Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

YAAAWWWNNNN!!!!!

In the grip of a moral panic, Britain is turning into a banana republic


By Iain Martin Politics Last updated: July 9th, 2014

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/iainmartin1/100279227/in-the-grip-of-a-moral-panic-britain-is-turning-into-a-banana-republic/



Chris Morris on Brass Eye



Two decades ago, Chris Morris launched Brass Eye, a spoof show for Channel 4 satirising TV news. The most difficult and disturbing episode was that on paedophile panic, which satirised the tabloid TV tendency to fuel the anger and violence of the mob. Assorted celebrities were also tricked into doing pieces to camera backing a fake campaign ("I'm talking Nonce-Sense"). Predictably, there were calls to "Ban This Filth!" from people who had missed the point, either deliberately or out of stupidity.

Now it seems that the government and some charities have been using that episode of Brass Eye as a training video. The NSPCC is calling for the failure to report suspicions of child abuse to be made a crime. We have reached the point in the current panic where it is permissible to mention George Orwell and his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Peter Wanless, the chief executive of the NSPCC, said earlier: "If someone consciously knows that there is a crime committed against a child, and does nothing about it because they put the reputation of the organisation above the safety of that child, that should be a criminal offence."

"Consciously knows." There's an interesting phrase. It seems that the NSPCC sees this sanction applying only to people in positions of responsibility. But how can that be defined fairly in law? Will the new law only apply to the chief executive of a health trust, but not to the finance director or to the head of communications? It would be impossible to define such a law so narrowly. In time it would have to apply to anyone working in any organisation. And, surely it must also apply to anyone who comes into contact with said organisation and who might have heard that a crime has been committed? People often think they "consciously know" something when they have actually only heard it third-hand. If the idea is established that failure to pass on a wild rumour to the police is somehow illegal, it is not difficult to imagine what could go wrong.

Wanless is by all accounts a decent man running an organisation that does much great work. But his latest proposal is dangerous and deeply flawed. Follow it to its logical conclusion and you end up in deeply sinister territory in which the relationship between the state and the individual has been altered fundamentally, with individual judgment abandoned in favour of mandatory reporting of suspicion.

If it is to become a crime to fail to report suspicions that child abuse is taking place, why should the new law not to be extended in time to all other areas of criminal activity? It could become illegal to fail to report to the police if you suspected that a fellow citizen had committed a crime, or might be about to. As someone wise on Twitter put it earlier: the historical precedents of states making it compulsory for citizens to report on their fellow citizens are not encouraging.

How big would a nation's police force have to be to cope? Imagine.

Astonishingly, Wanless is making these proposals just as he launches into heading up a Home Office "independent" inquiry of the allegations of a cover-up in the 1980s. Increasingly, this is how Britain works now. Moral panic followed by meltdown in Number 10 and the announcement of an "overarching" inquiry. Now it seems the results and recommendations of said inquiries will precede the gathering of evidence.

None of it – the endless inquiries, the moral panic and the erosion of legal norms that were developed after centuries of experiment and evolution – will help get the justice needed for those who have suffered terrible abuse. It may even distract the police from the real work at hand of investigating and gathering evidence of despicable crimes. It is not inconceivable that if it carries on like this some people will be wrongly named and future trials jeopardised.

Another silly strike today. At least my son's school is open for ledons.

People should know that only 27% of NUT members voted in the strike ballot. Even more surprising is that the strike vote for today's strike was taken in 2012.

Well thats a bigger percentage than David Cameron recieved of the population vote and hes the PM. (Only by default.) Not only that but Union leaders are complying to TU laws.

Camoron should keep out of Union affairs especially when hes rubbing shoulders with cash for questions/policy corupt donors.

Support the Striking teachers 10th July 2014
QUOTEPosted on July 9, 2014 by syzygysue

We are told that Michael Gove’s reforms to education are a real success story.

In spite of lacking a formal mandate from the electorate, Gove has launched headlong into massive funding of ‘free schools’ and attempting to turn all schools into academies, outside council control. Many recognise this to be preparing for the next step of profit-making and privatisation of education.

However, this ‘success’ can hardly be said to be reflected in the polls. According to a Guardian/ICM poll last April, there is strong public opposition to major planks of Michael Gove’s education reforms. For example, 68% of Labour supporters, 58% of Lib Dems and 58% of Ukip supporters voted for councils retaining their responsibilities towards schools. Overall, a majority of 57% agreed that councils should have an important role in over-seeing education.

Furthermore, in 2012:

‘Gove gave all academies the right to hire teachers who had not undergone formal training, arguing that this mimicked the freedom enjoyed by private schools to bring linguists, engineers and other specialists into the classroom, and there is evidence that the new free schools have made especially extensive use of this facility.’

This policy was even less popular. 63% of voters said that “teaching is a profession which requires dedicated training”.

