Category: POLITICS

  • Scottish public funds display improvement

    Princes Street Image copyright Getty Photographs Image caption The figures estimate how so much cash the public sector raises and spends on folks in Scotland

    Scotland’s public funds have persevered to show some growth over the past 12 months, in line with Scottish govt statistics.

    The Government Expenditure and Earnings Scotland (Gers) file stated the country spent £13.4bn greater than it raised in taxes within the past financial yr.

    This used to be marginally higher than the £13.3bn figure for the former 12 months.

    The deficit as a share of the rustic’s GDP dropped from 8.3% to 7.9% – 4 occasions higher than for the united kingdom.

    The UK’s spending deficit dropped by means of £6.4bn to £39.4bn in 2017/18, the bottom figure considering that 2007, in line with the most recent figures. This was 1.9% of its GDP.

    The Gers figures became a key battleground in the debate over Scottish independence in recent years.

    Scotland had a relatively more potent fiscal place than the uk in 2010/11, but since then the location has been reversed – in large part as a result of the cave in in the oil price.

    The statistics envisioned that Scotland’s public sector income used to be £59.6bn – EIGHT% of the entire UNITED KINGDOM figure – of which £1.3bn used to be from the North Sea oil and gas industry.

    This was higher than £208m of source of revenue from the North Sea within the previous year – however well under the £8bn in earnings the offshore trade generated in 2011/12.

    Gers used to be described because the “authoritative e-newsletter on Scotland’s public price range” within the Scottish government’s White Paper on independence prior to the 2014 referendum.

    The document is compiled by statisticians operating for the Scottish government’s chief economic adviser, and is free from political interference.

    The Scottish executive has revealed a list of solutions to commonly asked questions on how Gers is compiled right here.

  • East Sussex County Council cuts services and products to ‘legal minimum’

    East Sussex County Council Image caption East Sussex County Council stated it had saved £129m given that 2010 and had to be realistic concerning the future

    A second Conservative-run council has set out plans to strip again products and services to the “legal minimum” amid calls for talks with crucial govt.

    East Sussex County Council (ESCC) said it had saved £129m considering that 2010 and needed to be practical concerning the long run.

    The authority has confirmed it is going to simplest find a way to supply services and products it is legally obliged to provide. the government has no longer but commented.

    Northamptonshire council also proposed “radical provider reductions” this week.

    Worst-case scenario

    ESCC’s leader govt, Becky Shaw, stated: “Our center be offering paints a good picture of the minimal that we realistically want to provide in the future and we would like to use this as the foundation for discussion with the government, partner businesses and residents in East Sussex.”

    Image copyright PA Symbol caption The council would offer a center library and data service

    The council said it used to be going through important reductions in funding from primary government and insist for social care was once soaring.

    It mentioned greater than 25% of East Sussex citizens have been aged SIXTY FIVE or over – a ratio the rustic as a whole would not succeed in until 2031, it stated.

    A spokesperson for the authority said council chief Keith Glazier had written to James Brokenshire, Secretary of State for Housing, Groups And Local Government, in regards to the “counterproductive possible choices” it were pressured to make.

    ESCC recently has 30 Conservative contributors, 11 Lib Dems, 4 Labour, 3 Unbiased contributors and two Independent Democrats.

    Cabinet members who checked out the “middle be offering” in July agreed the plan would be costed and advanced over the summer, with extra designated proposals to be regarded as in the autumn sooner than budget meetings in February 2019.

    Symbol caption Rankings of residents collected outside Northamptonshire County Council headquarters to protest over proposed cuts on Wednesday

    Emergency talks have been hung on Wednesday by way of Northamptonshire County Council, which has stated it must keep as much as £70m by way of March.

    The Conservative-led authority there has been compelled to impose spending controls twice in six months.

    Angry citizens collected outdoor the assembly, with one public speaker describing the situation in Northamptonshire as a “shambles”.

    In October, ESCC warned of “real worry” if the needs of its citizens were not taken under consideration via the federal government and launched a web based video campaign entitled ‘Get Up for East Sussex’ in quest of “fairer executive funding”.

