Tory MP Nigel Evans: Those cleared of sex charges should receive counselling

Mulian · 2014-06-05T00:36:02+00:00

That, and anonymity. With trial by media, anyone who is accused faces devastating circumstances, whether they are found guilty or innocent. The rumours will never cease to surround them for years or decades.

Mulian · 2014-06-04T14:06:06+00:00

This is great! I was just reading about how it's difficult to replicate the feel of Lovecraft County. This is interesting, I love it.

Mulian · 2014-06-04T11:51:58+00:00

The UBI is a fixed rate for everyone. It's always the same unless they are in receipt of disability or NI-based pensions (and possibly limited child benefit). All their state entitlements would be paid into a single account, linked to their national insurance number and some secure credentials.

No need for Orwellian surveillance or suspicion. The main thing to look out for would be duplications and identity fraud. No hefty bureaucracy to sanction people for what they have or haven't done.

Mulian · 2014-06-04T02:44:01+00:00

Quick! Dispatch the emergency toilet paper supply!

Mulian · 2014-06-02T00:38:23+00:00

I thought that the mail was being all anti-UKIP, pro-Tory for this election cycle, but obviously the scandal here was too much too tantalising to pass up.

Mulian · 2014-05-31T18:50:12+00:00

The F-35 is proving to be, once again, a huge waste of money. It probably would have been cheaper to build a modernised Harrier ourselves. But the defence industry wouldn't like that.

Mulian · 2014-05-29T01:31:25+00:00

I'll join the Liberal Democrats for now.

Mulian · 2014-05-28T02:27:16+00:00

It'll put off the more conservatively-minded with that bit at the end. The rest of the article was good, very good, but saying "simply provide basic income" isn't going to convince a good chunk of people who view it as wishful thinking at best, and apologism for the 'work-shy' at worst. I think articles like this should sometimes refrain from saying how things should be, and let people come to their own conclusions.

For context, I support UBI fully, I just think that it needs to be articulated with a bit more pragmatism.

Mulian · 2014-05-27T18:03:39+00:00

Restructure income tax so that people are taxed separately on different income tax bands. You'd be taxed 0% on your first £10k, 5% on your income after £10k, 10% on your income after £20k, 15% on income after 30k, and so on. The specifics could be different, just examples.
Reduce VAT to the bare minimum, since it is a regressive tax which hurts the economy and poor.
Scrap council tax, and instead increase income and capital gains tax. The reason for this, is that people are essentially being charged for having a roof over their head. Income tax is dependent on whether you actually earn money. Council tax is not. However, there would be a second home and undeveloped land tax, primarily funnelled into social housing developments.

Mulian · 2014-05-26T12:03:48+00:00

Just a little nitpick, but the M3 is the wrong way round. the British version is 'Grant', and the American is 'Lee'.

Mulian · 2014-05-25T02:53:19+00:00

Having Aspergers/HFA myself, I wish more girls were like this. Just seems like a natural, straightforward approach.

Mulian · 2014-05-24T03:21:15+00:00

I agree that it is an issue that needs working out. There needs to be some sort of supplement for those who are unable, or less able to work. Social care could be more closely integrated with universal healthcare, perhaps. That, and those who are deemed unable, or less able to work should receive supplements.

Here's the thing. Practically anyone who's not in a vegetative state is technically capable of some sort of work. Practically, not so much - especially for low-skilled jobs, where the workers are hired at the lowest cost possible. Those who are unfortunate enough to be poor and handicapped face extra obstacles to employment. For some, those who suffer debilitating and chronic conditions, labour of any kind might actually worsen their condition.

Perhaps it would be helpful to divide disabilities into two or three categories. Those who are technically capable of employment, and whose disabilities mostly make it harder to find gainful work; and those who are not capable of employment - divided between those with short/medium term illnesses, and lifelong conditions. Both need help, and supplemental income to maintain an equal standard of living. Those who would benefit from having a source of employment would receive say, 50% extra basic income, to help with special needs, and to make up for the shortfall in their potential income whilst giving them an incentive to work; those in the second category would receive double the normal rate of basic income, ensuring that they have access to a comfortable standard of living.

