Labour leafleting

Today I'll mostly be tired due to delivering roughly half of this lot round south Liverpool. Knackered but it has to be done, every day the news gets worse and worse.

Read this at the weekend and it absolutely terrified me :

What do you call a government that embarks on the biggest upheaval of the NHS in its 63 year history, at breakneck speed, while simultaneously trying to make unprecedented financial savings? The politically correct answer has got to be: mad.

The scale of ambition should ring alarm bells. Sir David Nicholson, the NHS chief executive, has described the proposals as the biggest change management programme in the world—the only one so large “that you can actually see it from space.” (More ominously, he added that one of the lessons of change management is that “most big change management systems fail.”) Of the annual 4% efficiency savings expected of the NHS over the next four years, the Commons health select committee said, “The scale of this is without precedent in NHS history; and there is no known example of such a feat being achieved by any other healthcare system in the world.” To pull off either of these challenges would therefore be breathtaking; to believe that you could manage both of them at once is deluded

New Zealand government scientist Stephen Wilce "complete fantasist"

I am sure our friends in New Zealand are always trying to move away from the affectionate stereotypes portrayed in Flight of the Conchords but this has just set back those efforts years

New Zealand intelligence failed on fantasist scientist

British-born Stephen Wilce was hired as chief of New Zealand's Defence Technology Agency in 2005, having got top level security clearance.

Last year it emerged that he had made a series of false claims about his past.

Mr Key then ordered an inquiry by the State Services Commission (SSC).

As head of the DTA for five years, Stephen Wilce oversaw 80 staff and had access to highly classified intelligence.

He resigned in September 2010 after a TV programme revealed he had falsely claimed to be a former Royal Marine and to have raced in an Olympic bobsleigh event against the Jamaican team depicted later in the movie Cool Runnings.

A separate military inquiry concluded last year that Mr Wilce had embellished claims about his former military work, academic qualifications and life experience.

Investigators uncovered other fabrications: for example, the scientist reportedly told colleagues that he had served as a helicopter pilot with Prince Andrew, and that he had been a spy with British intelligence.

He also apparently claimed he had designed the Polaris missile guidance system, been a member of the Welsh rugby union team and had a career as a guitarist on the British folk music circuit.

Mr Wilce told the investigators he had been telling tall stories about himself since childhood.

What's that coming over the hill? Is it Serwotka

Couple of interesting links about Today's TUC meetings about co-ordinating Union action in response to government cuts.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE70R22U20110128

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/28/coordinated-strike-action-cuts-tuc

This very week here in Liverpool we have the announcement that 1,500 council jobs will go. This are just numbers to the privileged elite running our country. They don't care, they simply aren't capable of caring.

The thing is it would be less heart-breaking if there was any point to the deprivations the coalition are heaping upon the ordinary people. We have seen the economy stop growing and go into decline because of their austerity measures.



It is now impossible for the Tories to argue this isn't an ideological dismantling of the countries public services.

Why are Unions always accused of being strike happy?

Time and time again the Unions are painted by the media as being loony-left strike happy agitators.

Consider this relating to British Airways taking legal action against Unite and stopping it's members from striking (because they failed to mention the number of spoiled ballots

In January 2010, Unite gave BA notice of its intention to conduct a ballot. The ballot closed on 22 February 2010: 7,482 voted yes, 1,781 voted no and 11 ballots were spoiled. Notification was given to BA on 12 March; strike action was held between 20 and 22 March and between 27 and 30 March.

On 10 May 2010, Unite notified BA of further industrial action, relying on the same ballot. This time BA contended Unite had not complied with s 231.

Unite stated that at 3.59pm on 22 February it had received the scrutineer’s report. By approximately 4.45pm the report was given to union representatives, who posted copies on notice boards in crew report centres within 30 minutes.

It was also made available in the union’s offices, placed on display stands outside its offices and handed out to members in all report areas. A press release was put on its websites. Text messages and e-mails were also sent to subscribing members though these did not contain the full results.

BA argued that putting the information on union websites and in the crew rooms was insufficient.

l First, it was not an active communication to members.
l Second, that method, even when combined with leaving leaflets in news stands and crew rooms would not ensure that the information came to the attention of all relevant members because many of them would be abroad, or off duty, or would not know to go online.

Unite contended that its methods were the most efficacious, given the dispersed membership and BA’s requirement that cabin crew use computers for work purposes. Unite’s experience had shown websites were the most effective means to keep in touch with cabin crew.

On BA’s application for an injunction, however, McCombe J agreed with BA, holding that whether Unite had complied with s 231 was “properly arguable” and that the union’s chances of success were “not overwhelming”. Unite appealed.

That is pretty petty from management...essentially it means that it is almost impossible for workers to withdraw their labour. When even the Daily Mail is reporting the injunction negatively I think you know there is a problem with the country's Labour laws

British Airways passengers face a summer of strikes after the Unite union vowed to continue its cabin crew dispute with the airline.

The union is waiting to hear if judges will allow it to go ahead with a strike due for this week but called off at the last minute on Monday by the High Court.

Three judges in the Court of Appeal in London - including the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge - were urged yesterday to overturn a ruling by Mr Justice McCombe in the High Court that workers could not strike because Unite had failed to tell its members about 11 spoiled ballot papers

The injunction halted a planned series of walk-outs by up to 12,000 cabin crew in a bitter row over jobs, pay and staffing levels.

The union claimed it was an attack on its 'human right to strike'.

"Gigantic US Spending is the road to Socialism" warn right-wing scaremongers

click for a larger version

Saw this newspaper headline form way back in 1949. Amazed me that the same vague, ill-informed right wing fear mongering getting used today by the likes of Glenn Beck and all the Tea Party #tcot #gop types on Twitter is just the same crap that was being wheeled out by right wing scaremongers over 60 years ago by Herbert Hoover.

David Cameron pictured with Norman Lamont on Black Wednesday

Just in case anyone starts banging on about Ed Balls and Ed Miliband being sons of Brown here is David Cameron with Norman Lamont on Black Wednesday



interesting that I found it on ConservativeHome...also interesting that by the time David Cameron was masterminding Howard's disastrous "Are you think what we're thinking" campaign he seems to have learned to blend into the background a bit more.

Andy Gray sacked by Sky

Have to say Andy Gray HAD to go really. The subsequent video was just to back up Sky's position...at the end of the day if I'd have accidentally sent out an offensive email to 1000s of clients then I'd have been sacked, this isn't any different really. I know ultimately the mistake (in broadcasting the comments) wasn't his...but the views were.

Lenin in the Labour Party logo

I did like this on QI... Apparently you can see an image of Lenin hidden in the Labour Party bdage/logo

Looks good I grant you...but then again consider the Ducks are all wearing dog masks funny doing the rounds



and even this (a bit of artistic license and the Americas can be made to look like a duck!