This is actually good news because up until now I've had what threatened to be a head cold with aching muscles, chills and a general feeling of wooziness. The fact it's now moved to my chest suggests that it's starting to break up and should soon leave. I am still seriously considering spending the rest of the day in bed though.
Anyway has Lansley got his speech ready because he's on in less then an hour.
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Thank You And Goodnight.
You've been ugly and I've terrible. The cough has gone for now (00:03) but while I'll conceed that the third series of True Blood does look better on a big screen I fear it will be back tomorrow.
The Seats Are Green..
The contents are sh*t.
Sorry but I have just wasted the last 90 minutes of my life watching debate in the UK's House of Commons. Unfortunately I am still unaware of whether or not the 625 seat chamber has voted to include the squatting amendment to the Legal Aid bill. Anyway Parliament is now closed and will not re-open until 11:50 tomorrow (2/11/11) when the Secretary of Sate for Health Andrew Lansley will make a short statement.
Apart from that I've developed a small cough. I'm sure more smoking will fix it.
Sorry but I have just wasted the last 90 minutes of my life watching debate in the UK's House of Commons. Unfortunately I am still unaware of whether or not the 625 seat chamber has voted to include the squatting amendment to the Legal Aid bill. Anyway Parliament is now closed and will not re-open until 11:50 tomorrow (2/11/11) when the Secretary of Sate for Health Andrew Lansley will make a short statement.
Apart from that I've developed a small cough. I'm sure more smoking will fix it.
Boo! Hiss!
There I was a bit stoned walking into a pub full of Portsmouth fans when all of a sudden my father decided he was going to confuse everyone by not ordering the steak. So I went up to the bar and while we were all trying to avoid mentioning that we'd had Southampton in last week I decided I really needed a cigarette (20:27).
When I returned (20:32) most of the football fans were leaving and I noticed there was a TV on the wall showing the news. As my father and I were struggling with a beef burger each I came to the distinct conclusion that the BBC have decided to discontinue outside broadcasts for the Houses of Parliament for the evening. One can only assume the presence of a multitude of p*ssed up hooligans only raised the tone of the establishment.
In other news I am totally rocking the cords look and I most definately don't have a cold. I've had the beginings of a cold for the past three or four days but it has yet to decide whether it is going to develop into full blown man flu or whether it's just going to go away. Also the barber I saw today was of Greek extraction so my post before last should have read; "There I was getting a Greek haircut when in walked my grandmother's GP. It's hardly Occupylsx. In fact it was just too tense.
I'm very sorry but it just over 60 countries are currently attending the Cyberlondon conference on Internet security so for some reason I felt "It's Tuesday (1/1/11) at around 20:20 and I back from the pub to find everything to be ok" is just not sufficent.
When I returned (20:32) most of the football fans were leaving and I noticed there was a TV on the wall showing the news. As my father and I were struggling with a beef burger each I came to the distinct conclusion that the BBC have decided to discontinue outside broadcasts for the Houses of Parliament for the evening. One can only assume the presence of a multitude of p*ssed up hooligans only raised the tone of the establishment.
In other news I am totally rocking the cords look and I most definately don't have a cold. I've had the beginings of a cold for the past three or four days but it has yet to decide whether it is going to develop into full blown man flu or whether it's just going to go away. Also the barber I saw today was of Greek extraction so my post before last should have read; "There I was getting a Greek haircut when in walked my grandmother's GP. It's hardly Occupylsx. In fact it was just too tense.
I'm very sorry but it just over 60 countries are currently attending the Cyberlondon conference on Internet security so for some reason I felt "It's Tuesday (1/1/11) at around 20:20 and I back from the pub to find everything to be ok" is just not sufficent.
Oh Dear.
I have just got off the phone with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Despite conceeding that there is clear evidence that Croydon University Hospital (CUH) is in breach of there terms of registration as a health care provider and members of their staff are engaged in the physical and psychological abuse of patients they will be shirking their responsibility to take enforcement action. I shall email them the full case file which should cause them to rethink that position but if not the a Ms Clair Robbie has just added herself to the crimes against humanity indictment. The matter is of course now with the Secretary of State through the Parliamentary Ombudsman so he will be imposing an intervention order tomorrow (2/11/11) unless of course he thinks it's a good idea to let the matter drag on through the G20 Summit as a sort of referendum.
There is a much bigger problem afoot at the moment though.
Since about the 13th Century homeless people in Britain have had the common law right to live in unoccupied buildings and land without the permission of the landowner in a process known as squatting. Although this has often provided a useful safeguard against feckless landowners who leave good properties to fall into disrepair the Conservative Party hate the right and massively restricted it under our old friend the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. After being returned to power in 2010 the Conservative Party set out to remove the right completely and make squatting an arrestable criminal offence.
As is common practice for the introduction of a new law before the bill entered Parliament a Parliamentary consultation process was begun. Unlike a petition which merely requires respondents to write their own names Parliamentary consultations require respondents to be able to answer detailed questions about the issue in question. As a result only people with an in depth working knowledge of the current law surrounding squatting and evictions responded to the consultation. 95% of them said that there was no need to make squatting a criminal offence because the law is already heavily weighted against squatters. All the horror stories you hear about people being unable to remove squatters are just that. Horror stories normally caused by a police officer or judge refusing to do their job or the person seeking eviction being unable to prove that they actually own the property.
With the consultation showing no meaningful support for the idea the Conservatives dropped the idea of introducing the new law as separate bill that would receive meaningful Parliamentary debate. Instead they've decided to add it on as an amendment to the unrelated Legal Aid bill which is already at such an advanced stage it is expected to receive it's final Commons vote tonight. (1/1/11). In protest against this rather sneaky and underhand move many squatters - some of them quite odd - are currently wandering the public areas of the Houses of Parliament setting the stage for what promises to be quite an entertaining night of rolling news.
