Prime Minister's Questions: 29 February 2012

Question-by-question guide

tax credits
Northern Ireland referendum on fiscal union
Leveson inquiry
NHS reform
wind turbines
working tax credits
Unite strike action
police reforms
immigration policy
A4E: appointment of Emma Harrison
Paul Conroy rescue
credit easing
business rates
Northern Ireland fuel costs
tax avoidance
child tax credits
work experience scheme
Brighton Declaration on the future of the European Court of Human Rights
rise of income tax threshold
MOD procurement
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
housing benefit
welfare reform
visas and immigration controls
deputised duties in PM’s absence
Defamation Bill
benefit caps

On thoughts ...

Let not your thoughts constantly be fought,

Let thoughts in patience and joy be caught.

What patience? Cause what they call the heart

Is a drop of blood, and a thousand thought.

Hafez

Choose your own island ...

"Veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner gave a passionate defence of the NHS, describing the "wonderful" care he had received over the last 12 years, including cancer treatment, a heart bypass and a hip replacement."

This service is why the NHS is the most cheriched national institution in the country, but it's not about the 'defence' of the NHS as such, but about how you want that improved all the time too - or always strive to advance and improve. So, having that 'wonderful' service shouldn't stop you asking; could that same service been done better? How much did all this cost, and, could it have been done cheaper? Could communication between all those who provided these services, communication between the providers and communication with Mr Skinner be improved? Could this particular patient have been given a better experience overall? Mr Skinner is no doctor, nor is he a scientist, so, is his own evaluation of the service he got correct? Did those providers evaluate that same service themselves? Did they rate it the same as Mr Skinner? ... and who else is evaluating those same providers? ... etc

Answer all and if you answer truthfully, you'll always come back to the main question; could Mr Skinner's service be improved, despite his satisfaction?

... and the answer to that is always 'YES', because a culture of a continuous strive to better our surroundings and therefore our experiences is what got man out of caves and into the modern world we live in today. Otherwise if you're 100% satisfied with what you have, why move at all?! Hence, 'stop' is stagnation while 'move' is advance and better. Incidently, 'move' is the 'natural' thing to do, or tell me where in nature is anything always as is at stand still? So, 'move' is what we should all and always do ... some call that 'reform', Ma calls it 'natural'; or the forever desire to move forward, and with that, to always strive to make things better - and that can never happen in a closed up invironment and culture. Because by definition 'closed' is limiting, and that too is stagnation ... and by nature's definition , with 'move' comes 'compete' to always improve - The reason why where you do not compete you are at a stand still; so stagnant you do not improve, let alone strive to be excellent, because for that you need to run not just move!

That's 'The' reason I have always been against putting school kids whatever their age in those so called ability groups, and the like. It's because you're then allowing those at the top to advance academically while denying those at the bottom who sit and rot on that table at the back of the class to stop and stagnate instead of learn from their more able colleagues and move forward with them. Not only that, but by this segregation, or this 'unnatural' clash of the two opposites 'move' and 'stop', you create deliberate divisions amongst those children where the top groups looks down on those below, and those at the bottom become resentful of 'them' above - not a healthy atmosphere for kids to grow up in at all ... and then these negative currents last way after school age, mostly for life too! " You have this, you have that, you had better chances than me ... you, you, you ... and now you have more everything too" or " You're a no hoper, you scrounge, you leach, you're so jealous, you want to use me ...!" Rings a bell?

So unlike what the 'experts' say; that children should be segregated in groups to protect their tender pshyce, it is actually better protection for that tender psyche to leave them to sort themselves out their own way 'together'! Putting children, and adults of all ages, professions and walks of life, 'together' and allowing them to help, collaborate and co-operate with each other is also the best tool to their learning and working alone, together, and/or from each other. This in turn facilitates the building of their ambition, or the to make them willing and wanting to forever advance so that they can approach or even be like their better peers, or even better - and this in turn allows them to realise their own self-worth by this competing together ... and there you are; if it wasn't for competition, we'd all still be living in caves ... if we are lucky enough to be still living that is ...

