UK Politics Mega-thread - Page 44

London "doesn't need" to use the pollution-tackling measures introduced in Paris, a senior adviser to Boris Johnson has said, after the French capital forced cars off the roads.

On Monday Parisian authorities forced all cars with number plates ending in even numbers off the roads, with 700 police officers manning 60 checkpoints to check only cars ending in odd numbers were on the street.

Public transport has been free all weekend to encourage Parisians not to drive, as the city's pollution particulates in the air exceeded safe levels for five straight days in Paris - at 180 microgrammes.

But despite unsafe levels being recorded around some of London's main tourist hotspots - with the worst at Buckingham Palace, the London Mayor's office said it didn't believe such schemes worked.

George Osborne has given HMRC the power to delve into Britons' bank accounts for money that officials think is owed in unpaid taxes, in a move which critics have warned leave officials "a law unto themselves".

The Chancellor slipped details of the move out in the Budget's Red Book, which stated that HMRC will be able to take money from people who owe officials over £1,000 in tax.

Officials will only be able to use the power for Britons who have been asked "multiple times" by debt collection officials to pay, and must leave at least £5,000 in the account.

"This brings the UK in line with many other tax authorities which already have the power to recover debts directly from an individual’s account, such as France and the US," the Budget reads.

Once HMRC takes the money, the taxpayer will have 14 days to get in touch and set up a payment plan, otherwise officials will keep what they have taken.

On March 25 2014 12:35 Nyxisto wrote:
can someone explain to me what is going on there? is british parliament always like this?

HMRC criticised for using terror laws against tax whistleblower
Public accounts committee chair says tax official's use of powers to track down journalist had 'shocked her to the bones'

Nigel Farage has received an early birthday present by winning the second EU debate against Nick Clegg, according to two snap polls. The Ukip leader, who turns 50 on Thursday, was handed victory after a tense televised meeting on Wednesday evening in which the pair clashed as much over personality as they did policy.

A YouGov survey suggested 68% thought the Ukip leader had performed best in their second debate, compared to 27% who favoured the Deputy Prime Minister. A Guardian/ICM poll similarly gave Farage the advantage by 69% to 31%.

Asked if he was disappointed by the snap poll results, Lib Dem President Tim Farron told HuffPost UK: "Not at all. I thought he [Clegg] won it. it's like Liverpool going to Old Trafford, winning 3-0, but not winning the popularity contest afterwards. We won the debate, however we have someway to go before the majority of British people agree that it's in Britain's interest to stay in [the EU]."

The Conservative party is planning to pledge in its manifesto for next year's general election that it will introduce a moratorium on future onshore windfarms from 2020 on the grounds that they have now become "self-defeating".

In an attempt to show that David Cameron is not abandoning the green agenda, the Tories will also pledge in their 2015 manifesto to press ahead with an intensification of offshore windfarms.

The manifesto will also focus on greater use of solar power, a point highlighted when the government unveiled plans this week to encourage England's 22,000 schools to install solar panels and other measures to improve energy efficiency.

The decision to refocus the emphasis on offshore wind – and to abandon support for future onshore windfarms – follows an intense debate among senior Tories and between the coalition partners over the future of Britain's renewable energy resources.

A senior source close to the prime minister told the Guardian this week that Cameron is supportive of opponents of onshore windfarms and wants to "go further" in cutting financial aid to them.

A move by Cameron and George Osborne to push for a cap on the electricity output of onshore windfarms, which would in effect amount to a cap, was rejected by Nick Clegg.

Britain should be "more confident about our status as a Christian country", David Cameron said.

The prime minister insisted that being a Christian country did not mean "doing down" other religions or "passing judgment" on those with no faith at all.

The government has come under attack from senior clergy over its welfare reforms, but Cameron said "we all believe in many of the same principles" and churches were "vital partners".

In an article for the Church Times Cameron described himself as a "classic" member of the Church of England, "not that regular in attendance, and a bit vague on some of the more difficult parts of the faith".

He rejected the idea that in an "ever more secular age" people should not talk about their religion.

"I believe we should be more confident about our status as a Christian country, more ambitious about expanding the role of faith-based organisations, and, frankly, more evangelical about a faith that compels us to get out there and make a difference to people's lives," he said.

"First, being more confident about our status as a Christian country does not somehow involve doing down other faiths or passing judgment on those with no faith at all.

Ed Miliband has hired former Obama chief campaign strategist David Axelrod to help him win the next general election.

Axelrod, who helped pilot Obama to the White House in 2008 and again in 2012 will serve as a senior strategic adviser to the Labour leader, the party revealed on Thursday evening. Labour said the campaign guru would be an integral part of the 2015 election team and participate in regular strategic discussions.

On May 14 Axelrod is due in London for two days of strategy meetings with Miliband, deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman and other senior shadow cabinet members. Axelrod said that in several conversations with Miliband over the course of the last year he had been struck by the "power of his ideas" and "the strength of his vision".

"He understands that a growing economy demands that you have to have broad prosperity. We can't just have prosperity hoarded by a few where people at the top are getting wealthier and wealthier but people in the middle are getting squeezed," he said.

And in what will be music to Labour's ears, Axelrod draw a direct comparison between Obama and Miliband. "Ed Miliband has a real vision of where we need to go to solve those problems. He has answers to these questions which will be very potent in the next election," he said.

David Cameron’s constituency office has come under fire for calling the police on the Bishop of Oxford and Reverend Hebden as they attempted to present him with an open letter on food poverty.

Their letter, part of the End Hunger Fast campaign, was signed by 42 Anglican bishops and more than 600 clerics and called on the three party leaders to work with the parliamentary inquiry into food poverty to implement its recommendations.

However, despite David Cameron’s Witney office expecting their visit, they were barred from presenting the letter and instead greeted by three police officers. Around 40 people had walked to his office following a service, and while the congregation stood on the opposite side of the road, the Rt Revd John Pritchard and Rev Hebden went to deliver the letter on their own. The police “weren’t there very long” when they realised the situation, Reverend Keith Hebden told The Independent, saying that they could see Cameron’s office staff looking out the window as they were forced to abandon their visit.

He added: “It is deeply ironic, to say the least, that on the same day David Cameron was writing in the Church Times talking about what a good Anglican he is, he was wasn’t able to receive his own bishop in his constituency office. I think this speaks volumes.

“They were expecting us, we had phoned ahead. Most of my surprise was reserved for them not even opening the door. The letter was positive and addressed to all three party leaders, so it wasn’t political.”