The ABC are partners of the Electorial Commission

The Electoral Commission has today (28 April) announced that as part of the investigation launched on 18 February 2016 into Conservative Party campaign spending returns, it has requested that the Crown (CPS) Prosecution Service and the police consider applying for an extension to the time limit available to pursue criminal prosecutions.

Representatives of the CPS, the Police and the Electoral Commission are meeting on Wednesday 4 May to discuss this request. The final decision to apply for an extension will rest with the police and the CPS.

Bob Posner, Director of Party and Election Finance & Legal Counsel at the Electoral Commission said,

“The police and the CPS both have the power to apply to the Courts to extend the time limit on bringing criminal prosecutions for electoral offences to allow for full investigations to take place. We have requested that they consider doing this.”

Why the Commission has made its request

The rules around candidate spending and potential criminal offences are matters for the police to investigate under the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1983. The Commission’s request does not mean that it has any view on whether criminal charges should be brought, but that the CPS and the police should consider whether it would be appropriate to leave open to themselves the option of pursuing cases if they consider this is necessary at any stage.

The Commission has highlighted to police forces that true and accurate candidate spending returns had to be delivered to constituency returning officers within 35 days of the result of the UK Parliamentary General elections on 7 May 2015; and the ability to prosecute these allegations will end one year on from an offence being committed unless an application is made by the police to the Courts for an extension, which is allowed under the RPA. It is also open to the CPS, via the Director of Public Prosecutions to make such an application to the courts, which is why the Commission has requested that such action be considered.

Transparency and accountability in relation to campaign spending by local candidates and political parties is essential in order to ensure public confidence in the electoral process. Parliament has determined that anyone found guilty of an offence under the RPA relating to candidate spending or the making of a false declaration in relation to candidate spending, could face imprisonment of up to one year, and or an unlimited fine. The effect of a conviction is also that for 3 years a person convicted of an illegal practice is unable to be elected to the House of Commons or to hold elective office. Given the significant penalties that parliament has made available for such offences, the Commissions view is that in the absence of any current investigation by the police, it would be sensible for the criminal justice agencies to retain the ability to take action should appropriate evidence come to light as part of the Commission’s own investigation.

The Commission’s investigation

The Electoral Commission is currently investigating whether the Conservative Party met their reporting obligations under the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA) 2000, at the General Election in May 2015 and in the by-elections held in Newark, Clacton and Rochester and Strood, which all took place during the regulated period for the General Election.

The priority of the Electoral Commission is to conduct a fair and thorough investigation and the time taken to complete an investigation varies on a case-by-case basis depending on factors including the complexity of the offence, the amount of material we are required to consider or whether interviews are necessary. Once the investigation is complete, the Commission will be able to decide whether any breaches have occurred and if so what further action, if any, may be appropriate. The Commission does not currently anticipate that its own investigation will have concluded before the time limit for RPA offences to be considered by the police will have expired.

The Commission monitors and takes all reasonable steps to secure compliance with the rules on campaign spending by local party candidates, but has no powers to investigate or sanction candidate spending offences under the RPA. We have recently called again for our powers in this area to be strengthened.

The Commission does have powers in relation to national campaign spending although our sanctioning powers are limited to a civil penalty of up to £20,000, which we have previously recommended should be reviewed and increased. The Government has not yet responded to this recommendation.

Good news for the Disabled - Public sector bodies' websites and mobile applications will have to be made accessible to everyone, under a provisional deal struck by Parliament and Council negotiators on Tuesday night. Over 167 million EU citizens have a disability (either medical or due to age) which prevents them accessing data and services on the Internet, e.g. to file a tax declaration, apply for an allowance, pay fees or register a child at school. New standards for building these digital services will mean, for example, that websites must be browsable without needing a mouse.

Economy — jobless rate to keep falling: That’s the official EU prediction in its spring economic forecasts. The Commission has been wrong before (the most recent economic growth forecasts from February have already been adjusted), but if they’re right, the jobless rate will drop to 8.5 percent in 2017, continuing down from 9.4 percent in 2015.

Economy — inflation to remain weak: It’s not clear how Eurozone inflation will reappear when more than a year of quantitative easing hasn’t had the desired effect, but the Commission says we’ll move from zero inflation now 1.4 percent next year.

