Author Archives: PinkPolitika

Shifting state debt onto the most vulnerable is the ConDem way

What will it take for the LibDems to say enough? We learnt yesterday that the Coalition Government has decided it will no longer support the Financial Inclusion Fund and other services offering debt advice and help, all at a time when … Continue reading

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FGM (female circumcision) is illegal and cruel – and culturally challengeable everywhere

Today, 6 February, is the United Nations’ International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation. We must all face up to the facts; FGM happens in communities in the UK and Western Europe as well as elsewhere. In Britain debate this week is about ‘multiculturalism’ … Continue reading

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In 1981 the Gang of Four launched a new UK liberal party to ‘heal divisions’…

Will we soon see big MP defections from the LibDems to Labour, in time to prevent wholesale destruction of the UK’s public services? Just about thirty years ago on 26 March 1981 the so-called Gang of Four launched a new British political … Continue reading

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Crime rate website may serve right-wing politicians well

Reports that the new local area crime figures website crashed within minutes of its launch today (1 February 2011) do tempt a wry smile and a weary ‘as ever…’..     The site is intended to show numbers of offences reported in any local street, by … Continue reading

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Forget ‘Big Society’; it’s really ‘Binning Services’ as Tories slash and burn

YouGov today reports that the majority of Brits are baffled by the Big Society posturing of the Tory-led Coalition.  Sure, ideas around localism have been on the agenda for some while; but the Tories’ version conveniently omits to say how localism … Continue reading

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Early years centres threatened by ConDem cloth ears

My guess is that few (more likely, none) of the present Cabinet – has had personal, direct responsibility for the totally unaided care of a small child, let alone two or more small children, for 24+ hours, non-stop.  If I’m … Continue reading

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Rough sleeping? It’s all the Councils’ faults.

Today (25 January 2011) sees a Response column in The Guardian by Grant Shapps, Minister for Housing, in which he dismisses Patrick Butler’s prediction that ‘savage cuts will leave people sleeping rough on the streets‘. Shapps proclaims that the Tory-led … Continue reading

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Tory ‘dictatorship of the moment’ … LibDems, where are you?

There is clear and fundamental purpose behind the apparent chaos of the current Conservative-led ‘reforms’.  The chaos is a cover, whether intentional or not, to distract us whilst a root-and-branch revision of the rules of engagement is being embedded into UK politics. There’s little doubt now … Continue reading

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Patronising paternalism about parental leave

Two articles in today’s Times (18 January 2011) remind me yet again why there is so far still for women in the UK to go.   In one article, ‘Extra paternity pay is needed to free women, says Clegg’, we learn … Continue reading

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Flu jabs: shifting targets from mortality to (short-term) money?

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has now confirmed that a majority of pregnant women have not had flu jabs:  more than 70% remain unvaccinated.   Given the low immunity and raised vulnerability of this women expecting babies this is a very serious concern. In past … Continue reading

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One woman, loadsa chaps in Oldham election

What do the Conservatives, Green Party, LibDems, UKIP and five other smaller political parties have in common in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election today? The answer is that they are all fielding male candidates; so these comprise 90% of … Continue reading

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Incompetent Conservative Government… or de-governance?

Michael Tomasky of The Guardian, in a recent article entitled ‘Good at theatre, dreadful at governing’, quoted the American scholar Alan Wolfe’s view of conservative (e.g. Republican) politicians: Conservatives cannot govern well for the same reason that vegetarians cannot prepare a world-class … Continue reading

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Happy Birthday for some; no delivery date for others

A story I heard about events which happened yesterday (Friday 7 January) seems to resonate with some current concerns of top people in maternity care. The tale goes that a leading and very large NHS hospital sent at least two expectant mothers home again … Continue reading

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Localism? Only when the Minister says so

The Minister for Housing and Local Government, Grant Shapps, has it seems stepped into the debate up in Liverpool about whether to demolish the early home of ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, where Starr lived for three months (the home he mostly grew up … Continue reading

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In fear of livelihoods; or only of luncheon? Some inequalities do justify shroud-waving

‘Some of us are in fear of our livelihoods; others only of our luncheon.’ Thus, with beguiling directness, wrote Matthew Parris in his Times article yesterday (1 January 2011:  ‘Don’t kid yourselves. There must be victims’). ‘We are not … … Continue reading

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