"New law to target radicalisation"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32714802
I guess if you compare this to the UK letting Egyptian futigive priests in who then proceed to incite violence against their saviours, then its a good thing.
However, consider my eyebrow raised if the first thing a new government rid of its liberal coalition partner does is increase government mandates to meddle with its citizens because "OMG TERROR".
Yeah. A new thing. Aggressive militant moderation.
Network Rail workers vote to strike over pay
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32705376 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32705376)
Union bosses turned down the offer of a one-off £500 payment to staff and three years of rises in line with inflation. Very few people in the private sector have had cost of living wage increases over the last five years.
Well there hasn't been much inflation in the last five years. No matter the efforts of the Fed, BoE, BoJ, and ECB.
Except in real estate.
So apparently Chuka Umunna is resigning. Too bad, he is all Milliband wasn't (including super hot).
Queen's Speech Day!
QuoteA ban on income tax, VAT and national insurance increases for five years
:bleeding:
QuoteA freeze on working age benefits, tax credits and child benefit for two years from 2016/17
QuoteCutting the total amount one household can claim in benefits from £26,000 to £23,000
Yay for less welfare spending I guess
QuoteMore devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and "English votes for English laws" at Westminster
Seems like a good idea to me, depending on details
QuoteBut Mr Cameron will be able to press ahead with plans previously blocked by the Liberal Democrats after winning an overall majority on 7 May.
These include an Investigatory Powers Bill to give intelligence agencies new tools to target internet data, dubbed a "snooper's charter" by critics.
:bleeding:
Also I am seeing no mention of increasing supply on the housing front, just what you could classify as further subsidised raise to demand via the right to buy thingie
Quote from: Brazen on May 13, 2015, 04:08:49 AM
Network Rail workers vote to strike over pay
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32705376 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32705376)
Union bosses turned down the offer of a one-off £500 payment to staff and three years of rises in line with inflation. Very few people in the private sector have had cost of living wage increases over the last five years.
I was in Victoria train station a few days ago and I saw huge signs that the strike has been called off.
So, is Corbyn Labour's Bernie Sanders or Trump?
Quote
Where is Labour's 'Jeremy Corbyn mania' coming from?
By Mobeen Azhar The Report, BBC Radio 4
Despair at Labour's general election defeat has given way to a mood of celebration on the British left, as their candidate emerges as the unlikely frontrunner in the party's leadership contest. But where is the support for Jeremy Corbyn, a previously obscure backbencher, coming from?
"All over the country we are getting these huge gatherings of people. The young, the old, black and white and many people that haven't been involved in politics before."
Jeremy Corbyn addresses a standing room only crowd in Euston, North London.
On this Monday evening so many people have turned up, some supporters are left standing in the street scouting for spare tickets.
It feels more like the build-up to an album launch than a political meeting.
For those unable to pack into the hall Corbyn ends up speaking from the roof of a waiting fire engine.
'Life on hold'
When he eventually makes it indoors he's mobbed by photographers, rapturous applause and the sounds of John Legend's contemporary protest song, Glory, thundering over the PA.
This is slicker, more vibrant and just plain bigger than anything left-leaning party politics has seen in Britain for a generation. Even Corbyn looks a bit surprised. As if this campaign has gone further than anyone could have predicted.
So what exactly is going on?
Are Corbyn's supporters simply a collective of the usual leftist campaigners congregating under a contemporary banner or is there more to this left revival?
Lyndsey is a 30-year-old musician who believes her experience and support for Corbyn is representative of a shift in the landscape of British politics.
"I have put my life on hold, my music and my job to put time into this because it's something I believe in," she says.
"I really care about this so much because I think it's an opportunity to really change things."
More democratic
Lyndsey is in no way connected to the official Corbyn campaign but has made a series of online clips to address issues such as the housing crisis.
"It's about provoking discussion. I paid my £3 online and I'm trying to get as many people as possible to do the same."
Lyndsey had previously voted Green but just two weeks ago she became a "registered supporter" of the Labour Party. This "supporter" status gives Lyndsey a vote in the leadership election.
This new voting system was introduced to coincide with the current leadership election in an effort to encourage a more open and democratic contest.
Some longstanding Labour Party members have warned the move has unwittingly encouraged "entryism", the notion that members of far-left parties are joining Labour to mount a kind of coup. The party leadership fought a long, and ultimately successful, battle against Trotskyite entryists in the 1980s.
But the numbers don't add up.
The far left, although organised, just don't have the membership needed.
The Labour Party has grown rapidly in size since May's general election, with the total number of people signing up to vote in the leadership contest reaching 610,753.