In other news neither St Paul's Cathedral nor the City of London Corporation have served notices to quit on the Occupylsx protest. So in real terms nothing has happened. In metaphorical terms also nothing has happened because the extended deadline for the church and the protesters to enter into negotiations expired yesterday (31/10/11). Neither party was capable of operating the door handles.
There is a much bigger problem afoot at the moment though.
Since about the 13th Century homeless people in Britain have had the common law right to live in unoccupied buildings and land without the permission of the landowner in a process known as squatting. Although this has often provided a useful safeguard against feckless landowners who leave good properties to fall into disrepair the Conservative Party hate the right and massively restricted it under our old friend the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. After being returned to power in 2010 the Conservative Party set out to remove the right completely and make squatting an arrestable criminal offence.
As is common practice for the introduction of a new law before the bill entered Parliament a Parliamentary consultation process was begun. Unlike a petition which merely requires respondents to write their own names Parliamentary consultations require respondents to be able to answer detailed questions about the issue in question. As a result only people with an in depth working knowledge of the current law surrounding squatting and evictions responded to the consultation. 95% of them said that there was no need to make squatting a criminal offence because the law is already heavily weighted against squatters. All the horror stories you hear about people being unable to remove squatters are just that. Horror stories normally caused by a police officer or judge refusing to do their job or the person seeking eviction being unable to prove that they actually own the property.
With the consultation showing no meaningful support for the idea the Conservatives dropped the idea of introducing the new law as separate bill that would receive meaningful Parliamentary debate. Instead they've decided to add it on as an amendment to the unrelated Legal Aid bill which is already at such an advanced stage it is expected to receive it's final Commons vote tonight. (1/1/11). In protest against this rather sneaky and underhand move many squatters - some of them quite odd - are currently wandering the public areas of the Houses of Parliament setting the stage for what promises to be quite an entertaining night of rolling news.
In other news neither St Paul's Cathedral nor the City of London Corporation have served notices to quit on the Occupylsx protest. So in real terms nothing has happened. In metaphorical terms also nothing has happened because the extended deadline for the church and the protesters to enter into negotiations expired yesterday (31/10/11). Neither party was capable of operating the door handles.
Interesting.
I was out getting my haircut when I remembered that I'd forgotten to take my phone with me. It was then my grandmother's GP walked in to get his haircut which was in no way tense. When I returned I checked my phone and had a message from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) asking me to call them back. I did so but they weren't available so now I'm waiting for them to call me back. They finish at 16:00. I'm sure they're just calling to confirm that the Secretary of State for health will be imposing a intervention order against the LHA.
Occupied London Put on Notice.
At some point today (1/1/11) Saint Paul's Cathedral will issue the Occupylsx protest with a 48 hour notice to quit. That means if the protesters fail to leave within 48 hours St Paul's will begin legal proceedings to have them evicted.
Some of you have probably noticed that the St Paul's dispute is being used as a metaphor for my grandmother's situation. I must say that it's a very apt metaphor because my grandmother's interests are not represented in it in any way shape or form. In the metaphor the protesters are playing the role of the Local Health Authority (LHA) and St Paul's/the Church of England are playing the role of the Whitgift Estate. The Whitgift Estate of course being the estate of the Bishop of Whitgift - holiday home to the Archbishop of Canterbury. So by being seen to have senior figures resign in disgust and taking tough action against the protesters the Whitgift Estate is trying to save itself by throwing the LHA under the bus. I should warn them this is not the sort of behaviour that convinces me they should be allowed to continue as a going concern.
Of course by wrapping the Occupylsx protest up in my clothes the government, the Church and the City of London Corporation are hoping to silence the actual message of the actual protest. Occupylsx are unlikely to leave within 48 hours and will instead go to court and attempt to argue either that an easement has been created or their right to protest under the European Human Rights Act. The Church's long term objective is allow the protest to continue but in one of London's parks where it can be used as an open air homeless shelter/research project once all the Church run Christmas shelters kick out in the first week of January.
In other news the third quarter GDP figures have been released and show that the UK economy grew by 0.5%. They're likely to be revised downwards to 0.3 - 0.4%.
Some of you have probably noticed that the St Paul's dispute is being used as a metaphor for my grandmother's situation. I must say that it's a very apt metaphor because my grandmother's interests are not represented in it in any way shape or form. In the metaphor the protesters are playing the role of the Local Health Authority (LHA) and St Paul's/the Church of England are playing the role of the Whitgift Estate. The Whitgift Estate of course being the estate of the Bishop of Whitgift - holiday home to the Archbishop of Canterbury. So by being seen to have senior figures resign in disgust and taking tough action against the protesters the Whitgift Estate is trying to save itself by throwing the LHA under the bus. I should warn them this is not the sort of behaviour that convinces me they should be allowed to continue as a going concern.
Of course by wrapping the Occupylsx protest up in my clothes the government, the Church and the City of London Corporation are hoping to silence the actual message of the actual protest. Occupylsx are unlikely to leave within 48 hours and will instead go to court and attempt to argue either that an easement has been created or their right to protest under the European Human Rights Act. The Church's long term objective is allow the protest to continue but in one of London's parks where it can be used as an open air homeless shelter/research project once all the Church run Christmas shelters kick out in the first week of January.
In other news the third quarter GDP figures have been released and show that the UK economy grew by 0.5%. They're likely to be revised downwards to 0.3 - 0.4%.
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