syrian opposition getting diplomatic support to end unwinnable civil war

The Syrian opposition is to receive continued support from the UK to follow the Geneva II accords in order to prevent a on-going and unwinnable by both sides civil war.

This is progress that the friends of Syria should feel good about as it avoids regional arms races

Now for the Dollar. As local governments sue for bankruptcy there might now be a need for US Dollar to be moved onto a devalued, multipolar platinum standard that includes the Japanese Yen, Indian Dollar, Chinese Yuan, Euro and Rand and Other G8-20 currencies. This needs IMF assistanace.

The alternative would be the worst possible repeat of the 1970s with a limited default and the USA prioritising the NAFTA Currencies (Canada and Mexico) to create its own EU and be protectionist.

That would be economic Armageddon as it could provoke a arms race over any issue be it Kashmir (which should be reunited as another state within a 'Raj plus Afghanistan free trade area') or North Korea. Thankfully in Putin and the current Chinese leadership leveller heads are prevailing with nuclear disarmament with the USA proceeding. It is now up to other states to follow suit.

By the way I think it is time for all those who only speak English in Wales to settle in England using the UK wide social housing database.

How about the land round Iver and Denham and include it in teh Borough of Hillingdon

Plaid to win Ceredigion in 2015?

Could the UK disband if Scotland secedes?

 

At present until the English Democrats declare their parliament on Saturday the UK has no English devolution just the Greater London Authority and County councils.

 

The territory of England has a general synod for its established church elected under PR for the laity.

 

The ideal policy of Plaid Cymru is a Welsh republic in the Commonwealth as laid out by Saunders Lewis their founding leader.

 

Northern Ireland is not a successor state to the irish kingdom as it was abolished by direct rule. The devolved settlement lays out that the line of succession passes according to sovereign states and has recently been amended to give gender equality.

 

Scotland has a majority in the Scottish Parliament in favour of secession within the Commonwealth with shared defence.

 

So to save the remaining UK or create a British – Irish republic their needs to be a referendum on the continuation of the monarchy with a review of prerogative powers. That would facilitate an elected senate for the common state. Another option might be to replace the House of Lords for England once Wales and Scotland secede.

 

There might need to be a Conservative MP for Ceredigion, unachieveable since 1885 when the franchise was extended to all men if you disagree with the above.

 

I disagree with the last option and look forward towards the first step towards English Devolution.

 

 

Why David Cameron is right about legislation being needed to regulate the internet.




1) Since the 1970s there have been explicit cartoons coming out of East Asia, more recently they have spoofed many childrens cartoon series such as the Simpsons.

2) More extreme varieties are on credit card websites with also posted videos

3) The old ways in which cadets and charities funded themselves with calendars are now becoming perceived as sexist. Plus the purchase of magazines andtheir regulation are now out dated technologically. Put simply there isn’t the money in it or the business of Peter Stringfellow et. al.

4) A Hillingdon council house or shared ownership could not be supported by modelling for these magazines and starring in the amateur pornos made at the same time, let alone starting a family. One series has more underage at times and the other has extreme content. Whether the models are really 18 is open to question. To paraphrase the NSPCC, these ‘publications’ breach the underwear rule.

5) These products could put their models in danger in Muslim countries as a breach of Shariah Law.

6) Some adult dating sites could contain the content and email it to people of older ages the ‘bit.ly’ server in particular.

7) No classroom and internet can be 100% supervised and hacking the protocols to have a look is a technical challenge that many students, being more savvy in the updates in computer programming than their teachers, could theoretically achieve.

8) Hence software licencing and support should be by borough or district council so that there is ongoing technical update support for schools and liason with social services (provided that they do not produce such magazines).

The structure of Samaritans

 

Best guess

 

Founded in 1940-50s by Revd Chad Varah after suicide of teen girl (pregnant) and  because at the time the evil of back street abortionists had led to surgery that rendered women barren (unable to have children). In other countries this was even more extreme and the Revd set up an organisation to deal with it.

 

Contains church personnel and those of all faith and none to counsel those who are distressed and suicidal by phone.

 

Centrally located through Londons Mental health personnel and Clarence House.

 

Don’t do tracing services but handle written correspondence service. Tracing is done by Red Cross.

 

Has devolved language provision and is based on years and differing initiatives, Samaritans / samarriadd. Based on joking about the Ware family from previous generations.

 

Not much use if you want to find out about whether you’re a dad as its focused on how you are feeling.

 

Used by actors for material and also journalists.

 

As you can tell I phoned up this weekend and it made me feel jaded.

Student finance in England


After an application through UCAS or direct to some independent universities or external unis that offer taught programmes by residential fortnights (such as some London Business Schools). You have to make a paper or online application for student finance if your parents can’t afford to support you or you are a mature or disabled student.



