Posts Tagged ‘Conservatives’

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Milburn vs. Milburn: Round I

16/08/2010, 11:00:53 AM

In the first round of our Milburn vs. Milburn feature, Sam Hargreaves agrues that we should rejoice at having one of our boys on the inside, while Paul Cotterill hits back with his view that it’s just a Tory trick:

Who would you rather have in charge?

Alan Milburn’s appointment as social mobility tsar has been a surprise for those within the Labour party; however it should not be viewed as an unwelcome one.

Social mobility is an issue at the heart of the Labour movement; it has long been the goal of our party to reduce the gap between the richest and poorest members of our society. This goal is not one that is shared by the members of the current cabinet, as shown by the scrapping of the future jobs fund.

A study conducted by Milburn before he left parliament criticised industries that were inaccessible to those from a poorer background. He has shown a clear understanding of the problems we currently face in our society, by forcing coalition members to see these problems, a shift in policy may be achieved.

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“What you talkin’ about, Willetts?” asks Richard Partington

11/06/2010, 10:55:57 AM
 

Hat tip to John Prescott (http://twitter.com/johnprescott)

Just four months before his ascent to the cabinet, David Willetts published a book that showed how his baby boomer generation “stole their children’s future – and how they can give it back.”

So there is great piquancy in his clearest indication yet that students could be forced to pay higher tuition fees – a move which would condemn subsequent generations to a grim financial future.

In The Pinch, Willetts explains that the baby boomers have attained a position of power and wealth at the expense of their children. Yet his comment that the current cost of students’ degree courses are a “burden on the taxpayer that had to be tackled” shows that he himself holds no remorse.

He has not pre-empted the recommendations of Lord Browne’s independent review into whether fees should rise from £3,225 a year. But he did say that students should consider fees “more as an obligation to pay higher income tax” than a debt.

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The electorate gets the government it wants. Alex Norris takes it personally.

10/06/2010, 12:23:40 PM

We’re braced for cuts in Nottingham. As a city, we have rebuffed Conservative advances year after year since David Cameron’s election as leader. But with Cameron now ensconced in Number 10, we’re starting to feel the full force.

The Future Jobs Fund, which has helped 960 unemployed people back in to work in Nottingham alone, was the first to fall. Now we fear for the future of our tram expansion, an expansion set to put thousands into work, millions into the local economy and Nottingham into the picture as the UK’s leading “science city”.

I take what the coalition government is doing very personally. I’d like to voice my opposition to everything they do as loudly as possible at all times. But this is a self-indulgence we cannot afford. (more…)

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