The number of full party members has gone up from just over 200,000 in May to 299,755, with a further 121,295 people paying £3 to become registered supporters and 189,703 joining up through their trade union.
"Supporter" status provides the same voting rights as fully paid-up Labour members.
Even if there is evidence of small-scale entryism, this in itself could not determine a victory for Corbyn.
A recent YouGov poll suggests Corbyn has extended his lead in the leadership race.
Much of the Labour establishment has been caught completely off-guard by the strength of Corbyn's support.
Former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett branded herself a "moron" for nominating Corbyn to stand.
"We were being urged as MPs to have a field of candidates. At no point did I intend to vote for Jeremy myself, nor advise anyone else to do it."
'Centre ground'
In 2010, backbencher Dianne Abbott stood in the leadership contest as a clear left candidate.
She failed to make any significant impact and many Labour MPs believed Corbyn would play a similar "symbolic" role in the current contest. So how exactly can the surge in Corbyn support be explained?
There is evidence to suggest the political landscape in Britain is shifting and Corbyn's recent success could be accredited to his core message connecting with an electorate to whom the "centre ground" no longer appeals.
Prof Paul Whitely, from the University of Essex, has been researching the demographic makeup of party membership since 1992 and most recently he has investigated norms in political opinion.
"We've been conducting surveys since 2013. The assumption in Westminster is parties need to be close together in the 'centre ground', but that is not what drives elections.
"Voters are not asking themselves, 'Where is Jeremy Corbyn on the left-right dimension?' They're asking themselves: 'Is this guy saying something which is new which might help me and deal with the problems that Britain faces?'
"The thing about Jeremy Corbyn, whether you agree or disagree with him, is that he has a new narrative and I think that's what's exciting people."
'Not tribal'
For voters like Lyndsey this is exactly what the Corbyn campaign has done.
"I have never wanted to vote Labour before and I will not stick with the party if Corbyn is not the leader. I am not tribal. What we have is a chance to really change things and I want to be part of that change."
The support for Corbyn could signal a shift not only for the Labour Party but for the way in which party politics works in Britain.
Prof Whitely explains: "The world has changed, there's no question about it. We have to learn from countries in continental Europe who have multi-party systems.
"The success of UKIP and the SNP show there is discontentment with the status quo and an appetite for new ideas. A lot of people inside the Westminster bubble are yet to catch up with this."
Quote
The Labour Party risks "annihilation" if Jeremy Corbyn wins the party's leadership contest, former prime minister Tony Blair has warned.
In an impassioned letter printed in the Guardian, Mr Blair said the party was walking "over the cliff's edge".
His comments come as Yvette Cooper is set to criticise Mr Corbyn, saying his policies are not "credible".
The Electoral Reform Society has said Labour should delay sending out ballots while checks are made on new members.
Labour said 610,000 were signed up to vote in the contest. It had 200,000 members before the general election.
The society is not involved in running the contest, but its deputy chief executive Darren Hughes said it was obvious there were some people who did not genuinely support Labour who had signed up to vote and should not be allowed to take part.
Voting for the contest starts on Friday and the result will be declared on 12 September.
Writing in the Guardian, Mr Blair said: "It doesn't matter whether you're on the left, right or centre of the party, whether you used to support me or hate me. But please understand the danger we are in.
"The party is walking eyes shut, arms outstretched over the cliff's edge to the jagged rocks below.
"This is not a moment to refrain from disturbing the serenity of the walk on the basis it causes 'disunity'.
"It is a moment for a rugby tackle if that were possible."
Last month Mr Blair, who won three elections and served as prime minister between 1997 and 2007, warned against the party moving further to the left and electing Mr Corbyn the party's new leader.
But in a further intensification of his warnings, he said: "If Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader it won't be a defeat like 1983 or 2015 at the next election. It will mean rout, possibly annihilation."
'Wrong answers'
In her first explicit criticism of Mr Corbyn, fellow candidate Ms Cooper is to accuse him of "bad economics", saying he offers "old solutions to old problems".
Speaking in Manchester later, she will say: "I feel really strongly - not just as a leadership candidate but as a Labour Party member that desperately wants an effective Labour government - that his are the wrong answers for the future.
"And they aren't credible. That they won't change the world. They will keep us out of power and stop us changing the world."
While accepting that the comments could cost her votes, Ms Cooper is to also say there is a battle taking place for the soul of the party as she attacks her rival's policies on renationalisation, quitting Nato and quantitative easing.
