The House of Lords broke no constitutional conventions in referring back Osborne’s vindictive tax credit cuts. The Tories and their media supporters are talking utter garbage on the question. Taking Britain’s appalling “constitution” for what it is, the arcane rules of procedure were not breached.
Ever since David Lloyd George and Herbert Asquith forced, by threat of massive creation of peerages, the 1911 Budget through and with it the start of National Insurance and the demise of the workhouse, there has been a convention that the Lords do not oppose or amend Finance Bills.
But the tax credit cuts were not in a Finance Bill. Osborne instead tried to sneak them through by statutory instrument. This is secondary legislation whereby a Minister signs off laws under powers delegated to him by primary legislation. Secondary legislation gets much less parliamentary time and committee scrutiny. If Osborne had put the tax credit proposals in a Finance Bill, as they certainly should have been – it is Osborne who was breaking parliamentary convention here – rather than sneak them under the table as secondary legislation, the Lords would indeed not have been able to stop them without breaching constitutional convention. Which just goes to show it doesn’t always pay to be a weasel.
Osborne is hoist by his own petard.
Aah, Tories say. But there is another convention that the Lords do not block secondary legislation.
They are making that one up. There is no such constitutional convention and there are plenty of examples of the Lords blocking secondary legislation. There is a huge quantity of secondary legislation, thousands and thousands of laws – ministers continually are signing off legal changes.
But the entire basis of the secondary legislation is that parliament has delegated to ministers, in Acts, powers to sign off uncontroversial matter. This can be, for example, the detail of regulations needed technically to enforce primary legislation, and the occasional updates needed. Only a very low percentage indeed of secondary legislation ever gets queried by the Lords, but that is not because of a constitutional convention. That is because most of it is dull stuff. But when the government abuses its authority and tries to smuggle vital changes through secondary legislation, the Lords not only has the constitutional right to challenge this abuse, it has the constitutional duty to do so.
I wish they would do it more often. For example, when the Labour Party used Westminster secondary legislation to cede 6,000 square miles of Scotland’s sea to England without parliamentary scrutiny.
Finally, there is a constitutional convention that the Lords do not oppose manifesto commitments on which a government has been elected. But the Tories rather carefully did not put tax credit cuts in their manifesto, and indeed in campaigning said they would not do it.
The British constitution is appallingly undemocratic. The fact that an undemocratic chamber has fended off a proposal from an undemocratic executive which gained the votes of only 37% of the voting electors, is not a blow struck for democracy. It is however a temporary victory for human decency in mitigating an attack on the poor.
It is also an achievement for Jeremy Corbyn. Nobody can truly believe that Labour peers would have been organised to do this under Yvette Cooper or Liz Kendall.
UPDATE Wings Over Scotland has a very different take on the Labour Party performance. That the Labour Party was not radical enough to go for the “fatal” option I am afraid I find unsurprising. It remains a deeply conservative institution. But I had not previously encountered the argument that 90% would lose the money from universal credit anyway, and it is stunningly cynical. But on close consideration, I cannot work out what it means. Either there must be some additional cut to universal credit, or that those who lost tax credit could have regained it on universal credit anyway. If anybody could explain that one further, I should be grateful.
Glenn,
That’s O.K. mate..I was going to copy and paste what I wrote freely here with an innocent mind here..I wrote it live and didn’t save it…
I was going to post it on The Daily Telegraph..
But You Have Deleted it
That is the problem with being innocent…
Who The Fuck are You To Delete What I Write…
No one wants to copy and paste anything you write.
TWAT
Give My Words Back to Me
They are Not Yours To Delete
Tony
For your information…
http://norml.org/pdf_files/NORML_Clinical_Applications_for_Cannabis_and_Cannabinoids.pdf
Could it really be Des of ukrm killfile fame. The Irish French-teacher Goldstein?
Habbabkuk, during the invasion and occupation of Iraq (from 2003 onwards), the statistic arose that male life expectancy in a part of Glasgow known as Shettleston was lower than in occupied, war-torn Iraq.
So it’s not really surprising that male life expectancy in Gaza might be better than that in Glasgow. This says more about the chronic social issues of post-industrial Glasgow and indeed the issue of RELATIVE poverty (which we know is actually the most important determinant of health stats) in contemporary Britain than about the political situation in Gaza.
And so, if you wish, you could change your handle to, ‘Habbabkuk: Male Life Expectancy is better in Colonel Gaddafi’s Libya and Presidnet Assad’s Syria pre-2011 and the Ayatollah Khameni’s Iran than in Glasgow’, if you wish.
