The next general election in the United Kingdom is proposed to take place on Thursday 8 June 2017.

To do achieve this it will require a motion to be passed by the Commons, which the Prime Minister will move on 19 April and which will be supported by the opposition parties including Labour  and the Liberal Democrats.

It is scheduled to be held on or before Thursday 7 May 2020, in line with the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011; it may be held at an earlier date in the event of a motion of no confidence  or a two-thirds supermajority of the House of Commons.

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011  is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced fixed-term elections to the Westminster parliament. Under the provisions of the Act, parliamentary elections must be held every five years, beginning in 2015. The Act received Royal Assent on 15 September 2011. Only in the case of a vote of no confidence or with a two-thirds majority of the Commons may an election be called any earlier.

Fixed-term Parliaments, where general elections ordinarily take place in accordance with a schedule set far in advance, were part of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement which was produced after the 2010 general election.

Before the passage of the Act, Parliament could be dissolved  by royal proclamation  by virtue of the Royal Prerogative. This originally meant that the British monarch decided when to dissolve Parliament. Over time, the monarch increasingly acted only on the advice of the prime minister; by the nineteenth century, prime ministers had a great deal of de facto control over the timings of general elections.

Today 18 April 2017, the Prime Minister Theresa May announced she will seek to hold an election on Thursday 8 June 2017.

Information courtesy Wikipedia

Organisers say 50 Big Conversation events across the country have already happened. The clear message from these events say organisers is that people want to see change. To realise our vision of a country where everyone has access to good food and no one needs to go to bed hungry, it is essential to start to engage our Members of Parliament (of all political persuasions) and local media in the conversation.

In July they therefore would like as many local groups across the country as possible to meet with our local MPs, to explore how they can help realise the organizations first goal: that children are able to live free from the damaging impacts of hunger on their health, attainment and opportunity.

Currently almost 2 million children are entitled to free school meals and risk going hungry over the school holidays. Last year, the Trussell Trust estimated one in five parents missed a meal so their children could eat during the summer holidays. We are going to be campaigning for the government to step up to the plate on holiday hunger, but more importantly we need the government to take responsibility to tackle hunger 365 days a year.

If you sign up to the End Hunger UK campaign the organisers will send you a training pack with information on how to organise a 1½-2 hour training session, and offer support in setting your event up.

You don’t have to have held a Big Conversation event to take part in this next action. End Hunger UK is a growing movement across the UK and they are looking for more people to be involved as the campaign grows.

If you want to join in click on this logo: 

The majority of people in Scotland recognise the benefits of international students with 83 per cent agreeing they should be able to work in the UK for a fixed period of time after they have graduated, rather than return immediately to their home country after completing their studies.

The polling conducted by ComRes on behalf of Universities UK demonstrates strong support among the general public for international students and piles pressure on Theresa May to stop including them in immigration figures.

The polling found:

•             In relation to the UK government’s immigration policy, only 27% of adults in Scotland think of international students as immigrants
•             71% of adults in Scotland think international students have a positive impact on the local economies of the towns and cities in which they study
•             67% of adults in Scotland agree that this economic contribution helps to create jobs
•             70% of adults in Scotland think that international students have a valuable social and cultural impact on the towns and cities in which they live
•             83% of adults in Scotland agree that international students should be able to work in the UK for a fixed period of time after they have graduated, rather than immediately return to their home country after completing their study

A report last year by the Scottish Affairs Committee found an “overwhelming consensus” among Scotland’s academic and business communities for a post study work visa for Scotland.

Commenting, Margaret Ferrier MP, a member of the Scottish Affairs Committee said:

“The SNP have repeatedly called for the reintroduction of the post study work visa, which allowed international students to remain in Scotland and work after graduation. The call has been backed by businesses, colleges and universities, and has cross party support in the Scottish Parliament amongst every political party represented in Holyrood.

“Scotland has been challenged by the UK Government to grow its population and use what is available within its powers to develop our working age population. A post study work scheme is an easy and convenient way for Westminster to assist with this without any cost to itself. 
 