Competition is the order of the unniverse and it is the right way to achievement too ... and competition and collaboration are not opposites, or in any way at odds, but are complimentary to each other, and together they make the best tool for effective integration of anything too ...

You don't believe me? Ok, just look at how, for example, your airlines, catering, freight/transfer companies and hotels do business together when you go on that next trip, say from ...

London - Cairo - Dubai - Singapore - Sydney

Have you ever wondered how your luggage is automatically moved to that different airline that will carry you to the following destination in each of the legs on that trip instead of you having to carry the heavy stuff yourself everytime on this long and tiring journey, and is always arriving 'with you' at your destination ? How your flights are arranged ensuring minimum waiting between flights at airports, and how transfer by coach/car/taxi is arranged as well as the provision of a hotel room when you need to wait over night at any/each destination for the next flight or when there is no available flights within a reasonable time [if travelling business/first class] ... how about your food, who is doing the catering, and you have choices too; first/business/economy, are you kosher? Vegetarian? Diabetic or just plain ordinary ... loads, but they do it all to perfection the vast majority of times, or you will most probably not use the offending service again ...

Surely, if the travel businesses can do it; 'effeciently' compete and collaborate, then integrate to give you such a good service, and a good experience too everytime, then surely any other organisation/group of organisations can do the same too, if they are serious about it and work hard at it too ... right?

You know all the 'Mr Skinner' questions above? It's what those in the airlines/travel providers work with and find answers to all the time, and that's how they can and do do it ...

Competition is not the enemy, it's your friend ... and the reason why 'you' are here ...

About the islands, which one do you want to be on; your destination - bare and closed Alcatraz, or forever green and reaching out Heaven Island?

'Heaven' ... yes, I was sooo impressed with the photo, I gave it the name myself ... in gratitute for the pleasure just looking at it gave me ....

Oh, look who is talking reform now! ... and isn't it familar!

Heaven it is then ... sooner or later ...

Ah, well ...


:-)

Give way on NHS competition [click]
Cameron tells Tories of NHS 'chaos' if health Bill is rejected [click] and [here]
NICE guidance on improving patient experience in the NHS [click]
Growling at his critics, the patient was far from frail [click]
Lansley's NHS bill is full of flaws – competition isn't one of them [click] and [more]

Prime Minister's Questions: 22 February 2012

Question-by-question guide

cuts to frontline policing
coach crash in France
NHS Reform
fostering and adoption services
Somalia
national minimum wage
Scottish devolution
elected mayors in major English cities
Leveson inquiry
cycling
work experience scheme
BAE Systems in the UK
deportation of Abu Qatada
private renting sector and the House Building Programme
racism in football
reservists in the Armed Forces
UK-US extradition treaty
regulation of pubs
Green Investment Bank
malnutrition

Give him a chance!

They hounded him, and pounded him, chased him and hunted him, heckled him ... and even called for him to be taken out and shot! Yet, SoS Lansley's belief in the work he laboured on for near enough to a decade never faltered! Not once, nor was he ever similarly vocal about those who put him under this immense pressure either! ... that's despite all the stress, the pressure, and the abuse! You know, someone else would've closed shop and ran away a long time ago, indeed I would've ... but he never did!

And I keep thinking, why is he taking all this trouble, if not because he whole heartedly believes in his idea and that, given a chance, it will bear fruit, ie, provide a modern health care system for all, at a better cost too?

Well, I am no expert, but then again, nor are the majority of those who oppose Andrew Lansley either ... and despite the numerous amendments and a personal guarantee from the Prime Minister that the health service will remain universal and free to all those who need it, those opposing are running for the chase, and the majority without reason too ... and I look in amazment, since Andrew's work is still under the microscope being examined bit by bit and atom by atom by real experts. And wonder, why not wait and see, and why the stampede to discredit?! ... and I had hoped that since everybody is talking out of love of this great national institution, that those who are supposed to be in the know should instead of rejecting outright based only on one point of view, their own, to sit down to a dialogue where their expertise, calmly expressed, would have been more fruitful ... I salute those who did just that despite their reservations, that's how you come to the right way forward.