It is meaningless as far as the situation vis a vis the Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is concerned. The statistic is not down to the supposed beneficence of Israel.
“I would say it is likelier and likelier that Janner will soon die in an unfortunate accident”
______________________
Thqt was written on this blog on 20 April 2015.
In other words, just over six months ago.
As far as I’m aware, Mr Janner is still alive and so one must presume that the predicted unfortunate accident didn’t happen.
The writer has declined the opportunity to ‘fess up, admit he was talking bollocks (again) and, incidentally, to take ten shekels off me.
Habbabkuk says again: beware of false prophets and their conspiracy theories!
Anyway, I thought this thread was about the neo-liberal social engineering attack on the low-paid being undertaken by the UK Government.
https://fullfact.org/factchecks/life_expectancy_glasgow_kabul_george_galloway_respect_party-2674
Suhayl
It is often proclaimed on here that the Israelis are engaged in genocide in Gaza.
One must therefore presume that if there is a “genocide” going on in Gaza – where male life expectancy is greater than in Glasgow – then there is an even greater “genocide” going on in Glasgow.
Suhayl
“Anyway, I thought this thread was about the neo-liberal social engineering attack on the low-paid being undertaken by the UK Government.”
___________________
Absolutely right, Suhayl.
Pity you didn’t point that out to, for instance, Mary, when she posted about Israel/Palestine at 05h22 this morning.
And to the others who are off-topic.
I do find curious the way Lysias – usually combative (as befits a former US Navy officer) and always eager to have the last word – has fallen strangely silent after I offered ten shekels to anyone who could identify the author of the following (written on 20 April 2015) :
“I would say it is likelier and likelier that Janner will soon die in an unfortunate accident”.
To refute Habba, I can’t go into detail about what’s happening with the Janner case at the moment, for legal reasons, but will throw this into the mix:
http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5688/police-probe-13-more-politicians-over-claims-of-child-sex-abuse
All these vermin are still under investigation, and that includes Janner and Ted Heath and Leon Brittan.
It all continues to be covered-up by the Establishment and MSM.
The fact that these scum still run the country is gobsmacking beyond belief.
16 year old boy knifed to death in Aberdeen school.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/education/murder-probe-after-pupil-dies-in-aberdeen-school-stabbing-1-3930649#axzz3puRS7DiF
@Glenn_uk, reffering to a blantant troll as a troll is NOT an Ad Hominem; I find it amazing that there are still those that wish to waste their time in engaging with him; to paraphrase Einstein, Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result, the exact experience of talking the Habby-Clown’s pontifications seriously & expecting an honest or rational exchange.
Tony Opmoc: What are you talking about? Your letter to the Torygraph is right up there where you wrote it, at 7:53PM. Can’t you see it?
*
Fred: Thanks for the news about the schoolboy’s death. As you’re doubtless aware, nobody here gets news anywhere other than this blog, when it’s kindly provided. We don’t have radio, TV, newspapers, and the “Internets” is stuck to this blog.
But why – pray – choose just that story, out of a whole world’s worth of news?
*
Macky: You might think referring to “the troll” is not an insult, ok fine. I disagree, and presumably so did the person making such comments, or they would not have made it.
*
Habbabkuk : “One must therefore presume that if there is a “genocide” going on in Gaza – where male life expectancy is greater than in Glasgow – then there is an even greater “genocide” going on in Glasgow.”
I thought you chided me for trying to be “cute” a few posts back?
But assuming you’re serious, presumably you have huge praise for Cuba, which ranks at or near the very top for male and female life expectancy, and has unprecedented success in their low rate for infant mortality. Are you calling for their governing practices (all round, of course) to be adopted here, in order to maintain some consistency?
J.S.D 27th 11;57
Thank you for that info… it was not of your own making… but 3 feeds of help in a lifetime..when two weeks could fetch that..or four.
hopeless and Demoralizing as you say..Sickening too
Back to Denis Curran…thing is we could have a crowd of 5,000 fired up by speakers, or dancing to the band before Denis comes on… ” are yeez havin a good time ” then stories of despair, hear a pin drop… ” people come to us, needin food, and the first thing they do, is burst into tears “
Glasgow is My city
IN GLASGOW… we have This Going on –
https://nabisalehsolidarity.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/155281531.jpg
IN GLASGOW ..This too..Wave your Flag – Bam
https://www.facebook.com/inthenowrt/videos/540031799480527/
we could go on for half a decade of Israel Evil. But it’s getting worse.. Cos the children are brought up to Hate… The eveil bastards immunity Shame on All of us.. Trolls exist on Certain Blogs.. Paid in Blood
Shettleston is but a small,albeit heavily deprived,DISTRICT of Glasgow.