“The message is clear: allow us to keep some of the international students that we educate to such a high standard and invite them to help us grow our economy.  Westminster can’t have it both ways –if it is up to us to grow our population then Scotland should control the means to do just that."

Image: Margaret Ferrier MP

Millions of students and former students in England and Wales will face a sharp increase in interest rates on tuition fees and maintenance loans. The interest rates are linked to inflation - and are set to rise by about a third from 4.6% to up to 6.1%.It will come in the autumn alongside an increase in tuition fees to £9,250 for universities in England. The Department for Education is also trying to sell off more student loan debt to private investors.

Inflation is shooting up whilst wages stagnate and benefits are frozen. 

ONS has decided that, with effect from the Labour Market Statistics releases to be published on 15 March 2017, to remove the Claimant Count series from the UK and Regional Statistical Bulletins, as it may now be providing a misleading representation of the UK labour market. Claimant Count data will continue to be available as datasets on the ONS website and via NOMIS.

The Claimant Count measures the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits. Prior to 2013, the Claimant Count was measured using claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance. In 2013 a new service, Universal Credit, which will replace a number of means-tested benefits, including the means-tested element of Jobseeker's Allowance, began to be rolled out. From the introduction of Universal Credit, those claimants who were receiving the benefit for unemployment reasons were included in the Claimant Count.

Universal Credit is designed so that a broader span of claimants is required to look for work than under Jobseeker's Allowance. This means that once Universal Credit is fully rolled out, the Claimant Count is likely to be higher than it would otherwise be under Jobseeker's Allowance.

From June 2015 the Claimant Count statistics have been designated as experimental, due to the impact of Universal Credit on the count. At this stage, although Universal Credit was having an impact, given the gradual phased roll-out it was very small, and ONS felt that the Claimant Count was still providing a useful indicator of the UK labour market.

However, the impact has increased as roll-out has progressed. One reason the Universal Credit series was experimental is that there was an insufficiently long time series accurately to ascertain its seasonality. It was assumed it would have a similar seasonal pattern to Jobseeker’s Allowance. However, as roll-out has progressed it has become clear that this is not the case, with the consequence that the seasonally-adjusted claimant count series has become more volatile.

As a result, we believe the Claimant Count may now be providing a misleading representation of changes in the UK labour market. Given the ongoing process of Universal Credit roll-out and future planned expansions, these problems are likely to persist for some time. Consequently, we will no longer include the Claimant Count in the UK Labour Market and Regional Labour Market statistical bulletins, with effect from the next editions of these bulletins to be published on 15 March 2017. In the PDF version of the UK Labour Market statistical bulletin, we will discontinue Table 10 (Claimant Count). We will also discontinue Tables 11 (Main Out of Work Benefits) and Table 25-2 (Regional labour market summary) as those tables include Claimant Count data. We will, however, continue to publish Claimant Count data every month in datasets on our website and on the NOMIS website. We have no plans to discontinue publication of this data.

In addition to seasonal adjustment, the impact of the broader span of claimants covered by the Claimant Count will be most noticeable in areas where Universal Credit is in more progressed phases of roll-out. In particular, those areas where Full Service Universal Credit is in operation are likely to see an increase in the number of claimants.

The status of the Claimant Count will be kept under review to see if, once Universal Credit roll-out is complete, it would be possible to reintroduce it to the bulletins and remove its experimental designation.

We continue to encourage users to interpret monthly movements in the Claimant Count with caution.

The unemployment rate was 4.7% in the 3 months to February 2017, down from 5.1% a year earlier; it has not been lower since June to August 1975. Strong demand for labour is translating into a shift from part-time to full-time employment, and an increase in the average hours worked per week by both full time and part-time employees. The number of vacancies increased by 2.1% between the last quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017 to 767,000, the highest level on record. A continued pick-up in consumer price inflation sees annual real wage growth weaken to its lowest rate since 2014.

Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green said: "More people are finding full-time jobs and average wages have grown yet again, meaning more families have the security of a regular wage.

