My thoughts on life, the universe and everything
General
All posts that don’t fit into one of the major categories.
Carer Case Study #1: Sarah
Dec 9th
Some of you will remember a post I did called ‘Caring for the Carers‘. I went through the history of the Carers Allowance, mentioned the present situation and also advertised my campaign. The goal is for Carers Allowance to be increased so that it equals the National Minimum Wage. In an era of austerity, I…
Caring for the Carers
Aug 13th
There are many people around the country who – for whatever reason – are unable to adequately take care of themselves. Inmany situations, the selfless actions of a group of Carers make the lives of those people better and more manageable. I have been lucky enough to know some of these people (one former Carer…
Prison population problems
Jul 31st
A recent topic of discussion is prisons and whether they work. In the Thatcher era, the then-Home Secretary Michael Howard claimed that they did. However, current Justice Secretary Ken Clarke believes in a more liberal approach. Prisons are certainly capable of restricting rights and therefore acting as a suitable punishment, but you could also say…
The existence of apathy
Jul 10th
A few days ago, I was having a conversation with an officer from Hull University Union on Twitter about the attendance at a conference. The subject of apathy came up and suggested there isn’t such a thing. He went on to say: “you can be disengaged or disenfranchised. Deep down everyone cares.” It’s true that…
NOTW Closure: The Aftermath
Jul 7th
Most (if not all) of the country will now know of the announcement that the News of the World will close. It was revealed in a statement made by James Murdoch earlier today. Everyone was rightly shocked by the phone hacking allegations and it is hard to believe that Rebekah Brooks (for NOTW Editor and…
Update: G4S/Working Links
May 25th
In this blog post, I reported that G4S (formerly Group 4 Security) is one of the two groups who have been given the contract in the Yorkshire and Humber area to work with referrals from the Job Centre. Working Links is the current holder of this contract, but that situation ends on May 31st. I…
G4S ignores employment law
May 20th
Working Links is a large organisation in Britain that works with people in deprived areas who are out of work. They provide advice and training so that they are empowered and can find employment again. In the most recent round of contract awards, they got Scotland, Wales and parts of the South West (Devon, Cornwall,…
Why the ASI is wrong about the minimum wage
Feb 20th
The Adam Smith Institute (ASI) is a well-known and long-established UK economic think tank. It supports the ideas of small government and free markets (i.e. self-regulation/’the invisible hand‘). Margaret Thatcher was one of it’s biggest supporters and it’s principles are often aligned with the taditional Conservative Party point of view. Dr Eamonn Butler is a…
Sticks and Stones
Dec 3rd
The title is the beginning of an often-used phrase to show people that even if your body can be broken down, you cannot be broken mentally because of insults and slurs. If this is the case, how come there are so many words in society that are considered ‘taboos’? Also, do this taboos exist in…
Sheer disrespect for those who gave their lives
Nov 14th
Whether you agree with a given war or not (for example, in an old blog post I vehemently disagreed with the most recent Iraq War), you can’t help but agree that the people involved do their jobs to the best of their abilities in the face of great risk to their own safety. For that,…