Tax Havens - The U.N. says companies funnelled around €193 billion into countries with low tax rates last year. That’s down from 2014 levels, but still high, the organization says. The U.N. names the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the U.S., U.K., Switzerland and Ireland as the most popular tax havens.

Good news for the Disabled - Public sector bodies' websites and mobile applications will have to be made accessible to everyone, under a provisional deal struck by Parliament and Council negotiators on Tuesday night. Over 167 million EU citizens have a disability (either medical or due to age) which prevents them accessing data and services on the Internet, e.g. to file a tax declaration, apply for an allowance, pay fees or register a child at school. New standards for building these digital services will mean, for example, that websites must be browsable without needing a mouse.

Migration figures have been overstated says a recent report

EU citizens with jobs have similar access to the benefits as UK citizens. For jobseekers or people not working, the rules for determining eligibility can be complex and vary depending on the type of benefit in question.

In February 2016 the UK and the EU agreed a set of proposals to restrict newly arriving EEA citizens’ access to in-work benefits if the UK votes to remain in the EU. The proposals also include the ability to reduce child benefit payments in respect of children living in other EEA countries, who currently make up about 0.3% of child benefit claims.

EU migrants are less likely to claim out-of-work benefits but more likely to claim in-work benefits like tax credits, compared to the UK born.

Most EU tax credit recipients in the UK did not arrive within the past four years and thus would not have been affected by restrictions on access to in-work benefits if they had been in place in recent years.

Available data suggest that roughly 10-20% of recently arrived EU adults were receiving tax credits in early 2014.

The government’s November 2015 estimate of ‘about 40%’ of recently arrived EEA migrants supported by benefits is higher than other available estimates for various reasons, including the fact that it counts children as benefits recipients.

More than half of EEA born adults who reported receiving tax credits in 2015 were working full time, and around 90% had dependent children (despite less than half of EEA born adults overall having children).

The impacts of proposed benefits restrictions are likely to vary widely and be concentrated on a small share of families with children - particularly minimum-wage workers with children and those in families without two-full time earners.

If the National Living Wage increases families’ incomes, this will reduce in-work benefits entitlements even without restrictions on welfare eligibility.

Because the impacts of in-work benefits restrictions are concentrated on a small share of newly arriving families, it is unlikely that they would lead to a large reduction in EU migration to the UK.

Frank Field MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, has written to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Insolvency Service with regards to the inquiry into BHS and the Pension Protection Fund. Huge sums dissapeared out of BHS and the pensions regulator has stepped in. The Work and Pensions Committee Chair has assured both bodies of the Committee's full co-operation and non-interference in the inquiries into BHS they have initiated.

The retirement scheme is now set to be handed over to the Pension Protection Fund – a lifeboat which pays for the pensions of savers whose company has gone bust. But workers who have not yet retired are facing the loss of 10 per cent of their retirement income. 

DWP Select Committee

Wednesday 4 May 2016 Meeting starts at 9.30am

Subject: The future of Jobcentre Plus

Witnesses: Matthew Oakley, Senior Researcher, Social Market Foundation, Tony Wilson, Director of Policy and Research, Learning and Work Institute, and Patrick Hughes, former Director London and East of England Jobcentre Plus

Witnesses: Claire Horton, Project Manager, Newcastle City Council, Nicoya Palastanga, Partnership Manager (Universal Credit), West Lindsey District Council, Kirsty McHugh, Chief Executive, Employment Related Services Association and Chris Williams, President, British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies

With all the recent publicity in regard to Princes death, this research may prove interesting. 

Prof. Les Mayhew, professor of statistics at City University London’s Cass Business School and adviser to the Office for National Statistics, and Patron of PHAST CIC, undertook research on Rock Star deaths. 

His analysis of 1,042 deceased musicians,  showed that 83% died before reaching the biblical age of 70, compared with just 20% in the UK male population.While rock stars in the 25 to 29 age bracket are 25.5 times more likely to die than the national average, the prospects for 55 to 69-year-olds are far from rosy.“The ones dying at this [later] age might have overcome [wilder rock-star vices] but if they’ve remained smokers for the rest of their lives, they lose the standard 10 years,” he said.