    Media playback is unsupported on your instrument

    Media captionEast Sussex County Council leader Keith Glazier launches the Rise Up marketing campaign

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  • Northamptonshire council backs ‘radical’ cuts to services

    Northamptonshire County Council approved an action plan for Image caption Northamptonshire County Council licensed an action plan for “radical” cuts to products and services

    A money-strapped council has approved huge cuts to jobs and services in a bid to take on a £70m funding shortfall.

    Northamptonshire County Council subsidized the action plan to cut back spending all through a difficulty meeting.

    Children’s products and services, street repairs and waste management are among the spaces dealing with “radical” cuts.

    Council chief, Conservative Matt Golby, described it as “essentially the most challenging factor me and my colleagues have ever been confronted with”.

    All but one of the Conservative councillors subsidized the action plan earlier, even as opposition teams voted in opposition to.

    Image caption Approximately 20 folks accrued outdoor County Corridor to protest against cuts

    Liberal Democrat councillor Dennis Meredith criticised the fact the Whitehall commissioners are being paid £1,500 a day – with the money-strapped council allegedly choosing up the bill.

    “i think that’s a scandal,” he mentioned. “we need to ship you again to London. it is just 60 miles.”

    A small team amassed outdoor County Hall prior to the meeting to protest towards the cuts, together with Alvarez Wilkinson from the Unison union in Northamptonshire.

    He stated: “We’re Going To be dropping a lot of personnel and, when you lose a member of group of workers, you also lose a service.

    Symbol caption Some messages of protest had been chalked out of doors the place the assembly used to be being held

    “I reside in the county and as products and services disappear, i truly concern about the welfare of my family.”

    as it began, a member of the general public blasted the Tory councillors who weren’t provide -a complete of 15 didn’t attend the assembly.

    Bianca Todd stated: “There are county councillors who’re now not here today. you’ve got to be kidding me. We Are making nationwide information.

    “Whilst other people die this wintry weather, because they’ll die this winter, the blood will probably be for your palms.”

    the story in the back of the money-problem council Money-quandary council: Your thoughts Truth Check: What do councils must do?

    Jenny Cotton-Howells from Spectrum, a charity aiding people with learning problems, said she was once “concerned” about further cuts to products and services however “had religion” within the council to make “the precise decisions”.

    She brought: “any longer cuts can be completely catastrophic. they can’t minimize an already lower provider to the bone.”

    Summarising the debate, Mr Golby vowed to “not put folks in peril”.

    “That Isn’t what we are approximately. we aren’t going to offer up,” he mentioned.

    “We have got to be certain that that we offer the services and products we can. we will be able to meet our statutory tasks and i’m satisfied to mention that.

    “do we understand the implications? Yes.”

    Research by means of BBC Political Reporter Brian Wheeler

    In Tory mythology it is loose-spending “loony left” Labour councils that get into monetary difficulties, not prudent Conservative ones.

    The reality hasn’t ever been rather like that. The remaining time a council went bankrupt, in Hackney, East London, in 2000, it was run by way of a Labour/Tory coalition.

    But there may be more to the Northamptonshire County Council drawback than embarrassment for Theresa May’s government – despite the fact that that may be acute sufficient, given that the council stuck rigidly to the govt’s spending guidelines.

    Local councils have borne the brunt of austerity, with relevant govt investment falling by approximately half considering 2010.

    If, as some expect, it is not the last council to go below, this will grow to be a national trouble, now not a local one, one thing Labour has been predicting for a long time.

    Monetary drawback timeline

    September 2017: The council launches an appeal for fairer investment from vital govt as a neighborhood Govt Association (LGA) peer review staff says it is “operating out of time” November 2017: Council group of workers are told they ought to take a day’s unpaid depart January: Secretary of State for local govt Sajid Javid orders a probe into the council’s price range 2 February: The council bans just about all new spending for 2017/18 20 February: Auditor KPMG says the council’s 2018/19 funds is also unlawful 28 February: The council agrees a revised budget, involving nearly £40m in cuts 15 March: Executive-appointed inspector Max Caller outlines his findings – recommending Northamptonshire will need to have new unitary government through 2020 15 March: Council leader Heather Smith resigns following the report’s newsletter 21 March: Leader government Damon Lawrenson leaves submit SIXTEEN April: Matthew Golby elected new leader 16 Would Possibly: Commissioners drafted in by way of executive start paintings 12 July: Theresa Provide named new leader government 24 July: County council issues second S114 realize 26 July: KPMG says public health finances ‘misappropriated’ 2 August: Council proposes “radical provider discounts” THREE August: Former council chief Heather Smith quits Conservative Celebration 8 August: Northampton South MP Andrew Lewer says “national drivers” additionally causing Northamptonshire’s issues, warns other native government in danger

    Could it happen anyplace else?