Labour leadership contest
Who are the candidates? Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn, Liz Kendall
Dates: Ballot papers will be sent out on Friday; voting can take place by post or online. They must be returned by 10 September. The result is announced on 12 September
Who can vote? All party members, registered supporters and affiliated supporters - including those joining via a union
What is the voting system? The Alternative Vote system is being used so voters are asked to rank candidates in order of preference
How does it work? If no candidate gets 50% of all votes cast, the candidate in fourth place is eliminated. Their second preference votes are then redistributed among the remaining three. If there is still no winner, the third place candidate is eliminated with their second preferences (or third in the case of votes transferred from the fourth place candidates) redistributed. It is then a head-to-head between the last two candidates
Numerous MPs have called for the leadership contest to be postponed over fears it has been infiltrated by supporters of other parties but Labour have rejected the claims.
The campaign teams of the other leadership candidates have now written a joint letter to the Labour party to complain about the lack of data they are receiving on people who have recently joined.
Candidates Andy Burnham, Liz Kendall and Ms Cooper have been told they will not be receiving lists of those who have recently signed up as members for another 10 days - although their details are being passed to the Electoral Reform Society.
In their letter they say this means there will not be a "level playing field" for all the candidates.
Campaign sources say they are concerned unions, which have declared their support for Mr Corbyn, will pass on the details of their affiliated supporters to his campaign, giving him an unfair advantage.
Growing support
Mr Corbyn, a backbencher who was seen as a rank outsider at the start of the campaign, has been packing out meeting halls across the UK, with many of his supporters joining the Labour Party to vote for him.
On Tuesday the YouGov poll for The Times of 1,400 eligible voters put Mr Corbyn on 53%, 32 points ahead of Andy Burnham.
Mr Corbyn urged caution in response to the polls, saying while his campaign was "going very well", ballot papers had not yet been sent out.
Labour MP John Mann said the leadership race should be made into a "head-to-head" contest.
He told BBC Newsnight that MPs should select just one of the other contenders to go up against Mr Corbyn, engage in a televised debate and scrutinise what he was really proposing.
So Tamas, are you going to stay in the UK or just work there?
You have to pay money to get to vote? That's not very leftist.
Quote from: citizen k on August 13, 2015, 01:38:08 PM
So, is Corbyn Labour's Bernie Sanders or Trump?
From what I've read he appears to be their Henry Wallace.
Hungarian girl who has been in the country for 3 years is the top student of this london state high school and the very first to get into Oxford University from there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yJX-FEBEW4
It appears that there has been a dramatic increase in the performance of UK students in the last 20 years, meaning they don't suck that much, and it also appears this is entirely due to the immigrant kids enchancing the statistics.
Quote from: Tamas on August 14, 2015, 05:09:36 AM
Hungarian girl who has been in the country for 3 years is the top student of this london state high school and the very first to get into Oxford University from there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yJX-FEBEW4
It appears that there has been a dramatic increase in the performance of UK students in the last 20 years, meaning they don't suck that much, and it also appears this is entirely due to the immigrant kids enchancing the statistics.
And not due to the dumbing down of the exams that occurred during much of the same period?
Quote from: Agelastus on August 14, 2015, 06:35:16 AM
Quote from: Tamas on August 14, 2015, 05:09:36 AM
Hungarian girl who has been in the country for 3 years is the top student of this london state high school and the very first to get into Oxford University from there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yJX-FEBEW4
It appears that there has been a dramatic increase in the performance of UK students in the last 20 years, meaning they don't suck that much, and it also appears this is entirely due to the immigrant kids enchancing the statistics.
And not due to the dumbing down of the exams that occurred during much of the same period?
Well that would certainly explain East Euro students pwning the natives, as I have read several accounts of elementary/high school students from Hungary switching to British high schools and finding the complexity of the subjects much dumbed down.
I would vote for Jeremy Corbyn.
Figures
Quote from: Tamas on August 14, 2015, 07:19:51 AM
Well that would certainly explain East Euro students pwning the natives, as I have read several accounts of elementary/high school students from Hungary switching to British high schools and finding the complexity of the subjects much dumbed down.
This is what I could never get. Eastern European and Russian exchange students to the US always comment on how much easier it is over here yet their countries are so stupid. Why hasn't this academic brilliance prevented them from supporting people like Orban and Putin?
Ok can somebody give me the short version on who this guy is and why he is so destructive? Just some insignificant MP getting hype because he says outrageous populist things?
Quote from: Valmy on August 14, 2015, 08:00:59 AM
Quote from: Tamas on August 14, 2015, 07:19:51 AM
Well that would certainly explain East Euro students pwning the natives, as I have read several accounts of elementary/high school students from Hungary switching to British high schools and finding the complexity of the subjects much dumbed down.
