Psychoactive Substances: Rolling UK Politics in The Neo-Con Era

Cameron:

We need to ensure that when new countries are admitted to the EU in the future, free movement will not apply to those new members until their economies have converged much more closely with existing Member States.

We also need to crack down on the abuse of free movement, an issue on which I have found wide support in my discussions with colleagues. This includes tougher and longer re-entry bans for fraudsters and people who collude in sham

It means addressing the fact that it is easier for an EU citizen to bring a non-EU spouse to Britain than it is for a British citizen to do the same.

It means stronger powers to deport criminals and stop them coming back, as well as preventing entry in the first place. And it means addressing ECJ (European Court of Justice) judgments that have widened the scope of free movement in a way that has made it more difficult to tackle this kind of abuse. But we need to go further to reduce the numbers coming here. As I have said previously, we can reduce the flow of people coming from within the EU by reducing the draw that our welfare system can exert across Europe.

So we have proposed that people coming to Britain from the EU must live here and contribute for four years before they qualify for in-work benefits or social housing. And that we should end the practice of sending child benefit overseas.

Tusk:

On social benefits and free movement, we need to fully respect the current treaties, in particular the principles of freedom of movement and non-discrimination. Therefore the proposed solution to address the UK concerns builds on the clarification of the interpretation of current rules, including a draft Commission Declaration on a number of issues relating to better fighting abuse of free movement.

The draft Decision of the Heads notes, in particular, the Commission’s intention to propose changes to EU legislation as regards the export of child benefits and the creation of a safeguard mechanism to respond to exceptional situations of inflow of workers from other Member States. A draft Commission Declaration also relates to this mechanism. This approach, as well as the exact duration of the application of such a mechanism need to be further discussed at our level.

Fun to have the interests of the Visegrad group put forward by someone a significant number of people in his national government believe is a Russian spy.

Looks like there might be a compromise proposal brewing where a member state could restrict benefits for a limited time if there was an overwhelmingly compelling case to do so.

It means addressing the fact that it is easier for an EU citizen to bring a non-EU spouse to Britain than it is for a British citizen to do the same.

One way of doing this would be making it easier for British citizens to bring non-EU spouses to the UK, but that would presumably be unthinkable. Unfortunately, it looks like Cameron is absolutely determined to deport Tracer Hand one way or another.

If the compromise is as hinted it's not going to appease even the most faintly Eurosceptic, can't see why he bothered tbh

Yes, he'd need a lot more and there's no obvious reason anyone would give it to him at the moment.

To help win the last election perhaps? (xp)

lol

my thoughts exactly re: British citizens and their spouses - surely the issue here is the UK not harmonizing its own "track" with EU law (not forgetting that the British track to residency costs £££££££, as opposed to the EU track which takes longer but is free)

Thinking of offering my citizenship for sale for 50% less than the government fee

David Cameron doesn't have time to deport Tracer Hand, he's been at the farmer's market I go to over the weekend, clashing with stallholders and workers who were shaming him for his refugee rhetoric. And then trying to get one of them sacked for daring to suggest that his 'bunch of migrants' comment was... fairly unstatesmanlike.

I'm sure he can find time for both

Ironic really, that he's too busy arguing over immigration policy with artisan cheesemongers to deport anyone.

It was the Isle of Wight tomato dude, says other friends who were working. Cameron showed up with plus de hired goons and visited each stall as even the Tories amongst the customers gave hard side-eye.

http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/5E66/production/_88066142_sun3.jpg

BACK OUR BRAVE DEAL

An awful lot of glum looking twats Tories sat behind the PM.

End of the line for Cam, only a couple of years left for him now surely.

His authority was always going to ebb significantly throughout this Parliament anyway, in the way that Blair's did post-2005. Question is whether anyone forces the issue before then. Hard to see how he could stay on in the event of a referendum defeat.

We'll have too much shit to worry about at that point to be happy though

wd b jokes if a narrow majority in England voted to leave, but votes elsewhere gave stay a wafer thin victory

I think he's got enough to secure a vote to stay in the EU.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/08/george-osbornes-brother-admits-having-sex-with-vulnerable-patient-in-his-care

Families, eh? What are they like?