The current stand is not how you do business in 'real' business world either, or those who would follow just their own inner voice would have closed shop and gone home long time ago , broken, in pocket and spirit ... but of course that's in the real world, not so the NHS, as it stands now!

Perhaps this is another reason why I am begining to listen to Andrew Lansley, because that mindset needs to change to one that will think and deal with the NHS as a business too - because with this comes making decisions that will not only allow standards not to fall, but a continous effort and endeavour to better practices and reduce waste. One like how much in BIG money will it cost now to ditch a half implemented bill, and whether it would be a more sound decision to allow the reform, and allow the stubborn minister to prove himself ... since we all know he is a proper expert on the NHS too - and specially because we all know, right from the start, that there are 'very' sound bits in his proposals - mainly that he wants to hand over the reins to those who know about their patients best; the hard working doctors and nurses on the frontline of the NHS ... and I like his idea of foundation trusts, or stand alone competing smaller entities responsible for their own self and their own doings instead of the notorious wasting monopoly that we have now ... and more ... and more ...

With all my children being frontline NHS staff, and myself being a member of that naughty and very troublesome ageing population, or the problem that's causing all the havoc as the experts say ... and since I have a second pledge from our top man that the NHS principals will be protected, and as we're all also fed up of this forever reforming of the reform that never gets completed because of the always staunch but many a time devoid of logic resistance, I have decided quite a while ago ... to do a U-turn and give Andrew a chance ... and I know I am making the right decision ...

Because no one can become that stubborn and maintain this stand for as long as SoS did for nothing too!

Like PM, although he know much more of course, I too now believe Andrew Lansley has something, and I want to see what that something is ... if only out of curiosity, on my part ... and what awesome resilience!

I'll take a chance on Andrew ...

... btw, Ma never gambles, let alone with the kids ... and Ma doesn't do waste either, especially not in times of need - when every penny counts, yep!

:-)


Better English [click]
Haven Paddington’s phone app idea for sexual assault victims presented to the Secretary of State for Health [click]

Of ant and grain ...

The spirit is like an ant, and the body like a grain of wheat
which the ant carries to and fro continually.
The ant knows that the grains of which it has taken charge
will change and become assimilated.
One ant picks up a grain of barley on the road;
another ant picks up a grain of wheat and runs away.
The barley doesn't hurry to the wheat,
but the ant comes to the ant, yes it does.
The going of the barley to the wheat is merely consequential:
it's the ant that returns to its own kind.
Don't say, "Why did the wheat go to the barley?"
Fix your eye on the holder, not on that which is held.
As when a black ant moves along on a black felt cloth:
the ant is hidden from view; only the grain is visible on its way.
But Reason says: "Look well to your eye:
when does a grain ever move along without a carrier?"

Serene musical instrument: Oud
Played by ElSonbati [Egyptian]

Dual National

“In love all the contradiction of existence merge themselves and are lost. Only in love are unity and duality not at variance. Love must be one and two at the same time. Only love is motion and rest in one. ”

- "No one can serve two masters with equal love and devotion"

- "Too true, only countries are mothers not masters, so tell me my friend; whom are you more devoted to, your good mother or your good wife; the mother of your children?"

I am with my mother now ... and I wish I knew how to copy my wife country's democracy to bring here for her ... and I wish I knew how to put a huge mirror on the moon to send my wife country some February sunshine too ... and, am I lucky or what?!

Happy Valentine everybody ... and lots of love and peace to my two beautiful ladies, and to the world ....

... and where are those books ....

:-)

“Heart knows not the limitations of space and time.”

Prime Minister's Questions: 8 February 2012

Question-by-question guide

• policing
• The Maldives
• NHS reform
• Typhoon Eurofighter contract
• cancer treatment
• Abu Qatada
• resources in the NHS
• public procurement
• evacuation of UK nationals from conflict zones
• stalking legislation
• apprenticeships
• employment law
• PIP implants
• ship building in Portsmouth
• jobs in the North Sea
• welfare reform
• Syria
• expanding enterprise zones
  
  
  

Moon poem ...