This is what I could never get. Eastern European and Russian exchange students to the US always comment on how much easier it is over here yet their countries are so stupid. Why hasn't this academic brilliance prevented them from supporting people like Orban and Putin?
Huh? Academic excellence and politics are two totally different things. I went to university in Canada, and I also found the Canadian curriculum easier and less stressful than HK's (as in, failing a subject does not mean automatic expulsion from the university? Wow). Politics has nothing to do with it. I keep my head down and make a living regardless of who is in power.
Quote from: Valmy on August 14, 2015, 08:02:05 AM
Ok can somebody give me the short version on who this guy is and why he is so destructive? Just some insignificant MP getting hype because he says outrageous populist things?
That is my understanding yes. He wants to turn Labour into Syriza.
Quote from: Monoriu on August 14, 2015, 08:06:35 AM
Huh? Academic excellence and politics are two totally different things. I went to university in Canada, and I also found the Canadian curriculum easier and less stressful than HK's (as in, failing a subject does not mean automatic expulsion from the university? Wow). Politics has nothing to do with it. I keep my head down and make a living regardless of who is in power.
Disagree. Education is a civic value as well as an economic one.
Quote from: Valmy on August 14, 2015, 08:15:18 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on August 14, 2015, 08:06:35 AM
Huh? Academic excellence and politics are two totally different things. I went to university in Canada, and I also found the Canadian curriculum easier and less stressful than HK's (as in, failing a subject does not mean automatic expulsion from the university? Wow). Politics has nothing to do with it. I keep my head down and make a living regardless of who is in power.
Disagree. Education is a civic value as well as an economic one.
Well just because there are high demands in the education system, it doesn't mean that a) everyone lives up to them and b) it serves to create critical-thinking citizens geared toward valuing individual freedom and democracy.
Quote from: Valmy on August 14, 2015, 08:15:18 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on August 14, 2015, 08:06:35 AM
Huh? Academic excellence and politics are two totally different things. I went to university in Canada, and I also found the Canadian curriculum easier and less stressful than HK's (as in, failing a subject does not mean automatic expulsion from the university? Wow). Politics has nothing to do with it. I keep my head down and make a living regardless of who is in power.
Disagree. Education is a civic value as well as an economic one.
Then the answer to your question may well be, different places have very different ideas about what education encompasses.
Quote from: Tamas on August 14, 2015, 07:19:51 AM
Well that would certainly explain East Euro students pwning the natives, as I have read several accounts of elementary/high school students from Hungary switching to British high schools and finding the complexity of the subjects much dumbed down.
When I was in my 20s I took some courses at the local community college. They had a large number of immigrants, mostly from the Balkans and Easter Europe. They would comment on how much better their secondary education was than that of the United States. My Italian prof (an immigrant from Croatia) said that she deliberately prodded students like that; otherwise they wouldn't study and by the time they got to regular college they'd bomb out. She said she had met a lot of immigrants who had done that and ended up managing a K-mart or something similar; but would still boast about how much better their education was than the Americans.
Well there it is, the more educated a European country is the poorer it is and the more inclined to fascism or communism.
Fortunately, centuries of gormless stupidity have led to our sceptred isle remaining pretty well-off and free of dictatorship :bowler:
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on August 14, 2015, 08:40:04 AM
Well there it is, the more educated a European country is the poorer it is and the more inclined to fascism or communism.
That's because they focus on STEM instead of liberal arts education. :)
I hear a lot of people in HK say that the western curriculum is crap and that Chinese education is a lot tougher. I think tougher does not necessarily mean better. The bottom line is, tons of HKers and Chinese send their children to receive a western education. Graduates of western universities are sought after by Chinese employers. The reverse however is not true. Westerners almost never send their children to China to receive an education. Maybe they go for short-term exchanges or language courses but they don't go to China to get 4-year degrees. Why? Because everybody knows that a western education is better. In boosting confidence, nurturing critical thinking and problem solving skills. These are the things that matter, not memorising more stuff than the next person.
Quote from: Monoriu on August 14, 2015, 08:46:17 AM
In boosting confidence, nurturing critical thinking and problem solving skills. These are the things that matter, not memorising more stuff than the next person.
Exactly
Quote from: Valmy on August 14, 2015, 08:00:59 AM
Quote from: Tamas on August 14, 2015, 07:19:51 AM
Well that would certainly explain East Euro students pwning the natives, as I have read several accounts of elementary/high school students from Hungary switching to British high schools and finding the complexity of the subjects much dumbed down.
