When Europe comes to the fore of politics in Britain, the polls shift in favour of staying, as they did after David Cameron’s speech. When it comes to the crunch, however, the voting public are too clever to turn away from our most valuable relationship.
Front and centre in today’s Queen’s Speech was the announcement that the government will be limiting the ability for certain migrants to use the Human Rights Act – and its provision for the right to a private and family life – to avoid deportation.
For Virgin this is the latest in a long line of questionable stances it has taken to its women employees (as well as women more generally), which leads one to wonder if Virgin has a problem – a sexism problem.
With all too regular reports of services failing to ensure even the most basic levels of care and safety, some might argue that loneliness is not the most important problem we face. But loneliness and isolation are public health issues with an impact and cost on a par with smoking.
The Catholic church was back in the news this weekend with the story of Cardinal O’Brien’s ‘exile’. It’s a story that’s unlikely to go away any time soon. And given that O’Brien remains Britain’s most senior Catholic, it’s one that has wider relevance. It’s been argued that he should be left alone. But we should all be concerned that the complaints made against him are properly investigated and that appropriate action is taken.
One rare piece of good news from the Tory-led government was Nick Clegg’s decision to block the so-called ‘Snoopers Charter’, a draft piece of fundamentally illiberal legislation which would have allowed the security services to monitor emails, text messages and internet browsing.
Doctors across Scotland have attacked the operation of the government’s welfare to work health assessments as “Kafkaesque”, with GP leaders warning that Scottish doctors are being “flooded with additional avoidable work”.
There is a myth, propagated by much of the commentariat, which says that the public are far to the right of the major parties on three issues – immigration, welfare and the European Union. It is a myth that has been doing the rounds for some time now, but one which will no doubt be given another boost by today’s local election results.
In terms of forming a Labour government, the only way is not Essex, but it’ll be an important staging post along that path. The signs, it seems, are promising even if work remains to be done.
The UK will need to improve its plans for tackling air pollution after the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the government has breached laws that protect people from the harmful effects of air pollution.