At the twilight, a moon appeared in the sky;

Then it landed on earth to look at me.

Like a hawk stealing a bird at the time of prey;

That moon stole me and rushed back into the sky.

I looked at myself, I did not see me any more;

For in that moon, my body turned as fine as soul.

The nine spheres disappeared in that moon;

The ship of my existence drowned in that sea.

Rumi


Kind captors [click]

Musical instrument: Egyptian Qanon

Egypt is mourning :-(

You go out to watch a football match with your friends, and you end up dead ... burnt alive, at best!

74 dead and the number maybe rising, and hundreds injured

And now everybody is talking again, acusing everybody else ... and more protests ...

While the people at home are mourning the dead ... and the Egypt they know ...

Only a year ago, Egyptians went out at all hours of the day or night to buy something, or for a bit of fresh air ... no more!

It's now fear instead ... and it is terrifying!

Who done it? I don't know, who is benefiting? ... and ....

What next?


Egypt football violence: 'I saw people with knives and swords' [click]
Egypt football riots: police fire tear gas at Cairo protesters [click]
Egypt football violence an own goal for all sides [click]
Two protesters shot dead by police in clashes in Cairo as unrest following football riot leaves new government on brink [pictures]

My Scroll ... January 2012

“History, whether bad or good, should not be forgotten.”

January 2

PM 2012 New Year message with [video] and more hope and [optimism]

January 4

Impossible crystals are 'from space' [click] ******* Academic performance at school linked to exercise [click] ... Midwife uses make-up mirror to deliver her own baby [video] ******* Asmaa tackles HIV stigma in Egypt [video]


January 6

Nursing standards: PM aims to tackle 'care problem' [click] ... David Cameron may wield second veto over dispute [click] ******* Obama unveils new strategy for 'leaner' US military [click] ******* Mubarak must die! [click]-: ... Women of Tahrir: Frustration at revolution's failures [click]


January 7

Business boosting measure announced [click] and [video] ... David Cameron takes aim at Britain's 'health and safety culture' [click] ... Cameron: industry is returning to Britain [click] ******* Have politicians ‘gelded’ the medical profession? [click] ... Scans 'show mindfulness meditation brain boost' [video] ******* The books that shaped history [video] ******* Are supplements the secret to better health [video] *******


January 8

David Cameron won’t let the socialists have fairness all to themselves [click] ... David Cameron: my vision for a fair Britain [click] ... David Cameron: I will block EU financial transaction tax [click] ******* Health Workers Reject Pensions Final Offer [video] ... Medics surveyed on pensions action [click] and [more] ******* Brain function can start declining 'as early as age 45' [click] ******* Egypt's foreign reserves drop to $18.12 billlion [click] ... Campaign calls for canceling Egypt's debts amid credit rating downgrade [click] ******* Bizarre hotels show a new trend in travel [click]


January 10

Cabinet meeting in Stratford [No 10] ... Cameron calls first Cabinet meeting of year on Olympic handball court 200 days before Games begin [click] and BBC [video] and [more] ******* Obama: the US can no longer fight the world's battles [click] ... Germany sells six-month bonds at negative yields [click] ******* Dark matter images reveal widest view of dark mystery [click] ... Scientists discover soldier bees [click]


January 11

David Cameron: 'Nursing needs to improve' [video] ... Nurses 'are losing their sense of compassion’ [click] ... Aspirin benefits are 'overstated', researchers warn [click] ******* Leveson outlines thinking on PCC alternative [click] *******
Anger over appearance of ex-Egyptian finance minister at LSE lecture [click] ...
US ambassador: We fully support the Egyptian economy [click] ... US to offer more Egyptian companies duty-free access to American market [click] ... The veil, the chair and the virtue police [click] ... Thomas Friedman draws jeers as he talks Islamism, democracy at AUC [click] ... Free Egyptians party announces boycott of upper house elections [click] ... Muslim Brotherhood met with Mubarak after his ouster [click] *******


