National politics

[SteveH]

Twenty councillors have quit Labour in protest at the party's direction under Sir Keir Starmer.

The councillors - from Broxtowe Borough Council in Nottinghamshire - claimed the party had "abandoned traditional Labour values" and criticised policies such as cutting the winter fuel allowance for some pensioners.

Council leader Milan Radulovic, who had been a party member for 42 years, is among those walking away from Labour.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewxrzq0489o

[SteveH]

Investment, innovation and growth: More from Reeves' speech..........https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cg7zdme95z1t

[SteveH]

The Welsh government's draft budget is "riddled with empty words", according to a group of Senedd members.

The Senedd's finance committee said "urgent changes" were needed to the spending plans and the cost of living crisis should be a "higher priority".

The Senedd will vote on the spending plans on Tuesday, ahead of a final vote in March.

The Welsh government said it would consider the committee's recommendations................ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd64xp59qzpo

[Hugo]

UK to deny citizenship to small boat refugees[/size       
]New guidance states that anyone who enters the UK illegally having made a dangerous journey, which could be via boat, but also by means such as hiding in a vehicle, will normally be refused citizenship, regardless of the time that has passed.
Does that mean that they won't be entitled to free housing, meals, heating,  NHS treatment etc?          I doubt it very much so what is the point of wasting time debating the matter




https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d5wj9l8e2o

[Hugo]

Ministers outline plans to ban new leasehold flats   
Proposals to change the law would ban the sale of new leasehold flats.

Under the leasehold system, third-party landlords known as freeholders own the building and a leaseholder buys the right to occupy a flat within it for a fixed time period.
I hope that the law includes all properties as the leasehold system as operated by companies like Mostyn Estates is outdated and unfair to the house owner






https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgezyz31jlo

[SteveH]

Sir Keir Starmer has called the current benefits system unsustainable, indefensible and unfair, and said the government could not "shrug its shoulders and look away".

Addressing Labour MPs on Monday evening, the prime minister said the current welfare system was "the worst of all worlds", discouraging people from working while producing a "spiralling bill".

The comments come as Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall prepares to set out changes to the welfare system and cut the benefits bill in the coming weeks.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has earmarked several billion pounds in draft spending cuts to welfare and other government departments ahead of the Spring Statement.

There is unease over the plans within the party, with Labour MP Rachael Maskell warning against "draconian cuts" that risk "pushing disabled people into poverty"............. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0kgpyz3mmpo

[Ian]

Remind me, someone; didn't Labour win the last general election? Or was that just a dream?

[Hugo]

I'm afraid that it's the same old story Ian,  the small majority spoil it for the rest of us.
Members of Britain’s biggest benefit fraud gang jailed for a combined total of more than 25 years
30 May 2024|News, Fraud and economic crime , International and organised crime
Five members of an organised criminal gang, which falsely claimed more than £53 million in Universal Credit in the largest benefit fraud in England and Wales, have been jailed.
In that particular case the punishment didn't fit the crime.    Ronnie Biggs got 30 years for his role in the Great Train Robbery and his share of the stolen money was a fraction of what these criminals stole.
The £53 million fraud was exceptional but I've heard of many, many more so Starmer does have a point
My own view is that if anyone deliberately commits benefit fraud then it should be an automatic custodial sentence for them

 https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/members-britains-biggest-benefit-fraud-gang-jailed-combined-total-more-25-years

[SteveH]

My own view is that if anyone deliberately commits benefit fraud then it should be an automatic custodial sentence for them

Unfortunately, the prisons are full .........

[SteveH]

Sour grapes............... 

New images for a proposed £140m revamp of Cardiff Central railway station have been released.

The photos from Transport for Wales (TfW) show a glimpse of how Wales' busiest station could look with the investment, including a new brick arch at the rear entrance and additional retail and cycle facilities.

The plans hope to alleviate overcrowding and improve accessibility for those with reduced mobility, TfW said.

Alexia Course, chief commercial officer, said the investment would "modernise the station, make it fit for a capital city and sustain future growth".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c981jy1p8edo

[Hugo]

Asylum hotel contract worth £2bn a year to be scrapped

The government will end a contract worth £2bn a year with one of the largest providers of hotel asylum accommodation after the Home Office said an audit identified concerns about the company's performance.

Stay Belvedere Hotels (SBHL) provides around a quarter of Home Office asylum accommodation across 51 hotels in England and Wales, and also operates Napier Barracks in Kent - which houses people awaiting asylum decisions and is due to close in September.
I read that one company provides 85 hotel accommodations for asylum seekers and it's financially and morally unacceptable.
The cost of looking after these asylum seekers is unsustainable and unacceptable.      The UK public have to accept cuts  to many services but no cuts have been imposed on these illegal migrants,  it's totally unfair

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czxnj42z90wo

[DaveR]

Remind me, someone; didn't Labour win the last general election? Or was that just a dream?

You were certainly dreaming if you imagined that Labour were going to be less incompetent and corrupt than the Tories. 

[Ian]

...and that takes some doing...

[Hugo]

If Labour had two PM's with criminal convictions then I could understand the comparison made between the parties

[DaveR]

To be fair to Labour - any government elected would have to face the same basic problem that has crippled this country for years - not enough people working and too many people taking. Until that problem is resolved, we are locked into a cycle of tax rises and cuts in public services.