David Cameron's mother signs anti-cuts petition

Tough decisions have to be made, but just not in the tory heartlands thank you very much. That's how the Camerons roll.

Junior Doc contracts - which they are not going to sign - to be imposed.

James Blunt OTM https://twitter.com/JamesBlunt/status/697784223688757248

phrases I never thought I would write etc.

these people are psychopaths

― conrad, Wednesday, July 15, 2015 1:56 PM (6 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Doctors are, like, universally beloved, no? How is this not a massive own goal for the govt? I know I know they have scored multiple other own goals already, and if voters don't feel for the disabled they aren't going to feel for young doctors...

People will say they care but not enough to actually change their voting intentions, until such point as there's a big NHS disaster, which is surely on the way.

Labour is being really quite weak on health, as if they've decided "ah well, it didn't work with Miliband let's not really bother this time".

I dare say that the tory press will barely mention it. also it really hurts that they are called junior Doctors and there's a deep (but legitimate) misunderstanding of what that actually is.

as if they've decided "ah well, it didn't work with Miliband let's not really bother this time".

which is... fair enough?

Doctors are, like, universally beloved, no?

Nurses might be but doctors aren't. Heard some poll mentioned today, something like 45% of the GBP blame the government for the strike, 15% blame the doctors, 40% think both are to blame.

I dare say that the tory press will barely mention it.

I don't know, keep thinking of Portillo's indignation about it, "Professional people do not go on strike".

Don't see Labour as "weak on health". Aren't they neck-and-neck with the Tories on that issue? And Labour are fully supporting the strikes - which for Labour its expected but not in recent times.

(xp) ... only prole scum do.

They're not really putting the Tories under any serious pressure in an area which should be natural territory for them.

"Neck and neck with the Tories" is doing quite badly given that they used to be comfortably ahead even when they were unpopular on many other issues.

tbh I would've thought they'd have a lead on this - don't know what the polling is.

Probably more important that Labour keep supporting the strikes even if the public turns against the junior doctors.

If public opinion turns then it doesn't matter at all whether or not Labour supports them, because it's then irrelevant to everything other than the state of the Labour Party.

FWIW I don't think public opinion will turn unless there's a major increase in strike activity, which doctors would be very reluctant to do - and of course Hunt knows that.

Its relevant if you want the Labour Party to be in a better state to tackle problems of inequality, housing and all sorts of crisis. We need a party that can speak to that when the thing crashes. Backing this and other strikes is important, it re-orientation from where they were.

Hunt is pushing doctors to strike further. They are v reluctant to strike at all (the last one was cancelled off at the last min) and have been considerably pushed.

Yeah I dispute whether backing a doctor's strike during a theoretical turn in public opinion would make much difference to the rest of that, most of the public wouldn't be inclined to group these issues together at all.

Individual Labour members (including Michael Foot iirc) have appeared alongside strikers, and they may have offered tacit endorsement/not outright condemned strikes before, but I'm not sure the Labour Party has any real history of actively supporting strikes.

In fact I think this might be the first strike that Labour has explicitly endorsed?

I think backing strikes will entrench a set of attitudes in the rest of the party - its one of a many number of things they have to do, but it counts.

In fact I think this might be the first strike that Labour has explicitly endorsed?

article on that subject here: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/02/ns-podcast-135-trident-tories-and-tough-love

(I don't know why the url says that, but it is the right link)

wait, no it isn't, aargh http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/01/junior-doctors-strike-first-strike-ever-be-supported-labour-party

this cunt http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/12/jeremy-corbyn-no-senator-bernie-sanders-democrats

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/israel-boycott-local-councils-public-bodies-and-student-unions-to-be-banned-from-shunning-israeli-a6874006.html

Story as per URL basically - hard to imagine that these days this won't blow up in their faces, google searches for 'Isreali boycotts' surely about to start rising sharply.

... which Google will helpfully response to with 'do you mean "Israeli boycott"?'

I'd be surprised by the govt's audacity with this and the lobbying/gagging bill if there wasn't such a feeble media/sense of public opposition

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/israel-boycott-local-councils-public-bodies-and-student-unions-to-be-banned-from-shunning-israeli-a6874006.html

oh xp