Leading article: Incredible capping

There was always a suspicion of sleight of hand about the Conservative Party's policy on immigration during the election campaign. The public are clearly exercised about the number of immigrants who have come to Britain over the past decade. So during the general election campaign, the Tories made populist noises on the subject to win votes. But the stereotype of immigrants to which the public most object – Eastern European scroungers begging in the streets – are a class of immigrant beyond the control of any British government, of whatever party. Citizens of the European Union are entitled to free movement within member states and there is nothing even the most right-wing administration can do about that, short of leaving the EU.


So the Home Secretary, Theresa May, in order to live up to her party's election promises, was yesterday forced to announce a cap on the number of non-EU migrants entering the country. She claimed that these represent a majority of incomers – 52 per cent – though reliable sources suggest that the figure is a mere tenth of that. Ms May, who got herself in a bit of a muddle over the difference between net and gross figures, was unpersuasive on this. What is more credible is the concern from business leaders that the curb will undermine the Conservative proclamation that Britain is "open for business". Ms May is planning a 5 per cent cut in Tier One of Britain's points-based immigration system, which includes highly skilled migrants, entrepreneurs and investors; she also wants a similar cut in Tier Two workers, who include skilled migrants with job offers. Exempting individuals, like top footballers, may keep the populist press off the government's back, but it will risk depriving global industries of the skills they need, harm universities' incomes from foreign students and sit ill with William Hague's foreign policy strategy of building links with rising powers like Brazil and India.

Ms May's coalition partners, the Lib Dems – who in other circumstances might have been expected to insist that immigration is in fact good for the UK – have fallen shamefully silent. But the truth is that migrant workers, though they can put a heavy burden on public services in places, on balance contribute far more to the British economy than they take. Figures from George Osborne's new Office for Budget Responsibility suggest that a fall in immigration could reduce the UK's GDP growth by as much as one per cent a year by the end of this parliament. Whichever way one looks at this policy, it simply does not add up.

From this mornings Independent.

'Excellent' care rating for Salford's adult social services

Vulnerable adults and older people in Salford are receiving 'excellent' care and older people are more likely to stay safe in their homes for longer, with a better quality of life, government inspectors have found.

A report from the Care Quality Commission, which monitors the quality of adult social care provided by councils, shows that Salford City Council is continuing to provide some of the best care in the country with 'excellent' prospects to improve.

Salford is one of only a few authorities in the country to have achieved this level of performance.

It is also concludes that Salford is supporting more people to remain in their own homes than in other areas in the North West.

For five years running Salford has sustained its overall excellent rating from the independent regulator, but the inspection judgement means that this area has improved from 'performing well' to being 'excellent'.

The inspection was carried out in March but publication has been delayed until this week because of the election.

It is the first time the council's adult safeguarding services has been directly inspected. The last inspection from the independent inspection body was in 2007 and focused on learning difficulty services.

It focused on two areas; the care provided to vulnerable adults for which it was rated "excellent"; and improving the quality of life of older people, where the city council "performs well".

The Commission praised the council for its work to provide a broad range of services and information to help people stay safe in their homes, and has formed a robust and effective Adult Safeguarding Board with an independent chair'.

It highlights the processes put in place to review services for older people as an area where Salford is doing well and says Salford has excellent prospects to improve further.

It found good working relationships with NHS Salford to provide vulnerable and older people with services to prevent admission to hospital and residential care.

It said social workers were 'enthusiastic about the opportunities they had to create support packages which recognise individuals’ preferences and enable them to pursue their own chosen activities'.

Looking to the future, the commission recognised that Salford has a 'clear vision for social care in the city', it is 'leading change ', and 'offers many ways for residents from all communities in the city to get involved in transforming services.'

Lead Member for Adult Services & Health, Councillor John Warmisham, said: "This report is an independent verdict on essential services that are relied upon and appreciated by those who use them.

"We've not only been inspected by independent experts but by people who know what it's like to need a service.

"We're helping more older people to stay in their homes independently and our adult social services are not only among the best in the country, they also have a promising future.

"We invest in our staff as we recognise they are the front line of any service. This part of the council has achieved Investors In People champion status and recognises the value of the workforce to make sure there was active involvement of people in their own care.

"And, if the time comes when someone does need extra help, we work with our partners to offer quality services that support individual needs.

"We listen very hard to what local people want and have responded by developing services to help people maintain a good quality of life and the commission's 'excellent' rating of our services shows that we're getting it right."

For more information visit www.cqc.org.uk or the report is also available on the council's website.

The poster the Lib Dems want you to forget

And how Osborne mislead us all over his VAT rise.



It was unclear whether George Osborne would raise VAT right up until the moment he stood up in the Commons. After all, during the election campaign, the then shadow chancellor insisted he had "no plans" to raise this regressive tax.

Here's the key quote:

The plans we set out involved around 80 per cent of the work coming from spending restraint and about 20 per cent from tax increases... The tax increases are already in place, the plans do not include an increase in VAT.

