heh! funny you should mention the national elf...oh no, i'm not even going to go there...
Mr. Murphy's rhetoric - here's a link for any who missed it. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/2007/21-02-07.asp
he will keep winding me up about 'something for something' as if the idea was born in 1997 not 1948...the central plank was national insurance...i won't go on...
perhaps it means whatever one makes it mean.
however, the recent kite-flying by ruth kelly, including the notion of means-testing HOUSING, for pity's sake, doesn't inspire confidence.
as for T.B. i hadn't read his speech when i posted above. he has an 'interesting' approach to the rule of law, which i feel he hasn't fully shared with the great unwashed at this stage. i think he has some issues with the principle if universality, and possibly with principles themselves, but i can't say i've got a handle on what he's about at all... the thing about asbos is that they are premissed on a _belief_ in the inability of the law to control a.s.b. - which may or may not be a valid belief - (it's complex, and a.s.b. isn't necessarily criminal behaviour, but it is unproven...)_and_ a lack of faith in society/community to deal with a.s.b., so the law is used instead, which is a little bit confusing... now the practicalities of sanctioning the 'very bottoms' on benefits, and who and how a.s.b is to be judged haven't been aired, but the means, one assumes, is a SI, enabling sanctions...
but the general approach of using the social security system raises many concerns. maybe we'll discuss them on rightsnet...
but contrast it with this approach (extract from PM's wotsit, on rightsnet news)
ah well...TGIF
have a good weekend mike, and all.
rgds
jan *********************************************** Question:
Prime Minister, a number of Labour's Deputy leadership candidates, along with the TUC and the GMB have expressed concern about casino capitalists and asset strippers in private equity firms. Do you share those concerns and should the government do anything to stop the activities of these companies?
Prime Minister:
Look Britain is the number one place in the world for private equity and I think the private equity market is a market that brings a lot of benefit to our economy. Now it is important that everyone behaves responsibly, but you know you have just got to be very careful of these issues, otherwise you end up in circumstances where concerns about maybe a minority of specific issues in specific circumstances end up tarring a whole sector, and I don't think that would be fair at all. And some of those who are private equity people or venture capitalists, they have performed an important function in our economy, so I think we need to be careful of that ******************************************************************
|