More people are in work but wages are being spread over a larger number of people. UK productivity continues to flag and wages are falling behind inflation. Ruthless benefit cuts are trying to cut the debit and force people into these unrewarding jobs. People with benefits frozen for four years are being hit hard.  

The timetable for the introduction of the new 12-sided pound coin. 28 March to 15 October 2017.

Postage rises

The prices of first and second class stamps are to rise by 1p from 27 March, Roy-al Mail has announced. It will take the price of a first class stamp to 65p, and second class to 56p.Royal Mail said the price rises were necessary to maintain the universal service - the principle that it delivers letters across the whole of the UK for the same price.

A stamp for large first class letter will rise by 2p to 98p. A large second class letter will go up by 1p to 76p. “

Budget changes April 2017

The personal allowance – the amount you can earn before paying income tax – will rise with the start of the new tax year from £11,000 to £11,500. The threshold for paying higher-rate, 40pc, tax will also rise from £43,000 currently, up to £45,000.

Vehicle Excise Duty uprating

As announced at Spring Budget 2017, the government will legislate in Finance Bill 2017 to increase Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates for cars, motorcycles and vans registered before 1 April 2017, by the RPI with effect from 1 April 2017. The Vehicle Excise Duty: increase in rates for cars, vans, motorcycles and motor-cycle trade licences TIIN was published on 8 March 2017.

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables for current rates

Thousands of disabled people who suffer from progressively worsening conditions will face reassessment for their benefits this year, new figures show.

Campaigners and MPs are now demanding changes to stop those with such conditions being repeatedly reassessed to claim personal independence payments (PIP).

Between April and October, 3,500 people suffering progressive conditions rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease and motor neurone disease were reassessed for PIP, according to a written parliamentary question from Labour MP Madeleine Moon.

SNP MP Carol Monaghan said she was dealing with four cases in her constituency of people who suffer from MS being reassessed for PIP, despite their condition only getting progressively worse.

"MS is a progressive condition, they're never going to be any better than they are now, so they should never be asked to go for a re-assessment," she said.

"Some of these people are still able to walk to a certain extent, so they get themselves in just about, and then they're being told that 'you look fine'.

"That's like somebody ill going to a doctor and the doctor saying 'yeah, you're looking all right, I'm not going to bother doing any tests'.

But Phil Reynolds, policy and campaigns adviser at Parkinson's UK, said the reassessment figures were "only the tip of the iceberg".

He added: "The cost of these pointless and wasteful reassessments for Parkinson's alone will be around £72,800.

"Recent figures show that around a quarter of people with Parkinson's have lost some or all of their support following reassessment from disability living allowance (DLA).

"Many have won the right to receive this again when this has gone to appeal. This is unacceptable, and further highlights a shambolic assessment process.

"It's absolutely crucial that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) looks again at the broken PIP assessment to ensure people with long-term conditions get the support they so desperately need, rather than rigging the system against them."

A DWP spokesman said: "Under PIP, 27 percent of claimants are now receiving the highest rate of support, compared to 15 per cent under DLA, with a greater proportion of Parkinson's and MS claimants receiving the highest possible rates for daily living expenses.

"Assessments are carried out by qualified health professionals who combine their clinical knowledge with an understanding of the fact that not everyone with the same disability is impacted in the same way.

Our Campaign to support Ken Livingstone was blocked by 38 Degrees who will not support campaigns within political parties. So we have posted it here at the ABC website instead. We are concerned about the way that the BBC published an article last week about why America entered World War One, which omitted this important information. We must not let political correctness allow people to rewrite history. 

To: The Labour Party

Stop Persecuting Ken Livingstone

Campaign created by

Simon Collyer

We want critics to stop implying Ken Livingstone is anti-semitic, who is merely stating information that is widely understood to be factually correct. Mr Livingstone has argued that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis collaborated with the Zionists as the German government sought to remove the Jews from Germany. That Hitler 'went mad' says Livingstone, and that led to the Holocaust. In fact the UK had been asked to take one million Jewish refugees, but that request had to be refused as it would have destabilized the UK.

Why is this important?