The gap between rich and poor is still growing, and we hope to bring you more on the health and mortality effects of those statistics on those on low incomes. 

On Saturday April 30 the globally first robot protest march will take place in Zurich, the financial capital of Switzerland. With more than 100 robots dancing in the streets and hundreds of supporters, the event is a major call for an Unconditional Basic Income.

On 5th June 2016, Switzerland will become the first country worldwide to hold a national referendum on the introduction of an Unconditional Basic Income (UBI).

According to the organizers, the message of the protesting robots is “We want to work for the humans. But we do not want to bring them into existential difficulties by taking over their jobs. The main challenge of the 4th industrial revolution is that humans receive a secure income.”

According to the organizers, the main idea of an UBI is to secure the basic needs of human life unconditionally. It stresses the topic of human self-determined freedom.

Meeting: 2 pm, Werdmühlplatz 14, Zurich
Protest start: 2:30 pm
Route: Werdmühleplatz – Bahnhofstrasse – Bürkliplatz (officially confirmed by police)

www.basicincome2016.org
www.grundeinkommen.ch

New Work and Pensions Secretary must reclaim Universal Credit from the Treasury

Resolution Foundation calls for major reforms as full roll-out of Universal Credit begins this month. 

The first five jobcentres that will operate the full UC service from this month are Bath, Newcastle Cathedral Square, Rugby, Bridgwater and Lowesoft. The following month it will be extended to Harrogate, Richmond, Inverness, Hammersmith and Ryedale.

A few weeks into his role, the new Work and Pensions Secretary has been urged to reclaim Universal Credit (UC) from the Treasury. The advice is contained in a major new report published today (Tuesday) by the Resolution Foundation which sets out a three-point plan for restoring UC’s original purpose of encouraging entry and progression in work.

The Foundation has long supported the introduction of UC, arguing that it has the potential to simplify the welfare system, boost work incentives and support living standards.

However, while welcoming the reassurance given by the incoming Work and Pensions Secretary that he will press ahead with it, the think tank says that recent changes to UC – which have been driven by the government’s desire to secure further savings in the welfare budget – have taken it too far from its original purpose.

The Foundation says that UC now has serious design flaws that must be resolved before the rollout is complete. It warns that unless changes are made, UC risks being reduced to little more than a very complicated vehicle for cutting the benefits bill.

The reform programme, which was first introduced in limited form in 2013, is entering a landmark phase. The roll-out of the full service begins this month, with claimants in Bath and Newcastle among the first to receive it. According to current government timetables, UC is expected to be fully rolled-out by the end of 2021, by which time almost half of all families with children will be entitled to it.

The Foundation’s report considers how the reform – viewed alongside plans to boost take home pay via the National Living Wage and increases in the Personal Tax Allowance – compares with the current system of tax credits and other benefits when it comes to the returns to entering and progressing in work.

It finds that in absolute terms the new system reduces the returns to work for many families. Around 2.5 million working households will be worse off by an average of £41 a week, while around 2 million households will be better off by an average of £34 a week. The new system particularly reduces work incentives for those who are most sensitive to such inducements including single parents and second earners in couples.

Recent reductions to work allowances – the amount claimants can earn before their benefits start to be withdrawn – have deepened the problem.

The report welcomes the fact that the very worse disincentives to enter work in the current system will be addressed. The analysis shows that under tax credits half of first earners in couples with children entering work at low-paid part-time hours would keep just 10 per cent of their post-tax earnings. Under UC, these disincentives have virtually been eliminated.

However the Foundation says that with worklessness in the UK already at a record low, encouraging first earners into part-time work is not the big labour market challenge the country faces today. Instead it says that with around two in every three poor children now living in working families, UC should focus on boosting incomes by encouraging entry into work among second earners and by supporting pay progression for all recipients.

The analysis shows however that the returns to entering work for second earners are far worse in UC than under the current tax credit system. Under UC, the majority of second earners will keep less than half of their earnings if they enter work at part-time hours, creating a risk that they choose not to work at all.