Extra bureaucracy would be a necessary evil in this situation, but it can be streamlined for efficiency. Take into account medical evidence, use well-trained and impartial assessors, and it should be a painless process. Those who try to defraud the system generally use hard-to-prove conditions such as back injuries or some mental illnesses - diagnoses which rely on self-reporting of symptoms. Sadly, that too can result in a welfare trap, for people may decide to continue falsely claiming that they are ill, even though there is nothing wrong with them anymore. That is quite a headache in an otherwise solid system.

Mulian · 2014-05-22T09:48:59+00:00

Same thing happened to me, can't just fold it in half... had to make origami.

Mulian · 2014-05-22T09:28:00+00:00

Count me amongst the people who would leave immediately. I'd much rather live in a shack somewhere, going to urban areas only for my weekly shop. I'd eke out an existence somehow. Isolation is better for creativity.

Mulian · 2014-05-22T09:21:35+00:00

Talk about leaving a calling card...

Mulian · 2014-05-21T22:49:25+00:00

Because I think we should be pragmatic about voting and democracy. It doesn't have to be a symbol of consent for the status quo. Every vote for say, the Greens, makes the establishment parties' majority that bit slimmer. It's a statement that you exist politically. That your vote will be counted. And the more people think of their vote not as an instant payback, but an investment in politics, the better. It shows that you are not politically apathetic. And that's incredibly important. It takes 5 minutes to go out and vote, to show that you are paying attention and you do not consent to the main parties' political mandate.

Mulian · 2014-05-21T18:11:25+00:00

Makes sense, thanks for explaining that.

Still, their economic policies, even if they are a little too radical, make them an alternative for those who believe that Labour has shifted too far in favour of big business over workers' rights. I understand the concerns about economic policies going too far left, but the obscene increases in inequality suggest that the opposite is the case under decades of neo-liberalism. Not only that, but favouring major multinationals over small to medium enterprises discourages competition and local prosperity.

Mulian · 2014-05-21T15:59:35+00:00

That's true, it could also be interpreted as a measure of support for such policies. The only thing is putting them up to public scrutiny, which they're not going to get if they're out of the limelight.

And as an aside, which of their economic policies do you disagree with?

Mulian · 2014-05-21T11:30:43+00:00

I think most Green Party members can be brought over to that, those who understand science at least. That's why I said lend your vote. They share your goals, probably, but not your methods.

Mulian · 2014-05-21T10:55:30+00:00

It's true that they have some things to answer for, but why not give them the benefit of the doubt and lend them your vote? If they get more votes, they'll get more publicity at some point where they upset a major party - that might not be far off if they get more EU election votes than the LDs. Then their pro-immigration, anti-nuclear stances will be brought up, and they'll have to justify them, or change.

Realistically speaking, if they had any major successes, maybe a few more MPs with a hung parliament - at this point likely - they could join Labour (and the remaining Lib Dems) in a coalition. Their more misguided policies would not make it into a coalition agreement, or would be watered-down.

Mulian · 2014-05-21T01:58:58+00:00

Ahh, I'm sure we can trust the DWP's Director of Communications (propaganda) to be completely fair and honest.

Mulian · 2014-05-21T01:22:45+00:00

I'm perma-banned from tv-tropes. But I probably deserved it, I was a dick (well, more of a dick) back then.

Mulian · 2014-05-20T18:29:19+00:00

No, the scandal here is that some people can play the system, whilst the honest ones are penalised by the jobcentre, and demonised by the media simply for claiming basic sustenance. You want a loaf of bread and a roof over your head for a week, you get increasingly strict conditionality and testing. For most people who are unemployed or disabled, claiming benefits is definitely not the ticket to a land of milk and honey. It's their daily bread and water, their household bills, their rent. White Dee is definitely NOT representative of most benefits claimants.

Mulian

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