January 12

Join us for a Red tape web Challenge chat [No 10] ******* No more 'arty' British movies: Cameron restricts funding to mainstream
[click] and [more] ... Foreign Ministry not sparing efforts to extradite ex-finance minister [click] ******* Jimmy Carter doubts military will fully submit to civilian rule [click] ... Ganzouri meets with US deputy secretary of state in Cairo [click] ******* Astronomers weigh in on Milky Way's true colours [click]


January 13

Cameron flies to meet Saudi Arabian rulers [click] and [more] ******* Azhar rallies Islamists and liberals behind 'democratic' vision for Egypt [click] ... Islamist 'Morality Police' to train volunteers in using electric batons [click :] ... Naked images of Pharoahs are heresy, says Salafist leader [click] ... Salafist dig at Naguib Mahfouz is 'worrying,' says ElBaradei [click] ... Revolutionary activists take fight into cyberspace [click] ... US increases outreach to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood [click]


January 14

David Cameron signals rethink on child benefit cuts [click] and [more] ******* David Cameron on first trip to Saudi Arabia [video] ... Cameron visits Saudi king on first trip to country [click] and [click] and [more] ******* Saudi king dismisses religious police head [click] and [here] ******* One in eight UK scientists has witnessed research fraud [click] ... Misconduct pervades UK research [click]


January 15

Mohamed ElBaradei drops Egyptian presidential bid [click] ... Mohamed ElBaradei quits Egyptian presidential race [click] and [more] ... ElBaradei withdrawal from presidential race stirs confusion among activists [click] ******* Egypt's radical Salafists approach secular rivals [click :] ... Former US President Carter describes Egyptian women’s parliamentary share a 'disappointment' [click] ... Egypt’s morality police: Islamic fanaticism or elaborate hoax? [click] and [more]


January 16

ElBaradei’s withdrawal from presidential race raises hopes for revolutionary change
[click] ... ******* ... ElBaradei: Military council tried to dissuade me from withdrawal [click] ******* Doctors Syndicate condemns treatment of Egyptian doctors in Saudi Arabia [click] ******* UN chief urges end to Israeli 'occupation' [click]


January 17

David Cameron: Samantha and I have weekly date night [click] and [Hello] and, he's not podgy! [click] and [more] ... David Cameron Calls Katy Perry's Music 'Appalling' [click] and [here] and [more] ... ******* U.K. says 'time is running out' for Middle East peace [click] and [more] ******* John Lewis and a new vision for capitalism [click] ******* Ban Ki-moon: Mubarak should not face death penalty [click] ... Brotherhood secretary's remarks on women spark controversy [click] ... ElBaradei supporters reject 'fake' revolution celebrations [click]

January 19

Cameron steps up efforts to heal EU rifts [click] ... The wishes and worries of a parenthetic revolutionary [click] and more [click] ... Coasting schools a "hidden crisis" with pupils failing to reach their full potential [No 10] *******
GP: Professional uncertainty [click] ******* Piano prodigy passes Grade 8 music exam at age eight [click]


January 20

Co-operative Bill will' build a fairer economy' [No 10] ... David Cameron says UK must build 'a better economy' [with video] ... Sketch: David Cameron's vision for a cuddlier capitalism [click] and [more] *******
London's health plans: why the need for an overhaul is urgent [click] ... Foetus parties: Womb with a view? [click] ******* Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton - review [click] ... The 42 commandments of Ma'at [click] and [here] ******* Star factories snapped by infrared telescopes [click] *******


January 21

For Britain to flourish, so must capitalism [click] ... David Cameron pledges era of 'popular capitalism' [video] ******* The rise of the overclass [click] ******* Will the health bill increase private activity in the NHS? [click] ... T-rays technology could help develop Star Trek-style hand-held medical scanners [click] ******* A first, with honours, for the student who rejected Oxbridge [click] ******* A place where women rule over men [click] ******* Brotherhood leader asks media to support democracy [click] ... Egypt: Hosni Mubarak a 'man with clean hands' [click]