    Northamptonshire County Council, which has an annual price range of £441m, is the one authority thus far to have officially declared itself in danger of spending greater than the cash it has available.

    However, the National Audit Workplace (NAO) has warned as many as one in 10 greater native government in England with accountability for social care are draining their reserves and will have exhausted them totally in three years unless one thing changes.

    Susceptible youngsters facing ‘catastrophe’ Commissioners take over stricken council Money-strapped council to sell £53m HQ

    It projected that another one in 10 would run out within five years.

    Those reserves are sometimes noticed as “wet day” funds. they are there for unplanned expenses or deliberate one-off prices.

    They don’t get topped back up once more unless the council unearths the money from in other places.

    A Ministry of Housing, Groups And Local Executive spokesman stated: “The financial demanding situations dealing with Northamptonshire council are clearly severe and reinforce how essential it used to be that we took quick motion to nominate commissioners.

    “Those commissioners will continue to work carefully with the council as it takes the mandatory steps to rebalance its budget.”

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  • EU citizens will probably be secure if no Brexit deal says Raab

    Image copyright PA Symbol caption Dominic Raab and Michel Barnier will extra talks next week

    At a press conference in advance, the eu’s negotiator mentioned his purpose used to be to strike a future partnership of “unparalleled” scope with the united kingdom.

    But he warned growth on trade and economic co-operation lagged in the back of that on security and defence issues and said the eu wouldn’t compromise the integrity of the single market.

    Mr Barnier stated the question of the Irish border must be “de-dramatised” with the onus on both sides to make clear “which controls are wanted where and how this could be performed”.

    He brought: “Our problem for the approaching weeks is to try and outline an ambitious partnership among the uk and the ecu – a partnership that has no precedent.

    “This partnership has to respect the one market and the principles of the ecu undertaking, and if this is well understood we will be able to finish the negotiations successfully.”

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  • Labour MP Chris Williamson’s ‘democracy roadshow’ criticised

    Chris Williamson

    An best friend of Jeremy Corbyn’s has rejected claims he is the use of a tour of Labour constituencies to push for the removal of critics of the party chief.

    Chris Williamson stated his “democracy roadshow” used to be an try to have interaction severely with activists, rather than oust MPs whose views he disagreed with.

    Veteran MP Barry Sheerman has accused his colleague of intentionally focused on the seats of “reasonable” MPs.

    He instructed Mr Corbyn to condemn what amounted to a “deselection roadshow”.

    Mr Williamson has referred to as for Labour MPs to face mandatory reselection ahead of the next general election as a part of a package of sweeping interior reforms designed to give activists higher energy over policy.

    Critics of the speculation – which would require sitting MPs to face a poll of individuals before being readopted – say it is a way of hunting down those on the right of the birthday celebration who disagree with the celebration’s route.

    Council tax hike MP denies being sacked Corbyn’s warning on Labour rule changes What Momentum ’s wins may imply for Labour

    Mr Williamson is traveling around the us of a with other outstanding supporters of Mr Corbyn, including Fire Brigades Union leader Matt Wrack and Aslef president Tosh McDonald, to make the case for greater democracy and duty throughout the birthday celebration.

    A video of Mr McDonald and Mr Williamson riding Harley-Davidsons, in which the MP describes individuals as Labour’s “biggest belongings”, is being used to advertise the excursion.