Student finance is administered by Student Finance England:



Student finance England,

PO Box 210,

Darlington,

DL1 9HJ



0845 607 7577 for students to seek advice and check applications.



There are two components to the loan, the fee loan (up to £9,000 2012/13) and the combined maintenance loan / grant (grant up to £3250, loan £8382 2012/13). Once registered on a course, the University gets the fee component and once attendance is verified, you get your loan and grant.



The loan and grant count as income under DWP benefit rules so that disabled people lose there income support (£100 a fortnight) but keep their incapacity benefit (£220 a fortnight) and housing and council tax benefits. In some local authorities this is assessed on a case by case basis. Hence the continuation of the grant component of the money paid to the student in part lieu of this income support.



For NHS prescription costs (the other £2000 of the approx £5200 annual income lost with the cancellation of income support), English students on sickness benefits (IB / DLA / ESA / Universal Credit) can use form HC1 from the NHS. There is also a prescription prepayment certificate if not on these benefits at a high enough qualifying rate.



Disability Living Allowance is paid for care support but there is also the disabled student’s allowance that includes both equipment and learning support components (note taking, though this is often taken to mean accessing lecture handouts on a student portal or blackboard software).



The loans are combined at the end of the course and repaid at a personal earning income variable rate. This repayment amount increases with the amount a person earns above £21,000 a year (the average wage of a station assistant on the London Underground). The amount paid back is approx 9% of total income according to UCL.



If a student is in the fortunate position to work part time and want to study part time, they can apply for course fee grants and loans. If the Open University and disabled, some fee support / waiver is allowed if on benefits and disabled students allowance, letting you keep your state benefits (though you have to declare this with the Department of Work and Pensions and the OU would like a letter from the DWP confirming your receipt of benefits, for Housing benefit, the local authority can help at their office and council tax benefit reception). If a Four year part time intensity BA / Bsc / LLB degree at 90 credits a year part time you only get from student finance England a fee loan so would have to save for textbooks and stationery prior to the course starting and look at the feasibility of working part time.



This is opposed to 120 credits a year full time over three years or the Edinburgh / Oxford / Cambridge Masters included MA / MSC / LLM degree over four years (or the Six year Medical degrees), the disabled student keeps their benefits intact on a case by case basis or on the income reduced rate if they are working part time (such as £21 a week indefinitely income for things such as paper rounds, and £80-90 a week for a year if on transition to full time employment with disabled tax credits for those working over 16 hours a week). They get the full time student loans and grant. IF at Oxbridge (Oxford / Cambridge) they may get top up bursaries and loans for the even higher tuition fees set by the elite ‘Russell Group’ Universities. You need to check how these are repaid.



For standard tuition fee and maintenance loans if you fail to earn over £21k (nurses or social workers or bar staff / waiters) or are unemployed, you don’t pay anything back during that period. After 30 years the debt is written off.





POSTGRAD STUDY

This is funded separately by either university scholarships for the fees or fee grants from bodies such as the British Council, the Arts and Humanities funding council, Royal Society (Sciences). You have to amass your own funding and may be offered assistance by the university you apply to. You could be a warden for undergraduate students to get free accommodation if you are not privately renting on housing benefit if on a low income. Part time work is allowed if you are a part time student such as at Birkbeck or the Open University and that for mature students has included company or charity directorships on a pro rata part time salary. With The Open University it also includes full time work and distance learning.

The ecclesiastical parliaments of England




1) General Synod of the church of England

Meets every six months once in London (Church House in the precincts of Westminster Abbey and York Minster (University campus). Sets policies and ordination criteria for the Church of England.

2) Diocesan Synods

Sets budgets for anglican churches



3) Area Diocesan Synods (such the General Secretary of Willesdens / Wealdstone, Bishop Peter Broadbent)

To set the budgets and admission policies of schools and advise the ‘area sees’ in urban areas. Some are appointed and ex offcio and can be seen as cliques promoting one political party (EG Tories in St Pauls Cathedral, Labour in the parishes and as Anglican.org separate websites).

4) Deanery Synods

Where Clergy and lay elected representatives debate the policy for the locality and the implementation (or lack thereof) of General and Diocesan Synods owing to Churches Together priorities leading to light touch on other churches.



5) Parochial Church Councils

Set the direction and mission focus for each church or group of churches.



All (allegedly) according to the laws of the Westminster parliament as it is devolved from it since the 1920s.

composition of state anmd formal and informal law

Parliamentary Law making




Types of Law

• Statute Law of Westminster and the devolved Parliaments

• Delegated guidelines to government departments

• Common Law

• Ratified European Legislation and Treaties

• International agreements and Bilateral Treaties

• Case Law of the Courts: Judicial Precedent

• Codification Statutes (eg Offences against the person act)

• Orders in Council (privy Council)



Scottish Parliament

• 1997 referendum, 1998 act of parliament

• First elections 1999.