The report says that in order to make the most of UC, the new Secretary of State should reclaim the policy from the Treasury and follow a three-point plan:

• Focus on those most likely  to respond to financial incentives to work. The report says that raising work allowances for single parents and second earners is the most effective way to boost employment.
• Offer more practical support  to boost in-work progression. The report calls for a more radical focus on boosting claimants’ earnings, not the narrow focus of in-work conditionality on securing a full-time job on the wage floor. This task has taken on added importance with weak incentives and the introduction of the National Living Wage which, despite providing a welcome boost to earnings, will significantly increase the number of people on the wage floor.
• Address practical concerns  about UC’s interaction with people’s lives. Despite merging six working-age benefits into one, UC retains lots of complexity. The Foundation argues that interactions with the system could be improved by allowing Housing Benefit to be paid directly to landlords and streamlining reporting requirements for the self-employed and parents with childcare costs.

David Finch, Senior Economic Analyst at  the Resolution Foundation, said:

“As Universal Credit begins the roll-out of its full service this month, now is the right time for the new Work and Pensions Secretary to take stock of progress to date. It is a reform with lots of potential, but it has veered off-track over recent years, particularly following a series of sharp cuts in support to working families.

“With UC’s main goal of making work pay now under serious threat, the Secretary of State should reclaim the project from the Treasury. Three steps are key.

“He should prioritise support on those most likely to respond such as single parents and second earners, ensure UC does more to help those already in work to progress, and iron out some of the practical concerns that have arisen during the initial pilots.”The first five jobcentres that will operate the full UC service from this month are Bath, Newcastle Cathedral Square, Rugby, Bridgwater and Lowesoft. The following month it will be extended to Harrogate, Richmond, Inverness, Hammersmith and Ryedale.

Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone suspended by Labour after Hitler comments saw him accused of anti-Semitism.

In fact, Ken Livingstone is absolutely correct. Ken has done a great deal to counter discrimination against ethnic minorities.  Poor timing perhaps, but inaccurate comments no. 

The Final Solution was the last resort solution as countries had refused mass immigration by the Jewish population (sounds familiar) which includes the UK with Churchill as leader. 

The Nazis started the Work Programme. The Nazis did a lot of bad things however they had many fans in the British upper classes.  

According to Wikipedia the Cliveden Set were a 1930s, upper class group of prominent individuals politically influential in pre-World War II Britain, who were in the circle of Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor. The name comes from Cliveden, the stately home in Buckinghamshire, which was then Astor's country residence.

The "Cliveden Set" tag was coined by Claud Cockburn in his journalism for the e Communist newspaper The Week. It has long been widely accepted that this aristocratic Germanophile social network was in favour of friendly relations with Germany. The flight of Rudolf Hess has never been properly explained but many felt that he came to the UK to seek support from Nazi sympathizers to get help tp broker a peace treaty with Germany. As such his plans having gone wrong he was whisked away from contact with the public. 

Other sympathisers with Germany were Montagu Collet Norman, 1st Baron Norman DSO PC (6 September 1871 – 4 February 1950) was an English banker, best known for his role as the Governor of the Bank of England from 1920 to 1944. Norman was a close friend of the German Central Bank President Hjalmar Schacht, who was a supporter of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, and served in Hitler's government as President of the Reichsbank and Minister of Economics. As such, Schacht played a key role in implementing the policies attributed to Hitler. Norman was also so close to the Schacht family that he was godfather to one of Schacht's grandchildren. Both were members of the Anglo-German Fellowship and the Bank for International Settlements. 

During the war the Germans and the British met regularly at the Bank for International Settlements. Incredibly Montagu was helping the Nazis well into the war and his activities caused President Roosevelt to write to Prime Minister Winston Churchill. 

One of the mistakes the Jews made was to announce they were waging 'economic war' against the Nazis in 1933 with an economic boycott. 

Long before the Hitler government began restricting the rights of the German Jews, the leaders of the worldwide Jewish community formally declared war on the "New Germany" at a time when the U.S. government and even the Jewish leaders in Germany were urging caution in dealing with the new Hitler regime.

The war by the international Jewish leadership on Germany not only sparked definite reprisals by the German government but also set the stage for a little-known economic and political alliance between the Hitler government and the leaders of the Zionist movement who hoped that the tension between the Germans and the Jews would lead to massive emigration to Palestine.

This is perhaps what Ken was refering too.