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[Aileen]

Analysis: the winners and losers in the Queen's Speech

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7753379/Analysis-the-winners-and-losers-in-the-Queens-Speech.html

Poor woman - has to say what the government tells her!

[Daisy]

ID card scheme will be scrapped with no refund to holders

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7757720/ID-card-scheme-will-be-scrapped-with-no-refund-to-holders.html

[asimov]

Extremely interesting, because whoever is chosen is going to have the very difficult job of restoring not only the party's belief in itself but also the electorate's confidence in that party.  This is why political observers believe they'll be in opposition for at least ten years, and I wouldn't argue with them.

These political observers are like the weather people, you listen to one; Labour will be out until Ed. Miliband draws his pension, and yet another says that economic cutbacks are going to be so savage, that the coalition will be the most unpopular government for years and will be out at the next election. We will see, either of these or neither of them could be true.

[Aileen]

MPs are to be denied ministerial cars to travel to and from work and will have to walk or use pooled cars or public transport to get there.  Now they'll find out what Joe public have to put up with.

[Aileen]

I doubt they will ever have to know what the public puts up with, remember most of the come from very privileged backgrounds. I think the term pooled cars means a  pool of chauffer driven cars which ministers will have to share. I could happily be hard done to!

I was only being flippant here, but what angers me is that MPs are being given expenses of £4,000 up front.  At a time when this government is warning us about the need for savage cuts, it isn't right that it's members should be paid anything over and above their salaries, which are surely high enough to enable them to meet necessary expenses out of their own pockets..  I can only hope that each MP will be held accountable for exactly what he or she spends this sum of money on, and that frivolous expenditure is severely clamped down on.

[Grabcopy]

And I suspect the loophole will be sickness benefits.

He's simply talking about people on the dole. No one who is on the dole is on it by choice. They probably want to work. The difficulty he has is dealing with those on sickness-type benefits. How is he going to deal with telling 80%+ of those people that they could do something if they had to?

Also, why are all of these millions of people on long-term sick with stuff like stress, depression, ADHD, bad backs, etc just getting paid benefits without being treated? Could it be because they don't want to get better? If they are even really that ill in the first place.
 
Let's hope the ConDems also stop the ridiculous situation where drug addicts using illegal substances can claim disability benefits. Using illegal substances gives them mental health issues, amputation problems and general ill health yet, with these problems being caused by the use of illegal substances, they get the higher-rate disability allowances.

They get the free bus pass and normal benefits plus all the assistance required to claim everything. It's disgraceful that they can knowingly and illegally make themselves disabled and get extra money to fund their addiction. Oh, plus £5 a week extra for a dog.

[Bevc]

Oh, plus £5 a week extra for a dog.

Most probably a staffy

What was it that I saw in the UK newspaper this week about students (from the EU), working for say a day, claiming benefits and getting their rent paid?  Some big thing on Spanish tv I think.

I'm starting to see it happening here - employers going to cheaper overseas workers (for call centres especially) and you get sh*te service.  I think the directory enquiries have gone overseas and they keep giving wrong information or can't find what people are looking for, even though they know numbers exist. 

There was a tv advert that stopped recently (funding problems) that urged you to buy Kiwi made products to benefit New Zealand as a whole.  Seems simple really but ain't going to happen.

[asimov]

Definitely a staffy.

I hate what this country has become. This article says it all:

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/columnists/carolemalone/765476/Our-government-wants-to-destroy-hard-working-successful-people.html

The problem with this article is that it highlights a serious problem but is too busy scoring cheap politic points (who does she think paid all the taxes under Thatcher or Major, it was ever thus) to explain how we got here. The rich (despite all the benefits they derive from the system) won’t pay their fair share (accountants see to that), the poor are dependant on state hand outs and can’t pay. The only people who can/will pay are the hard working, honest, decent ‘middle class’ and working class people. The Lib Dems, pledged to make the rich tax dodgers, pay their share an estimated 15 billion this year but with the alliance with the Tories, there is no chance of that. The truth is we are spending too much, cutting back will cause hardship and social unrest, we need to find a way to increase the revenue brought in, traditionally this means hitting the working people, can’t see a way out, wish to God I could!