This is what I could never get. Eastern European and Russian exchange students to the US always comment on how much easier it is over here yet their countries are so stupid. Why hasn't this academic brilliance prevented them from supporting people like Orban and Putin?
Eastern Europeans (like Asians) tend to value encyclopedic/technical knowledge over ability to think critically. We produce good engineers and poor citizens.
Quote from: Syt on August 14, 2015, 08:41:11 AM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on August 14, 2015, 08:40:04 AM
Well there it is, the more educated a European country is the poorer it is and the more inclined to fascism or communism.
That's because they focus on STEM instead of liberal arts education. :)
Yup.
Wow, this is probably the first time ever Tamas, Mono and I agreed on something. I guess we must be right then. :P
Quote from: Monoriu on August 14, 2015, 08:46:17 AM
I hear a lot of people in HK say that the western curriculum is crap and that Chinese education is a lot tougher. I think tougher does not necessarily mean better. The bottom line is, tons of HKers and Chinese send their children to receive a western education. Graduates of western universities are sought after by Chinese employers. The reverse however is not true. Westerners almost never send their children to China to receive an education. Maybe they go for short-term exchanges or language courses but they don't go to China to get 4-year degrees. Why? Because everybody knows that a western education is better. In boosting confidence, nurturing critical thinking and problem solving skills. These are the things that matter, not memorising more stuff than the next person.
Well said :cool:
There is something of a fashion here in the UK to marvel at (eg.) the problems that China's 11-year-olds solve. Problems that, imo, are merely complex rather than difficult. I hope that fashion does not influence educational policy and lead to our young people wasting their time on a pointlessly "tough" curriculum.
On bbc 3 at the moment is a crappy reality show dealing with how much better the chinese education system and all that. Theybe brought over chinese teachers to teach one class the chinese way then seeing .how they compare to a class taught the regular british way.
It isnt being done very scientifically so is useless but the issue is getting attention.
Interesting though to hear the British system being spoken of in good terms for not being about information cramming. The British system has way too much of that imo.
I heard about that on the radio (yes, I listen to radio rather than watch TV mostly).
The Chinese lecturer they interviewed that worked in the UK was sure the Chinese way was the best. A British lecturer that worked in the PRC was pleasantly surprised that his students appreciated his feedback on their papers, and that they hadn't expected him to actually grade them. :huh:
Some stuff is worth memorising, and our school system apparently has thought otherwise. I once tried teaching. I wanted to strangle all my pupils for being such stupid effing twats. Mostly because school hadn't even taught them simple deduction or to even ask a critical question. These were 15-16 year olds. The curriculum was rather boring, granted. Even I fell asleep when writing notes.
If the Chinese education system is really that good, they won't be sending their kids overseas in droves.
Well, I think the main point was the Chinese students still had some respect for academical authority while a majority of Western students and pupils just view school, college, university and whatnot as a place to make friends, study a little to get a job and get some. I know I did.
Quote from: Valmy on August 14, 2015, 08:02:05 AM
Ok can somebody give me the short version on who this guy is and why he is so destructive? Just some insignificant MP getting hype because he says outrageous populist things?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33772024
OMG he is horrible :lol:
Well needless to say this guy would be disastrous for United States interests.
Strange he insists we are not talking to both parties or political solutions. Did we not just work out a deal with Iran? Who does he think is not being talked to?
Quote from: Valmy on August 14, 2015, 08:00:59 AM
Quote from: Tamas on August 14, 2015, 07:19:51 AM
Well that would certainly explain East Euro students pwning the natives, as I have read several accounts of elementary/high school students from Hungary switching to British high schools and finding the complexity of the subjects much dumbed down.
This is what I could never get. Eastern European and Russian exchange students to the US always comment on how much easier it is over here yet their countries are so stupid. Why hasn't this academic brilliance prevented them from supporting people like Orban and Putin?
I suppose exchange students aren't representative of the general population. I figure that if you get accepted for university transfer and scholarship fund by the government (or wichever authority funds the difference in costs) it means you have very good grades in your current university.
And maybe only 10% of the university students registered in 1st year ever graduate.
I found university to be really tough in 1993. When I came back to it in 2003, it was really easy. Hadn't it been for so many personal problems I would have kept my score higher in the last year. In Sherbrooke, about 1/3 of the students are expected to graduate. a Finance exam with a 50% score average is considered too easy, teachers aim for 35% average at most. In accounting and fiscality, we had to remember every rule and justify our answers with the articles of law or proper accounting rule. Failure to do so, even if you had the good answer, meant a 0.
So, even if university is easier in the US than in Eastern Europe for some students, it doesn't make them smarter overall. And even if they were, that's not 90% of the population that's like that.