Some here need to get their facts right,as per,Habbabkuk.
Jives
It is your city more than mine…its Both I remember When you offered Craig A place to Stay..
Theresa is interfering with the freedom of the media, again.
She used the same legislation to have David Miranda detained at Heathrow.
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/659472568508923912
Police use terror powers to seize BBC Newsnight journalist’s laptop
Exclusive: Secunder Kermani joined the show early last year and has produced a series of reports on British-born jihadis
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-use-terror-powers-to-seize-bbc-newsnight-journalists-laptop-a6712636.html
‘The seizure of his material has alarmed press freedom organisations. Jo Glanville, director campaign group English PEN, said the current “hysteria” around terrorism was greater than in the aftermath of the 9-11 and 7-7 attacks. “If journalists go near something to do with terrorism the police can use the Terrorism Act [2000] to go after their sources.”
The media lawyer Gavin Millar, QC, warned at a conference last month of the “looming problem” of police exploiting the wide-ranging terror legislation to go after journalistic sources at various news organisations. “There’s a chilling effect – I know material has not been published or broadcast because of anxiety to protect sources,” he has said. “We are talking notes, emails, video footage, audio [being seized]. I don’t think we are hearing the accounts of why young people are going [to Syria]. The debate has not been advanced by informed coverage because the media is in fear of the Terrorism Act.”’
Haven’t seen last night’s US Republican candidates’ debate but just read about it on Reuters and put a smile on my face. The party of guns and liberty like to dish it out but apparently can’t take it and complaining that the hosts were lacking in friendly acquiescence. Man up if your gonna run for US Pres. Surely this can not but have helped the Scranton Bruiser (if she is picked as the Democrat candidate). It would appear that she is the only street fighter in the pack.
£46m to Kids Company over 13 years.
How Kids Company ‘bullied’ ministers into funding them
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34662014
A good report from Chris Cook.
The National Audit Office report. https://www.nao.org.uk/report/investigation-the-governments-funding-of-kids-company/
Matthew Hancock and Oliver Letwin handed over the last tranche of public money (£3m) this year. The only sanction they might face is that they might have to appear before the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. Chairman Bernard Jenkin. So that’s OK then.
In the meantime, the civil servants from the DfE and the Cabinet Office will appear before the Public Accounts committee.
So many reports. So many committees. So much mismanagement of OUR money.
Fwl ‘It would appear that she is the only street fighter in the pack.’
If you are referring to Shillary, surely you mean war criminal, killer, etc etc.
‘As Secretary of State in the Obama administration from January 2009 to February 2013, Clinton was at the forefront of the U.S. response to the Arab Spring and advocated the U.S. military intervention in Libya. She took responsibility for security lapses related to the 2012 Benghazi attack, which resulted in the deaths of American consulate personnel, but defended her personal actions in regard to the matter. Clinton visited more countries than any other Secretary of State. She viewed “smart power” as the strategy for asserting U.S. leadership and values, by combining military power with diplomacy and American capabilities in economics, technology, and other areas.’
I always think that women should be the nurturers and not the destroyers of human life.
Ok Mary I was expecting that. I have a soft spot. I was just making a glib aside as to the amusing irony of Republican candidates running away to complain about the nasty interviewer. I don’t have any strong feelings about who should run the US. I like the once free state and left leaning Vermont and they have a horse in the race. Horror of horrors I’m also fond of libertarian New Hampshire. It is easy for Vermont to be left wing and idealistic. Anyway, the sun is shining and its another new day.
Jonathan Cook’s original post on the shooting of Israa Abed, a 30-year-old mother of three from Nazareth, including 2 videos, one a close up.
Video: Israelis shoot motionless Arab woman
9 October 2015
http://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2015-10-09/video-israelis-shoot-motionless-arab-woman/
His subsequent post
Shot Woman: Israeli Police alter Story Again
by Jonathan Cook / October 28th, 2015
http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/10/shot-woman-israeli-police-alter-story-again/
Craig, you could perhaps stem the troll-fest by doing a post about a company called Osborne & Little, who despite a very healthy turn-over have paid no corporation tax for the last 7 years…
Private Eye has more details, including the corporation tax credit of £12K O&L got – I think in 2012, but I haven’t got PE with me and the website is still showing the previous issue – after shifting the cash round the world creatively. This explains how a company can be showing a loss while stuffing the wallet of its owner.