January 22

Singing Obama [video] ******* NHS changes: Clegg says plans must go ahead [click] ******* Turning weed into gold [video] ... Animals [pictures] *******


January 23

Live updates: Egypt's first post-Mubarak People's Assembly convenes [click] ******* What's the business in you [No 10] ... Set up your companies in one of my Government departments, David Cameron tells Britain's entrepreneurs [click] and [more]


January 25

PM speaks Chinese! [video] and Happy Chinese New Year from [No 10] ... David Cameron shrugs off welfare battles to soar in poll [click] and [The Mail] and [more] ... David Cameron calls for reform of European court of human rights [click] and [more] ******* Diplomats spell out 'January revolution' in lights on FM building [click] ... Military head ends state of emergency, except in 'thug-related cases' [click] ... Blow by blow: The People's Assembly's first day [click] ... FJP committee nominations produce first parliamentary crisis [click] ... Hundreds gather in Tahrir Square ahead of revolution anniversary [click]


January 26

PM speech on the European Court of Human Rights [No 10] and [more] ...
Cameron will use Davos platform to lobby Brussels on burden of regulation [click] and [more] and, he's NOT arrogant! [@@] ******* US praises lifting of Emergency Law, seeks clarification of 'thuggery' [click] and Egyptians [too] ... Egypt's anti-SCAF protests eclipse Tahrir Square anniversary festivities [click] and [pictures] and [video] ... Mixed emotions on Tahrir Square for Egypt anniversary [click] and [more] ******* The Muslim Brotherhood is not the Taliban [click] ... Artists march on new parliament for freedom of expression [click] ******* Genetic testing: NHS 'must back revolution' [click] ... Magic mushrooms’ effects illuminated in brain imaging studies [click] ********


January 27

Davos 2012 PM's speech [N0 10] and [Video] and [more] ******* Andrew Lansley calls BMA 'politically poisoned' for opposing NHS shakeup [click] and [more] ******* Iranian leader: Egypt’s new parliament a step toward Islamic regime [click] Grand mufti: Parliament should decide about Sharia law [click] *******


January 29


Baradei proposes Egypt transition roadmap [click] ******* Anti-matter atoms to address anti-gravity question [click] ******* American NGO workers prevented from leaving Egypt [click] and [Egypt] and [more] ... AUC denies El-Adly lawyer's claims that it killed protesters [click] ... Brotherhood figure meets US officials at US ambassador’s residence [click] ... Palestinian leader: Talks with Israel over [click] ... Brotherhood vows to shun Israeli officials [click] ******* Twitter to begin censoring Tweets in certain countries [click] and [reaction] and more from [Egypt]


January 30

We too should ban the burka [click] ******* Low turnout, glitches in Shura Council elections [click] and [more] ... and, there is No 'dignity' in begging minister! [click] and [more] ... EU ambassador: Brotherhood and Salafis against restricting freedom of belief [click:] ... Obama reads Tantawi the Riot Act [click]


January 31


EU treaty will not 'place obligations' on UK, says PM [click] ... EU and the euro: Where they stand [click] ... David Cameron ready for fresh Spanish rumblings on Rock of Gibraltar [click] and [more] ... PM urges restraint on future RBS bonuses[click] and [more] ******* Check your facts, Sarkozy! [click] ******* Gorillas grin 'to reassure pals [click] ******* 'Rift btwn Egypt’s revolutionaries, Brotherhood widens in anniversary aftermath [click] *******


"We have differentiation from other communities. Our history is the critical differentiation. We should be out shouting it from the roof tops - we are an historic community. We are a real town.”

Prime Minster's Questions: 1 February 2012

Question-by-question guide

policing
welfare reforms – benefits cap, disability benefits for children, benefits for working people, housing, HOL amendments
transparency of bankers pay
Typhoon contract
pensioner bus passes
Portsmouth Football Club
NHS reforms -midwives
enterprise zone in East Kent
Lord Ashcroft
RBS pay
raising the income tax threshold
drink driving legal reforms