    Skip Twitter publish by means of @DerbyChrisW

    The #DemocracyRoadshow rolls into Warley within the West Midlands this evening.
    Meeting starts at 7 p.m. on the Windsor Theatre Bar, 377 Bearwood Rd, Smethwick.
    Remember Tony Benn said: “Democracy is probably the most progressive thing within the global.”#ChangeIsCominghttps://t.co/qWnViBjdBZ

    — Chris Williamson MP #JC9, yes NINE (@DerbyChrisW) August 21, 2018

    File

    Finish of Twitter submit via @DerbyChrisW

    They’re as a result of discuss at greater than 20 venues in England and Wales, having already held events in Durham, Redcar, Liverpool, Plymouth and Ilford among others.

    A site promoting the roadshow highlights meetings because of happen in Dudley North and Nottingham East, whose MPs Ian Austin and Chris Leslie are amongst Mr Corbyn’s most vehement critics.

    Mr Sheerman, whose Huddersfield constituency is because of be visited by Mr Williamson on Friday, mentioned there has been a focus on spaces, including in West Yorkshire, represented via MPs at the centre and centre proper of the celebration.

    ‘Deeply concerned’

    The former minister, who was first elected to Parliament in 1979, stated Mr Williamson believed the visits had been endorsed by way of the birthday party leadership and Mr Corbyn should distance himself from them.

    “i am deeply concerned that the long run of the celebration might be put in jeopardy if Chris Williamson’s actions aren’t right away condemned,” he stated in a letter to Mr Corbyn.

    “i’d no longer carry this topic except i used to be deeply involved that this task will seriously damage our celebration’s chances of winning the following general election.”

    Skip Twitter post via @BarrySheerman

    I wrote to the chief of our birthday party Jerrmy Corbyn as a result of I Feel this “Roadshow” seems to attack the very fraternity that our Birthday Party has at all times supported!

    — Barry Sheerman (@BarrySheerman) August 20, 2018

    Record

    Finish of Twitter post through @BarrySheerman

    Mr Williamson has defended the excursion as an opportunity to make the case for “commonsense socialism” in the Labour motion and to verify the “transformative” amendment promised through Mr Corbyn can be brought in govt.

    He informed the web site Labour Listing that he was once not focused on individual MPs and were invited to talk by way of party participants in the constituencies involved.

    “this is not some nice plan to oust centrist MPs from the birthday party,” he stated. “i’d have views at the politics of positive MPs but that isn’t the point. the point is simply to engage with and take heed to our individuals and to bolster democracy in our birthday celebration”.

    Labour is thinking about a series of changes to celebration democracy – including laws for future leadership elections – but the factor of obligatory reselection isn’t part of a overview as a result of file at next month’s conference.

    Mr Williamson give up front bench earlier this year, in a while after he known as for council tax on the most expensive houses to be doubled – a policy rejected through the celebration leadership.

    The outspoken MP has attracted controversy on the grounds that, protecting and subsequently sharing a platform with a Labour activist expelled from the birthday party for haranguing Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth on the release of the birthday celebration’s anti-Semitism evaluation in 2016.

    Over the weekend, he was once criticised for tweeting that it have been a “privilege” to have met blogger Vanessa Beeley, who has defended the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and previously defined murdered MP Jo Cox as a “warmongering Blairite”.

  • Windrush: How do you end up you have been residing in the UK?

    Empire Windrush circa 1948 Image copyright PA

    Many Windrush migrants who have had their criminal standing known as into question have been within the UNITED KINGDOM for decades, often paying taxes and making pension contributions.

    It seems intuitively that anyone residing and working in a country for a protracted period will depart an important paper path. So why are some finding it so tricky to turn out?

    part of the issue has been a demand to offer four items of proof for every year that a individual has been in the u . s . a ..

    Windrush migrants should turn out they have been in the UNITED KINGDOM regularly since 1 January 1973, when they had been granted the precise to stick within the us of a completely. Anyone who has left the rustic for more than two years loses their right to stay.

    The House Workplace did not stay information of the people to whom it granted indefinite leave to stay within the seventies. A Few stayed but didn’t follow for British citizenship meaning there may be no reliable document of their legal standing.

    Symbol copyright PA Symbol caption The Advertising Standards Authority banned a home Place Of Job cellular ad telling unlawful immigrants to “cross home or face arrest”.

    These requirements were made extra stringent in 2016.

