In such austerity measures, it is better to stay in the middle!

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Austerity is beginning to seem less like a project and more like a long-term state of affairs.

While delivering the Autumn Statement last week, Chancellor George Osborne declared that reducing the deficit would take longer than he thought initially as a drop in the public debt burden seems unlikely until 2017-18.

Along with “the legacy of a decade of debt”, he blamed the alarming figures on recession in the Eurozone, the slowing growth in China and the US fiscal cliff.

The economy has suffered a blown worse than the post-World War II and anxiety about recovery keeps businesses from investing. Even the best firms cannot be sure of getting credit, which hurts productivity.

The Chancellor of Exchequer said that the rich, professionals and people on welfare would withstand the worst of the latest changes.

The Government in fact, will take money from the better off and those on benefits, while trying to preserve the incomes of those in the middle.

The three-year welfare squeeze will hit those on income support, housing benefit, Jobseeker’s Allowance, child benefit and tax credit.

The welfare payments of working-age households will be uprated by only 1 per cent in the three years from April 2013.

Wealthy individuals will also hard-hit by a £1 billion-a-year raid on pensions.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) reckons GDP will contract by 0.1 per cent this year, compared with the 0.8 per cent increase it hoped in March and borrowing will be around £50 billion more than planned, over the next five years.

Despite declarations that there are no “miracle cures”, just hard work, Mr. Osborne found spare cash to make the life of motorists easier by abolishing the 3p fuel duty increase due next month and delayed until September a second rise due in April.

Meanwhile the economists also warned of more big cuts in public services including the police, defence, local government, environment and transport, if the Government continues to protect spending on the NHS and schools.

Same-sex wedding recognised in a historic equality reform

The Culture Secretary Maria Miller unveiled the Government’s plans to allow same-sex marriages, including ceremonies in some churches and other religious buildings.

Within two years, thousands of gay couples will be able to convert their civil partnership into a legally recognised marriage.
 
The Commons statement was made yesterday in the face of angry religious opposition and hardline Tories.
 
However, Maria Miller promised a ‘quadruple lock” written into law to ensure religious institutions and faith groups will not be forced to take part.

In fact, the Bill will state that no minister or organization can be ‘forced’ to marry same-sex couples and the Equality Act 2010 will be amended accordingly to stop discrimination claims.

 
PM David Cameron suggested that there is no reason to bar other churches from voluntarily hosting homosexual weddings, instead.
 
According to the new reform, gay marriage will be banned only in the Church of England and in the Church of Wales.
 
MPs will have a free vote on a Bill next year and more than 100 Tories along with up to 40 Labours have already indicated they will oppose a change in law. 
 
Also the Coalition for Marriage expressed disagreement by saying it was ‘disgraceful and undemocratic’ that the Government had ignored 500,000 people who signed a petition opposing gay marriage.

Meanwhile, recent polls have shown clear backing for gay wedding among voters, with only older people and church-goers strongly opposed.

Mr Cameron has gone further than ever in his modernising drive to back gay weddings in church and this is a powerful symbol that his party is at ease with diversity, despite UKIP claims that the reform will ‘rip apart’ the Conservative Party.

 

 

Same-sex couples will stay together happily ever after

Government’s plan for gay marriage is set to become law within months. 

Prime Minister David Cameron and Nick Clegg are considering fast-tracking laws to allow same-sex marriage from next year and a bill to allow a change in the law may be put to Parliament within weeks.

At least 118 out of 303 Tory MPs have expressed concerns and condemned the proposal to redefine the institution of marriage.

However, with the support of most Labour MPs, the plan should not encounter serious opposition in Parliament.

David Cameron believes that the interest of society is to get it done quickly, even though no detailed timetable has been set yet.

According to Chris Bryant, the gay Labour MP, the legislation is likely to be long and complicated. It might have to be held back for the Queen’s Speech in May.

Meanwhile the polling organization ComRes has published results from a recent survey that has found 62 per cent of voters and 68 per cent of Tory supporters considering marriage “a life-long exclusive commitment between a man and a woman”.

Also, a further 65 per cent believes that the chief aim of  legalising gay marriages  is more a way to rebrand the Tory Party as “trendy and modern” than a matter of conviction.

We believe in our right to higher education

Thousands of students took the streets of London yesterday to voice anger at the Government’s plans, following which university tuition fees tripled two years ago.

 

Students from all over the UK gathered outside the University of London student union at 11am, to defend their right to higher education.

 

Police issued warning notices to protesters that they risked arrest, if they deviated from the pre-arranged route from the University in Bloomsbury via Embankment to join the other demonstration at Westminster Bridge.

 

The march took place amid a heavy police presence and Scotland Yard obtained a section 12 order banning protesters from going past the Houses of Parliament.

