Posts Tagged ‘Barack Obama’

Wednesday News Review

03/11/2010, 07:55:27 AM

Clegg under the cosh

Nick Clegg will today battle to head off a revolt within the Liberal Democrats as the government announces that a cap on university tuition fees in England will be set at a maximum of £9,000 a year. Jenny Willott, MP for Cardiff Central, and parliamentary private secretary to the climate change secretary Chris Huhne, told the Guardian she would stick to her pre-election pledge to vote against any rise in tuition fees. – The Guardian

Nick Clegg faces a mass rebellion as 27 of his 57 MPs threaten to oppose university tuition fee increases. Whips believe the revolt could lead to the return of Lib Dem ex-Treasury Minister David Laws, who quit in May over an expenses scandal. – The Mirror

Buy one get one free

Ed Miliband is planning a “two for one” trip to the registry office to have his name put on the birth certificate of his newborn child – as well as for his existing son Daniel. Mr Miliband’s partner Justine Thornton, is expecting the couple’s second child – also a boy – imminently and the Labour leader intends to take the full two weeks’ paternity leave. Topping his list of priorities for the time off is to register not only the new birth but also that of 17-month-old Daniel – which he failed to get round to doing the last time. – The Independent (more…)

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Eugene Grant says the disabled should still have grounds for optimism.

14/06/2010, 11:51:24 AM

Helen Keller, the deafblind American radical, once said: “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope or confidence”. The first deafblind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree, Keller went on to become an accomplished author, well-travelled lecturer and prolific political activist.

The election feast is now behind us.  The first frenzies of the coalition’s honeymoon are done.  And yet, thus far, the Lib-Con coalition has offered little in the way of optimism for some of the most disadvantaged in our society: people with disabilities. On the contrary, the approach adopted by the new government appears tainted by cynicism.

First, the pledge from work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith to reassess all 2.6 million incapacity benefit (IB) claimants and move them onto other benefits like jobseeker’s allowance and employment and support allowance (ESA).  This is a thorny political issue, which isn’t necessarily regressive.

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