    A Few individuals who arrived legally decades in the past are being caught out by way of those checks when they attempt to rent a house or get scientific remedy, but are not in a position to turn out their standing.

    Denied NHS remedy

    Even Though we now have anecdotal evidence, there is not any central document of how many people have been denied medical treatment as a result of in their immigration standing.

    Since October, NHS hospitals in England have had a legal duty to price out of the country patients in advance for non-pressing care in the event that they aren’t eligible totally free remedy. that incorporates ECU citizens who have been in UNITED KINGDOM less than six months.

    The rules require NHS our bodies to make inquiries approximately whether sufferers are right here legally and often resident within the UK, so as to fee folks that aren’t entitled to loose care.

    The Windrush migrants are entitled to treatment – their downside has been proving this.

    Guidance v reality

    The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants’ head of felony and policy, Chai Patel, informed BBC Truth Check that even as in conception there is flexibility within the pointers, that is no longer the way it has been implemented in follow.

    Timothy Lawrence, a solicitor for the Southwark Legislation Centre, stated: “The manner has, for plenty of years, been to refuse to just accept any claimed period of place of dwelling within the absence of independent documentary proof masking all the length, and not using a advantage of the doubt given.

    “considered one of my shoppers, who had lost the passport she used to go into the uk as a kid with indefinite leave, was refused confirmation that she had retained that standing in spite of her having equipped the house Office with a duplicate of the passport,” he brought.

    Windrush generation remedy ‘appalling’

    There had been a couple of circumstances of people who have been refused NHS treatment, detained in immigration centres and virtually deported within the case of Paulette Wilson, who used to be taken as far as Heathrow earlier than her MP intervened.

    However, there seems to be some confusion in executive over whether anyone has in reality been deported. Even Though there are figures to be had for deportations (there were 12,321 enforced returns ultimate 12 months), it’s not conceivable to tell from these whether or not any have been Windrush migrants.

    How many of us might be affected?

    Of the 524,000 other people living in the UNITED KINGDOM in June 2017 who arrived from a Commonwealth united states of america prior to 1971, FIFTY SEVEN,000 of them don’t seem to be UNITED KINGDOM nationals.

    Of this workforce, 15,000 were from Jamaica, THIRTEEN,000 from India and 29,000 from somewhere else.

    The University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory notes that those figures do not tell us what number of people are now more likely to be having issue demonstrating their prison status within the UK. that is still unknown.

    It also issues out that nationality information is self-mentioned and so anyone who mistakenly believes they are a UNITED KINGDOM citizen, as has been the case for some of the Windrush generation, is not going to be integrated.

    in case you have a narrative concerning the Windrush era, you’ll e mail haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact phone number if you happen to are glad to speak to a BBC journalist.

    you can additionally touch us within the following ways:

    Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay WhatsApp: +FORTY FOUR 7555 173285 Add your footage/video right here Textual Content an SMS or MMS to 61124 (UNITED KINGDOM) or +44 7624 800 100 (world)

    Learn more from Truth Test

    Send us your questions

  • Windrush era: Sajid Javid apology for removals

    Windrush generation members arrive Image copyright PA Image caption The Government has reviewed ELEVEN,800 Windrush technology instances

    Eighteen individuals of the united kingdom’s Windrush generation who could have been wrongfully got rid of or detained are to get a proper apology.

    Home Secretary Sajid Javid mentioned a evaluate of eleven,800 circumstances had identified the 18 as those “possibly to have suffered detriment because their right to be within the UNITED KINGDOM was once not acknowledged”.

    He will even direct them to a reimbursement scheme being set up.

    Any who’ve left the united kingdom may also be helped to return, Mr Javid said.

    Image copyright Joe Giddens/PA Cord Symbol caption Sajid Javid mentioned he wants to right the wrongs of the earlier

    The Windrush era refers to those who moved to the united kingdom from Caribbean nations between 1948 and 1971 but were not given proper documentation proving their indefinite proper to remain.

    Image copyright PA Symbol caption The Windrush generation are named after the MV Empire Windrush which introduced the first migrants in 1948

    Those affected are named after the MV Empire Windrush, the ship which arrived at Tilbury Docks, Essex, on 22 June 1948, bringing staff from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and different islands, as a reaction to post-warfare labour shortages in the UK.