• SNP (secessionists) seek to hold referendum in 2014 based on an overall majority in the last elections to it.

• Scotland has its own legal system from pre union of parliaments, preserved in the 1707 act of Union



Welsh Parliament

• 1997 referendum for secondary legislation powers

• More recent ‘ie’ vote in favour of devolution to primary law making powers

• Silk Commission on fiscal autonomy within sterling area

• Past tax fiddles with alleged oil supplies prevented by new set up.



Northern Ireland Assembly

• Northern Ireland is a successor state to the Island of Ireland Kingdom, united with Great Britain in 1801. As such Ireland had its own court structure based on county governance since Elizabeth 1st

• It had a parliament and central courts in Dublin.

• Northern Ireland was created by the Churchill-collins Irish peace treaty of the 1920s and had sectarian home rule till 1972 when Westminster assumed direct responsibility

• Anglo Irish Agreement 1986

• Good Friday Agreement 1999

• Northern Irish Assembly referendums

• Off on power sharing

• Current devolved with Sinn Fein- DUP power sharing executive

• Cross community referendums on constitutional matters such as leaving UK.

• 1998, referendum, 1999 act and 2000 first elections

GLA

• Devolved policing and transport policy

• Works in conjunction with the 32 London Boroughs and the Corporation of London.

• 2000-2004 and 2004-8 Ken Livingstone

• 2008-2012 and 2012- Boris Johnson Mayors

• GLA has multi borough constituencies and top up region.

•



Channels and Man

• Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney Sark successor to William 1sts Duchy of Normandy

• Isle of Man has a parliament of its own, the Tynwald.

• Both have common citizenship with UK and liase with the Home office



Other islands

• Falklands

• Carribean Islands

• Gibraltar

• Under Foreign Office and British Consular assistance



Old Empire Parliaments

• Statute of Westminster Act 1931

– Irish Free State (now republic outside commonwealth see later slide)

– Canada and Newfoundland

– Australia

– New Zealand

– South Africa



The Modern Parliament

• Commonwealth Secretariat



• British Council



• Council of the Isles



Conclusion

• Is the UK a federal democracy or devolved unitary state?

• Can EU law allow continuation of the dictum of parliamentary sovereignty?

• Is there therefore a need for a constitutional convention and renegotiation of the European Union relationship?



Privy Council

• Institution of UK state

• Also judicially of some Commonwealth states as their final court of appeal.

• Advises the crown and parliament

• Has a secretariat as part of the Royal Palaces

• ? Role of royals lower down the line of succession.



Council of State

• As ERII ages and as mentioned in Queens Speech, Prince Charles the heir apparent has formed a council of state to advise him and assist his mother in Royal Duties

• Will the Duke of Cambridge sit on this body, especially pertinent as hes soon to be a dad.

• Composition of said council of state is at present unknown to the author (no he hasn’t got a written invite).



The order, member companion and medal of empire

• Advises the dean of the chapel royal

• Writes to the great and the good and in many cases is said great and good.

• Based in St Pauls Cathedral.

• Funded through the livery companies of the City of London upon the advice of freemen of the city of london through the court of common council.

• ‘gateway honours’ for others in the system.



Military Honours

• Awarded through the crown and Mod

• Some also given to intelligence services for things such as ‘Squidgy gate’

• Some from the time of the crusades such as knights and baronets and peerages still awarded on the advice of the crown according to criteria set out by the crown appointment commission (no you can’t walk into AandE and ask for one).

Summary of JRC consultancy article in May 2013 Modern Railways

1)      HS2 HS1 Interchange is currently inadequate but debate time is still there for a better solution.

2)      A ‘Euston Cross’ East – West Interchange underground with bi directional, dual track tunnel from Old Oak Interchange is needed. The tunnel alignment would protect the British Library and leave space for Crossrail 2, for which ‘government needs to guarantee funding’

3)      This also needs a Railway Lords interchange at Queens Park to ensure that the Trains that are going to terminate at Euston (extended station) can do so.

4)      This may affect London Over ground provision into Euston which may have to divert at Primrose Hill junction to reach Camden Road and Stratford, possible extension onto Barking  / Grays or Chingford.

5)      TfL have plans for a DLR extension to Euston from Bank so how this fits in is open to question.

6)      New link to Euston Square Station to relieve pressure.

7)      Further tunnelling from Old Oak common onto Ickenham is an option, but would need to surmount Greenford topological dip and the Northolt Grand Union Canal (J Wares opinion based on correspondence with London mayors office)

8)      The Poirots moustache junctions and stations for west and north London Line London Overground services should allow for running through. Then Stratford trains can loop through Old Oak Common to produce a peak hour service on the core route. It would also allow for Clapham Junction Trains to each Richmond direct and from that services from Windsor Riverside could also loop there to spread commuter usage and use of Brentford loop.