It is important that history is not distorted by people with a specific political agenda. Stating that facts that are true, or widely believed to be true by Ken Livingstone is not racial hatred - even if the minority of people do not like the outcome, or the impression it creates. We must all stand against racial hatred, but we must also stand equally vigorously on the side of those who speak the truth.

The Jews approached the Western Powers in London in 1916, with an offer, arguing they could persuade the Americans into the war so the ‘Bloody Stalemate’ on the Western Front could be broken. Prior to WW1, the Jews had been prevented from entering many professions in Europe, but they were very prominent in the arts. Many Jews fled pogroms in Russia (persecuted by the Cossacks) and they became founders of the emerging US motion picture industry in the US [Hollywood]. In 1916 in the middle of World War One, a Jewish delegation approached the British in London and they said there was a was a way to break the stalemate on the Western Front, by bringing the Americans into the war. This was on the promise of their own future homeland in Palestine, a territory the British had already promised to the Arabs. The British and French were carving up the Middle East an area that had been dominated by the Ottoman Empire, (aligned with Germany WW1) but that nation was now in decline and called he 'sick man of Europe'. The Turks had a large Navy and that was a potential threat to the Suez Canal and the trade route to India.

A letter was supplied called the Balfour Declaration, dated 2 November 1917, from the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland.

Edward Bernays (Nephew of Freud the Psychologist) worked as a pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda in the USA. What is today called 'perception management'. His skills were one factor in changing public opinion that allowed the President Woodrow Wilson to reverse his position and for the US to enter the war, despite the fact a large percentage of the population were of German decent. People against the war were described in propaganda as ‘isolationists’ in a pejorative sense. The US entered the war and made a very significant impact in 1918. This US involvement led to a humiliating defeat for Germany. Her people were saddled with huge reparations (the Versailles Treaty 28 Jun 1919 – 21 Jan 1920). The US has other reasons for entering the war. The sinking of the Lusitania, a passenger ship with US citizens on board, that was later claimed to have had [six] millions of rounds of ammunition in her hold.

The Jews were blamed for Germany's loss by the military dictatorship led by The Kaiser (now in exile) and General Ludendorff who ran the later stages of the war, under aging Bismarck as a militarily dictator. The Jews may have made a potentially substantive mistake (with hindsight) after declaring ‘economic war’ on Germany in 1933 at a conference in Amsterdam.

The Jews started a worldwide boycott of German good just as the Great Depression really took hold and international investment was withdrawn from Germany. Stores like Woolworth's in the US were boycotted and their Germany stock even thrown in the Hudson River. Major American companies had invested heavily in Germany and a pro-German Governor of the Bank of England Montagu Norman, 1st Baron Norman was helping German interests well into the early part of WW2 (1941). President Roosevelt wrote to Churchill expressing his concerns about this. The Nazi Party enjoyed support from the politically prominent British upper-classes, collectively known as the Cliveden Set though this tapered-off as war started and the threat of being imprisoned as a sympathizer grew as public opinion hardened. The Germans had imprisoned trade unionists and suppressed workers’ rights. Many saw Germany as a counter to the communists in Russia and they were willing to either overlook, or did not appreciate, what an evil regime the National Socialist German Workers' Party had created.

Churchill whose mother was from a Jewish family noted there were Jews who shared different beliefs and opinions. Some saw Judaism as a system of religious beliefs only, others - the Zionists were ultra-nationalists who saw the Jewish faith as more than a religion. The Nazis wanted to expel the Jews and other people deemed to be undesirable and they were willing to cooperate with the Zionists.

Ken Livingstone deserves support. Some might not like what he has to saw but others admire the fact he is prepared to say it.

Supplied by the ABC:  http://www.abcorg.net

How it will be delivered

We intend to publish the results on our website.

The 21,000 active magistrates in England and Wales deal with over 90% of criminal cases and makes up 85% of all judicial office holders.

In court, all three magistrates have an equal responsibility in the decision-making process, the chairman (in the middle) is the one that speaks on behalf of them all. The magistrates who sit either side are called wingers. The chairman is usually the more experienced and has undertaken additional training to take on this role.