    Many stayed within the UNITED KINGDOM for many years, putting in properties and starting families but the House Office did not keep a document of those granted go away to remain or factor any forms confirming it which means it’s difficult for Windrush arrivals to end up they are within the UK legally.

  • Labour’s Barry Gardiner: New EU vote could ‘undermine democracy’

    Image copyright Getty Pictures Image caption The 2016 EUROPEAN referendum led to a vote to go away the ecu

    Stay and Leave campaigners had told people that balloting in the 2016 referendum could resolve the UK’s long run for the next 40 or 50 years, he said.

    “We supposed it,” he brought.

    Warning towards Stay campaigners telling other folks they have been “stupid enough to do what you wanted rather than what we wanted”, he said: “You never provide as a lot succour to the extreme right as when you bring to a halt the mechanism of democratic modification.

    “If other people need to have the option to succeed in modification thru democratic manner, if they feel that that may be being denied to them, they then flip to other extra socially disruptive tactics of expressing their perspectives, and that is the danger here.”

    Preserving every other referendum could be “playing with the principles of our country in some way that may be truly, in point of fact damaging,” he brought.

    “we’ve got to appreciate other folks’s vote in that referendum. We instructed them we might, we will have to do it.”

    Pressed on whether or not he believed some other referendum could urged violence at the streets, Mr Gardiner insisted he “didn’t say that” but introduced: “In any scenario, if other people feel the route to change is no longer a democratic course, then you look to social disruption, perhaps civil disobedience in a different way”.

    Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said he was “appalled” at Mr Gardiner’s comments:

    Skip Twitter put up through @thomasbrake

    Appalled to hear Labour’s spokesman @BarryGardiner pushing aside the speculation of a final say at the deal. No Longer democratic it sounds as if. Labour Entrance bench proceed to aid and abet Tory #Brexit #FBPE

    — Tom Brake MP (@thomasbrake) August 21, 2018

    Document

    End of Twitter post by means of @thomasbrake

    Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was once pressed on Mr Gardiner’s comments throughout a visit to New Lanark as a part of a 4-day trip to Scotland.

    “There are no plans for any person to hold a 2nd referendum,” he stated.

    “What we must do, i feel, is pay attention at the courting we’ve with the european Union within the future, however we are clearly part of the continent of Europe and we have to have a trading relationship with all international locations in Europe.”

    Mr Corbyn additionally mentioned the government can not be getting ready for no Brexit deal being reached, announcing that instead “we should be ensuring that there’s an settlement and there’s a deal so there is not a cliff area”.

    The govt has stated it believes a deal to be the most most likely result of the negotiations but that it is additionally putting in position contingency plans in case this does not occur.

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  • Jeremy Hunt: ‘Match US sanctions on Russia’

    Video Hunt: ‘Match US sanctions on Russia’

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  • UK will also be ’21st Century exporting superpower’, says Liam Fox

    Liam Fox Symbol copyright AFP/ Getty Pictures

    Britain may also be a “twenty first Century exporting superpower”, Liam Fox is expected to say in a speech detailing the government’s submit-Brexit ambitions.

    The world industry secretary will say he desires exports as a share of UNITED KINGDOM GDP to upward push from 30% to 35%.

    Last year exports of goods and services rose to a record top of £620 billion.

    The Federation of Small Businesses praised the aspiration – but mentioned more monetary incentives, corresponding to offers and “export vouchers”, were needed.

    Mike Cherry from the FSB stated small firms may just use the vouchers to speculate in issues comparable to translation services and products or marketplace analysis.

    Carolyn Fairbairn, director-common of the CBI (Confederation of British Business), said the strategy was once “a timely sign” that the government was devoted to making improvements to the united kingdom’s competitiveness.

    “The CBI strongly supports the ambition to make exports 35% of GDP, in order to placed the united kingdom out in front of a lot of our global competition,” she mentioned.

    “We estimate that during each region of the rustic there are round 10% of companies that might export, but don’t, and we look ahead to running along the federal government to make stronger and inspire them to grab the opportunity.”