Note the immediate response of Camborne to the Lords voting against their austerity-for-the-paups project, and the leisurely, some say nonexistent, approach to cleaning up the financial sector…
@John Spencer-Davis:
Thank you for supporting Tara Hudson by signing the petition, John and also for an intelligent and very eloquent post. The petition has now reached over 69,000 signatures and googling the story I’ve noticed that the prison service and MOJ’s stupidity over this issue is being reported in a myriad of different languages all over the world. I hope they do the sensible thing and transfer her to a female prison.
Although I do worry that they might end up treating her as an exception because of the extent of the media coverage of this case and the excellent support network who have been advocating on her behalf. I have a nasty feeling that this is not the first time a trans woman has been put in an extremely vulnerable position by being sent to an all-male jail. I also wonder if the same level of widespread support would have happened had she been an older trans woman whom the media found less physically attractive.
To that end, whilst I condemn Germaine Greer’s hateful, transphobic comments which you’d expect more from a bar room bigot as opposed to a visiting professor who proposes to engage in a serious discussion of gender issues at an academic institution, she does have a point when she says that older women are ignored and even treated with contempt to some degree. I don’t agree with denying her a platform to speak but I can understand why many of the students there are offended by having to endure some of the bigoted rubbish on their own turf. It would be even better I think, if they invited the likes of Greer, Bindel and Burchill to engage in a debate with some really good trans activists and supporters. That would definitely be a debate worth turning up to.
I’m sorry that Craig recently got lambasted for rising to the defence of a friend who’d been accused of transphobia. Yes, unfortunately, this does lead to people being afraid to open their mouths on the subject for fear of causing offence – which is wrong. I know there are so many other important issues and injustices going on that Craig writes about, but I think it would be fascinating to read Craig’s views on this news story and would make an excellent subject for a post from a human rights activist. This actually goes beyond the trans community and potentially affects all of us. The right to our own individual identity is probably the most fundamental human right that we have as it’s what defines us as human. Perhaps that’s why the first step of that regimes take when they lock people up and imprison them is to attempt to turn them into a number, dress them identically and shave their heads etc. In short, in the interests of completely de-humanising them.
Osborne and Little’s biggest recently declared profit, in 2010, was £161,000, on a turnover of £32M. That’s 0.5% profit. Corporation tax was paid on this. The following year, O&L claimed a loss of £386K, while at the same time claiming that it had written down the value of ‘goodwill’ – this is an asset, in the crazy world of high finance – by £336K. While, as –
the company’s profit and loss margin hovered around zero, the five directors of the company, who include Sir Peter and his wife, took home collectively £1,108,000 as “directors’ emoluments”.
I really don’t know how they can make a loss when they design* beautiful, tasteful and impressive wall coverings like this, though…
http://www.osborneandlittle.com/products-and-collections/wallcoverings/autumn-2011/komodo-wallpapers/komodo
*but not produce, so raw material price increases aren’t really a credible cause, as they claim, for their unprofitability
Link missing from above, and italics corrected.
… the company’s profit and loss margin hovered around zero, the five directors of the company, who include Sir Peter and his wife, took home collectively £1,108,000 as “directors’ emoluments”.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/george-osborne-s-tax-crusade-should-begin-at-home-7636724.html
I really don’t know how they can make a loss when they design* beautiful, tasteful and impressive wall coverings like this, though…
http://www.osborneandlittle.com/products-and-collections/wallcoverings/autumn-2011/komodo-wallpapers/komodo
*but not produce, so raw material price increases aren’t really a credible cause, as they claim, for their unprofitability
RobG
“To refute Habba…”
________________
It’s not for you to refute me, my vino-quaffing friend, it’s for the poster who predicted that Lord Janner was likely to meet with an “unfortunate accident soon”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“…for legal reasons”
______________
oh of course, you’re the man who knows but can’t tell. LOL
more from the DailyMail. . .
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3294356/My-Blair-dossier-months-PETER-OBORNE-conducted-investigation-Blair-took-disastrous-Iraq-war-official-Chilcot-Report-scandalously-delayed-delivers-devastating-verdict.html
they think the Chilcot report is due around 2017, so here’s one they(*) made earlier
(*)they is DM & BBC, the UK’s powerful state media machine does seem to be getting annoyed over the license fee machinations (note that BBC annual licence fee income is very similar to the amount due to be saved by the ‘Osborne tax credit cuts’)