Archive for News
Youth Justice Board replace the £1m consultant
Last month I blogged about the Youth Justice Board paying £1m over three years to one IT manager, employed as a consultant. They have now decided to end this arrangement and instead employ a normal member of staff, at much lower cost:
An IT consultant who cost the Youth Justice Board (YJB) £336,000 last year is [...]
New electoral registration rules now in force for elections
Good news: this time, it is a change in election law that is a jolly good thing. In the past, although the electoral register is updated each month, there was a pause over the summer and early autumn whilst councils carry out their big annual update. That means that for elections held during the pause, [...]
Gender pay gap in City ’shocking’ – BBC
News in via the BBC:
Men working in the UK’s financial sector receive five times more in bonus payments than women, according to a survey of 44 leading companies.
On average, women earn £2,875 compared with £14,554 for men, the Equality and Human Rights Commission found…
One of the main reasons for the vast difference in bonuses is [...]
29% of seats have not changed hands since 1945
Cross-posted from The Wardman Wire:
A major part of the point of a democratic electoral system is that those elected to public office can be held to account by the public for their actions. The anger we often see over the behaviour of MPs – whether on matters of policy (such as the Iraq war) or [...]
Argentina, Mexico liberalise drug laws
In Mexico:
The Mexican government has enacted a law decriminalising the possession of small amounts of drugs, including cocaine and heroin.
Mexican prosecutors say the move does not amount to legalisation.
They say it is designed to prevent corrupt police from seeking bribes from small-time drug users, and to encourage addicts to seek treatment. (BBC)
In Argentina:
Argentina’s Supreme Court [...]
Saving general election night: round-up of reaction
Crikey, there has been quite a response on this and other sites to the launch this morning of a campaign to save election night. Amongst the posts such as Andrew’s and Jonathan’s agreeing with the campaign there have been a range of queries and criticisms, such as Costigan, Darrell, Mark, Nick and Paul.
The issues people have raised [...]
Save general election night!
Yesterday’s Sunday Times reported how our traditional general election night is under threat from more and more councils wanting to move their count to a Friday.
Although there are some understandable reasons for this (principally the extra logistical burden of new checks against postal vote fraud), overall losing the drama of Thursday night through to the [...]
Lembit Opik bests Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jordon and others
Praise for Lembit Opik’s role in Britain’s rural communities comes with Country Life’s list of 100 most influential people. As the Evening Standard reported:
The Lib Dem MP, more famed for his love life than political achievements, has been included in Country Life’s list of the 100 people who wield the most power over the countryside. [...]
Hackney Council vs Banksy: some graffiti should be left alone
If there was an Olympics for graffiti reporting, I’d rather fancy my chances in the final (137 items reported so far this year to Islington Council; let’s not get started with Haringey, Westminster or Hackney Councils). But despite my enthusiasm for getting graffiti cleaned away, there’s some I regularly pass that I’ve never reported. It’s the [...]
Hamas: sickening behaviour
Reuters reports:
Hamas condemned the United Nations Sunday, saying it planned to teach Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip about the Holocaust … the movement’s Popular Committees for Refugees said: “We refuse to let our children study a lie invented by the Zionists.”
Hat-tip: Matthew Harris
