.It will have to print more money – quantitative easing – oiling the system to keep the economy from stalling.
As the Guardian also reports 6 million voters unregistered today, the equal boundaries idea is already coming up against the awkward fact that so many voters – especially the young, whose interests need to be heard at this difficult times – may not even be registered. So much for equal seats.Oh yes, I almost forgot the AV referendum – another piece of well-meaning foolishness from the Clegg camp that has now disappeared without trace via the May referendum. Historians note that it was last discussed seriously in parliament in August 1931 – weeks before the second wave of the global financial crisis of 1929 finally crashed sterling.Why is Mark Harper's draft bill a bad idea?Because it creates a new mechanism for calling MPs to account – for financial or other serious misconduct – when one already exists.
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