The last few days (doubtless in response to the strike) there have been a spate of articles/quotes from Michael Gove referring to the ‘vested interests’ of ‘the Blob’ – by which he means the teachers, academic experts and the teaching unions. However, YouGov found in February 2014 that:

When it comes to educational reforms, Britons tend to give the benefit of the doubt to ‘the Blob’: by 46%-19%, people hold the view that teaching unions and the educational establishment are “right in most of their concerns about education policy and school reforms” rather than believing these groups pose “an obstacle to necessary reforms”.

When it comes to teachers themselves, over 92% oppose Gove’s reforms (the wonder is not the overwhelming opposition, but that there are 8% of teachers to support them).

But in addition to the reforms in the classroom, schools, the total lack of consultation and the centralised control from Whitehall – not to mention the scandals (financial and organisational) – teachers have also had their pay and pensions cut drastically. Not only are they suffering from a pay freeze less than inflation but they are also having to find increased pension contributions, and are expected to work to 68y.

Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“The Government is still failing to make progress on our trade dispute over teachers’ pay, pensions and workload. The talks are still only about the implementation of Government policies, not about the fundamental issues we believe to be detrimental to education and the profession.

“For teachers, performance related pay, working until 68 for a full pension and heavy workload for 60 hours a week, is unsustainable.

“This action is the responsibility of a Government and Education Secretary who are refusing point blank to accept the damage their reforms are doing to the teaching profession. The consequences of turning teaching into a totally unattractive career choice will most certainly lead to teacher shortages.

“Strike action is a last resort for teachers and we deeply regret the disruption it causes parents and pupils. This date has been chosen to cause minimum disruption to examinations.

“Teaching is one of the best jobs in the world but is being made one of the worst under Michael Gove and the Coalition. It is time they listened. Michael Gove can still avoid the strike by engaging in serious negotiations on substantive issues.”

gf
The 27% wasn't the number who voted for strike. It was the percentage who voted. The number who voted for strike was quite a bit lower than that. The difference is that Cameron was voted in in an election where more than 65% voted.

Cameron is going to add a requirement of more than 50% having to take part in a union vote to be valid. It will be in the next Conservative manifesto.

Their will be a manifesto but theyl never get to put it to use Hays......smile. .......smirk.

And anyway its nothing to do with anybody outside the Unions.

Their as always been a right to strike.

Just as the professional unions eg, Accountants, solicitors etc etc have the right to use RESTRICTIVE PRACTICES and dont say they dont use them, because they do.

Not only artificial manipulation of competition and prices, but restrictions to labour entry.

Far far worse than the unions but do we here Camoron complaining.......NO. Not a bleat.

Now sling your hook (this is an official TUC picket line) and meet up with your Moll.... Hilary. Take her for an ice cream in the park.

ps, thats if the buses are running....he he.

pps, and the park is open.

Anybody know about 770 account's [ American ]

At the end of the video he does a u turn and want's you to invest in his stockmarket tips

http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=1487917&msgid=38294&act=9EHD&c=1444719&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thealternativedaily.com%2F%3Futm_source%3Dinternal%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3DAdv

Id give it a wide berth alders.

Theirs a lot similar to this in the US all after their own cut one way or another.

Wait for my new System coming out october........its a beut.

It has everything to do with the wider public due to the disruption that strikes cause. It is important to see that a strike is a representative view of the members of a union. That is why union legislation has been introduced of a number of years. It prevents the crazy activists from causing trouble and highjacking unions for their political purposes. The professions are not closed shops in the sense of unions. They do have qualifications though. I would generally be happier if my accountant, doctor, solicitor were qualified. Perhaps you would not mind being operated on by a shop assistant.

The Labour party would love to restrict the unions but are scared of them. You can see that in the way that no Labour government has ever repealed union legislation.

Its only for US tax payers 770 tax law , can't seem to paste the video

ohhhhh stop being silly Hays Im a member of 4 pro bodies and have to pay the large annual fee or my chances of obtaining work are almost nil. (even though I hardly practice these days)

You forget the Politicians and Management of British companys cause far more disruption to the public than the Unions.

Look at the passport office, look at the Banking sector. Far more disruption than todays 1 day strike. Thats just the tip of the ice berg i could go on and on.

You seem to go through life blinkered in a sleep walk.

Alders yep I couldnt get it to work i thought it was one of them usual scams.
cheers.

The workers! United! Will never be defeated! All eight of them…

http://order-order.com/2014/07/10/6-photos-of-the-mass-strikes-crippling-britain/?shared=email&msg=fail

Don't think QT 2nite will be much its from Inverness , am not interested in the Scotland in/out debate. It depends who is on the pannel and what else they will be disscussing

ELM house.

They say that Cliff Richard is on the guest list
How do they know he signed it , or did someone else thought it funny to sign his name like people calling themselves Micky Mouse do.

Ohhhhhhh QT is wasted..... when in scotland and Wales. Usualy turns out to be a regional discussion. (no disrepect to wales or scotland)

Tthe panel features campaigners for both sides from a range of occupations: singer-songwriter Ricky Ross, Daily Record columnist and agony aunt Joan Burnie, businessman and chairman of Orion Group Alan Savage, and the Scotland and British Lions rugby player Scott Hastings.