Author Archives: Ben Mackay

Comment: PMQs – Miliband exposes Conservative divisions over the EU

By Ben Mackay | Published: January 16, 2013

Once again the issue of the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union risks sending the Conservative Party into a frenzy of debate and division.  Since becoming leader, David Cameron has tried his utmost to cast off his Party’s past. It was his plan to make sure that the Conservatives were no longer the po-faced [...]

Posted in Left Foot Forward | Tagged , , , , | 4 Responses

Anger at government reforms to Disability Living Allowance

By Ben Mackay | Published: January 11, 2013

On Wednesday, disability rights campaigners urged the Lords that the government’s proposed introduction of Personal Independence Payment, to replace the Disability Living Allowance, had serious flaws and requires significant changes. The website We Are Spartacus, which features the opinions of disabled people on the issue of welfare reform, has submitted an analysis of the PIP [...]

Posted in Good Society | Tagged , , | 16 Responses

“Somnishambles”: Skills Minister misses TV interview after oversleeping

By Ben Mackay | Published: January 11, 2013

Skills Minister Matthew Hancock has admitted that he was late for a Daybreak interview because he overslept. As skills minister he was going to discuss the government’s latest plans on how young unemployed people could be made more employable. Hancock tweeted an admission of his extended slumber and has attempted to turn it into a [...]

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Delingpole debunked by Met Office

By Ben Mackay | Published: January 10, 2013

James Delingpole is in trouble after the Met Office has eviscerated a number of claims he made in a bizarre Daily Mail article. The Met Office writes: “This article contains a series of factual inaccuracies about the Met Office and its science, as outlined below.” One claim Delingpole made is that the Met Office was [...]

Posted in Left Foot Forward, Media Integrity | Tagged , , | 3 Responses

Up to half of all food produced is wasted

By Ben Mackay | Published: January 10, 2013

Research shows that 1.2 to 2 billion tonnes of food are wasted each year.  Shockingly, this means that it could be possible that as much as half of all food produced in the world is wasted. As the Institute of Mechanical Engineers reports: “Today, we produce about four billion metric tones of food per annum. [...]

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Upcoming elections in 2013

By Ben Mackay | Published: January 10, 2013

Israel Benjamin Netanyahu looks set to win re-election on January 22nd. National opinion polls show that Likud and its electoral partnership with the nationalist party Yisrael Beiteinu are in a strong position, and it looks likely they will be able to combine with other right wing parties to form an overall majority.  On Tuesday, the [...]

Posted in Left Foot Forward | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Responses

Blackpool council leads the charge on free school breakfasts

By Ben Mackay | Published: January 9, 2013

Today Blackpool has become the first council in England to provide free breakfasts for all its primary school children, whilst in London, 50 schools will be involved in a scheme in which free breakfasts are granted to pupils. In October, Left Foot Forward looked at the evidence of how an increasing number of children are [...]

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Comment: why is outsourcing wrong?

By Ben Mackay | Published: January 9, 2013

With the memory of the G4S debacle at the beginning of the summer still sore, today’s news that the government plans to outsource huge swathes of the probation service will be met by cynicism and concern. British government use of the private sector to run services has had a difficult history. However, the justice secretary [...]

Posted in Left Foot Forward, Public Services for All | Tagged , , , | 9 Responses

China’s forced labour camps may end

By Ben Mackay | Published: January 8, 2013

The People’s Republic of China has announced that it may cease its use of forced labour camps. The policy of “re-education through labour” has been a system of punishment in China since Mao Zedong introduced it in 1957. Since its inception millions have been sent to labour camps as a means to change their behaviour. [...]

Posted in Multilateral Foreign Policy | Tagged , , , | 1 Response

Why the benefits cap is wrong

By Ben Mackay | Published: January 8, 2013

Today parliament votes on a bill to cap increases in benefits and tax credits at 1% for 2014 – 2015 and 2015 – 2016. Previously, benefits rose in line with prices. However the Coalition’s plans means that entitlements including child tax credits, Jobseeker’s Allowance and working tax credits will face real terms cuts. A report [...]

Posted in Social Justice | Tagged , , | 6 Responses