Nothing has changed since then to necessitate a sharp rise in VAT to 20 per cent (as Will Straw points out, this was far from an "unavoidable" tax increase). In fact, the deficit, then thought to stand at £167bn, is now £155bn. The grim conclusion must be that Osborne hid this tax rise from the voters for electoral purposes.

There were some key figures, the Lib Dems and Ed Balls among them, prepared to sound the alarm during the campaign. Nick Clegg's party even released a now infamous poster warning of a Tory VAT "bombshell" They were right about that but, presumably, never planned to help drop it.

One wonders how Simon Hughes, who last week denounced VAT as "the most regressive tax", feels today. Will the Lib Dems' deputy leader have the courage to speak up for his party's grass roots? Will Charles Kennedy? Will Paddy Ashdown? One hopes so.

There is no doubt that this tax rise will hit the poorest hardest. As the Fabian Society's Tim Horton has noted, while the richest 10 per cent pay one in every 25 pounds in VAT, the poorest 10 per cent pay one in every seven pounds.

But not only is this tax hike socially unjust, it is also economically defective. With growth weaker than expected, there are few worse possible responses than raising VAT.

A recent report for the Centre for Retail Research found that raising the VAT rate to 20 per cent would cost each household £425 a year on average. It added that the resultant drop in consumer spending could cost 47,000 jobs and lead to the closure of almost 10,000 stores.

In the Commons, as Harriet Harman attacked the Lib Dems' betrayal and Danny Alexander and Nick Clegg smirked away, one was reminded of the closing words of George Orwell's Animal Farm:

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

Today was the day that the Lib Dems lost their soul.

George Eaton New Statesman

Growing our way out of the crisis / Features / Home - Morning Star

Growing our way out of the crisis / Features / Home - Morning Star

Cuts to local government make a mockery of Cameron’s claim that "we’re all in this together"

The Tory Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has today announced a raft of cuts to local government totalling £1.165bn. The cuts have been made from funding streams within the Area Based Grant, which is targeted at councils in areas with high levels of deprivation, not from the councils’ formula grant.

Responding to the announcements, Sir Jeremy Beecham, Leader of the LGA Labour Group said: “These cuts will be a major blow to people up and down the country who depend on services that are now to be slashed. While the Lib Dem-Tory Coalition sit in their Westminster offices tearing up funding for grants, the harsh reality of these cuts will be all too painfully felt in our communities.

“Victims of Pickles’ axe include initiatives to tackle worklessness in England’s most deprived areas, housing related support to vulnerable people and programmes to boost community cohesion in poor areas. Housing delivery funding has also been cut, undermining the prospects for crucial housing development that the Labour Government worked so hard to support through the recession.

“Cameron’s claim that ‘we are all in this together’ has today been exposed as a sham. By choosing to cut a grant that is targeted at councils in areas with high levels of deprivation, the Lib Dem-Tory Coalition has shown it is all too willing to let the poorest shoulder the greatest burden. The Government has taken the first opportunity to slash funding for services on which vulnerable people depend.

“This ‘new politics’ is unfortunately the same old Tory wolf in sheep’s clothing – only this time the Liberal Democrats are colluding in the shameful enterprise.”

A fox in the henhouse / Comment / Home - Morning Star

A fox in the henhouse / Comment / Home - Morning Star

Changed lives but same old Tories

David Cameron and his coalition team are softening up Britain for cuts that will change the lives of everyone and transform the country

by Tribune Editorial
Friday, June 11th, 2010
You’ll never have had it so bad, warns the Government as David Cameron and his coalition team soften up Britain for cuts that will change the lives of everyone and transform the country. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. We are being braced for austerity and we are all in it together. The Government need hardly have bothered, to judge by the absence of any opposition alternative being mounted by the would-be leadership of the Labour Party.

The second oldest trick in the book is the synthetic astonishment at having arrived in office to find that the state of the economy is worse than the last lot were letting on. It’s not worse, it’s better, with the deficit down around £20 billion on the former Chancellor Alistair Darling’s projections. That has been achieved through public spending investment, not cuts, an uncomfortable pea under Vince Cable’s ministerial cushion as he squints out of his glass Business Department prison to the Treasury.

The Government has done what it said it would and made reducing the £156 billion deficit the virility test of its tenure in office. Tribune has argued consistently that investment not cuts is the more efficacious and socially responsible way of achieving this. Wherever the Tory model (for it is that which the coalition is following) has been tried – Ireland, Mexico or Japan, for example – it has led to economic collapse or, as in Canada, a “bloodbath” in the public sector. Canada’s resulting economic growth was aided by

the rising global economy. There is no clear evidence of any government drastically reducing a budget deficit while the global economy is weak and coming out of it with a stronger economy.

The danger is that the Government has headed into a perfect storm with a stalled recovery turning into a full-blown recession. And they’re taking us all with them.