 

According to the National Union of Students (NUS), the number of applicants to all British Universities dropped 7.7 per cent, with highest fall of 18 per cent in the capital, following the introduction of the £9,000-a-year-fees.

 

Figures show that the steepest decline in application was from people living in the London boroughs of Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

 

Today demonstration was the biggest since 2010, when nearly 50,000 students protested against the tuition fees increase and a group of protesters smashed their way into both the Conservative Party HQ in Millbank and several stores in central London.

 

These young people believe in their cause and want higher education to be a priority. 

 

However, students are those battered the most by the cuts. In fact, not only tuition fees tripled but also the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) was abolished last year.

 

Two children are more than enough

The Secretary of Work & Pensions Iain Duncan-Smith (IDS) wants to cap welfare benefits at just two children.

At present out-of work households get more benefits the more children they have.

At least 1.2 million out of 7.8 million families receiving child benefits have more than two children and according to the Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development, the UK spending on family benefits as a percentage of  GDP is the third highest of all major economies.

Iain Duncan-Smith has expressed his concern over the fact that many working families in the UK decide against having more children or any child at all for financial reasons, while large households on welfare do not have to confront such reality. 

Child poverty campaigners expressed disapproval over the proposal, as children will be the actual victims if the Government follows through on this plan.

 “A cultural change is required so that the welfare system is a springboard into work, rather that something which traps people into a life of dependency,” Mr Duncan-Smith answered.

It is not yet clear which child-related benefits would be covered by any cap. However, the plan will not come into effect until after the next general election in 2015.

BBC Director General resigns over a storm of allegations

New BBC Director General George Entwistle resigned last night over the Newsnight fiasco.

Mr Entwistle, in office only 54 days, said quitting was the “honourable thing” to do.

He declared: “When appointed to the role, drawing on my 23 years as producer and leader at the BBC, I was confident the trustees had chosen the best person for the post.

“However, the wholly exceptional events of the past few weeks have led me to conclude the BBC should appoint a new leader”.

Newsnight, the 22-year-old corporation’s flagship current affairs programme, is now under fire for broadcasting a report on November 2 that led to the former Tory politician Lord McAlpine being implicated in the sex scandal at the Bryn Estyn care home.

Newsnight did not name the peer directly, but allegations made by Steven Messham, who is the abuse victim, pointed to the politician.

A week after Mr Messham admitted he made a mistake, as Lord McAlpine was not involved in the case.

Mr Entwistle has been pitched into a news crisis since he began his mandate and he was doomed the moment John Humphrys, who is the Today presenter, humiliated the BBC Director General on Radio 4’s Today show.

George Entwistle admitted he had neither watched the controversial Newsnight nor seen the front-page of Friday newspaper story that raised serious concerns over the 2 November report.

As the Director General of the BBC, he is ultimately responsible for all content as the editor-in-chief and this is the reason why he decided to step down.

He was set to put in place big changes within the BBC but was overwhelmed by all the events linked to Savile sex scandal and made his dramatic resignation statement outside Broadcasting House in London. 

BBC Trust Chairman Lord Patten, who was at his side, said:”George Entwistle has very honourably offered us his resignation because of the unacceptable mistake, which has caused so much controversy. He has behaved as an editor with huge courage”.

The BBC has been one of the most respected national institutions for nearly a century.

However, the corporation is now at a crossroad as its integrity has been damaged in front of the world and the whole future depends on the public trust.

Tim Davie, the current director of audio and music, who was due to take over as chief executive of the Corporation’s commercial arm NNC Worldwide, will temporarily replace George Entwistle.

The bitter taste of the Oyster

Oyster card. Source: Wikipedia

Londoners will spend a fortune on commuting costs from next year.

The London Mayor Boris Johnson yesterday announced above inflation increases averaging 4.2 per cent for bus, tube, DLR and rail tickets from January 2013.

When the Mayor took over in 2008 a single bus fare was 90p, while now it costs £1.35 and will soon rise by 5p to £1.40. According to the new scheme a weekly travel card for zone 1-2 will cost £30.40 and a monthly one £116.80.

Mr Johnson insisted he was keeping transport fares as low as possible, while continuing with crucial investment in the network to provide faster, more reliable and frequent journeys for Londoners by the end of this year.

The second surprise news that the Boris Bike charges will double from £1 to £2 a day, with weekly access rising from £5 to £10 and yearly membership going up to £90, gives rise to further concerns among commuters.

Transport for London said the increase will be the first since the capital’s bicycle-hire scheme was introduced in July 2010 and it is required to make improvements.

Boris Johnson declared he had managed to limit the overall fares increase of the blue bikes by securing an extra £96m from the Treasury. However, there have been questions over the amount of the contribution of key sponsor Barclays.

Meanwhile all free and concessionary travel is protected and the daily ‘pay as you go’ cap will be frozen at 2012 levels.