Magistrates listen very carefully to everything that everyone says in open court.

Magistrates have to decide if someone is guilty or innocent, whether a defendant should be allowed to have bail and the appropriate sentence when defendants either plead or are found guilty.

Magistrates deal with a lot of traffic cases such as no insurance, failing to stop at an accident, defective tyres etc. They also hear environmental cases such as pollution, health and safety cases, cruelty to animals and many more unusual cases.

Magistrates may also hear civil cases, for example family matters and non-payment of council tax.

Magistrates are volunteers but they can claim travel and subsistence. They are required to do a minimum of 26 half day sittings (13 days) per year, more if they also sit in other courts such as family or youth courts. Many magistrates can undertake more and the average number of sittings per year is about 35 but they should not sit more than 70 times a year.

Magistrates do not sit exams nor do they have to be legally qualified. There is some training before an appointed magistrate sits in court but then they are allocated a mentor for the first year or so who can help them by explaining matters that arise as they sit in court. Once magistrates have sat for 12 months and have completed their consolidation they are appraised by other magistrates, who have been trained as appraisers.

All magistrates are expected to keep their knowledge up-to-date and to attend on-going training sessions. Completed appraisals are sent to a group of magistrates on the bench known as the Training and Development Committee who are responsible for any training needs.

All new magistrates sit in the adult court to start with. Once they have gained experience they may decide to undertake more training to sit in other courts such as youth or family or to take on more responsibility, for example, to become a mentor or to sit with a judge on appeals in the Crown Court.

New sentencing guidelines for magistrates' courts published:

The Sentencing Council has published revised guidelines for offences in the Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Guidelines.

The guidelines apply to all offenders aged 18 and older who are sentenced on or after 24 April 2017, regardless of the date of the offence.

The revised guidelines are available on the offence pages and can be viewed here directly:

• Alcohol sale offences – Licensing Act 2003, s.141; s.146; s.147
• Animal cruelty – Animal Welfare Act 2006, s.4; s.8 and s.9
• Careless driving – Road Traffic Act 1988, s.3
• Communication network offences – Communications Act 2003, s.127(1)
• Communication network offences – Communications Act 2003 s.127(2)
• Drive whilst disqualified – Road Traffic Act 1988, s.103
• Drugs – fail to attend/remain for initial assessment –Drugs Act 2005, s.12
• Drugs – fail/refuse to provide a sample – Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.63B
• Drunk and disorderly in a public place – Criminal Justice Act 1967, s.91
• Excess alcohol (drive/attempt) – Road Traffic Act 1988, s.5(1)(a)
• Excess alcohol (in charge) – Road Traffic Act 1988, s.5(1)(b)
• Fail to provide specimen for analysis (drive/attempt) – Road Traffic Act 1988, s.7(6)
• Fail to provide specimen for analysis (in charge) – Road Traffic Act 1988, s.7(6)      
• Fail to stop/report road accident – Road Traffic Act 1988, s.170(4)
• Football related offences – Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc.) Act 1985, s.2(1) and s.2(2), Football Offences Act 1991, s.2, s.3 and s.4 and Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, s.166
• No insurance – Road Traffic Act 1988, s.143
• Obstruct/resist a police constable in execution of duty – Police Act 1996, s.89(2)
• Railway fare evasion – Regulation of Railways Act 1889, s.5(1) and s.5(3)
• School non-attendance – Education Act 1996, s.444(1) and s.444(1A)
• Sexual activity in a public lavatory – Sexual Offences Act 2003, s.71
• Speeding – Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, s.89(1)
• Taxi touting/soliciting for hire – Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, s.167
• TV licence payment evasion – Communications Act 2003, s.363
• Unfit through drink or drugs (drive/attempt) – Road Traffic Act 1988, s.4(1)
• Unfit through drink or drugs (in charge) – Road Traffic Act 1988, s.4(2)
• Vehicle interference – Criminal Attempts Act 1981, s.9
• Vehicle taking, without consent – Theft Act 1968, s.12