Amongst the shouting – there were good things in that vote too

Shamed be he who thinks ill of it (shamed be w...
Her Majesty has more ministers responsible for Higher Education, than just those based in Whitehall. Image via Wikipedia

Motions inextricably linked

The debate on this motion in the House of Commons yesterday:

That the draft Higher Education (Basic Amount) (England) Regulations 2010, which were laid before this House on 29 November, be approved.

was inextricably linked to that on

That, for the purpose of section 24 of the Higher Education Act 2004, the higher amount should be increased to £9,000, and to £4,500 in the cases described in regulation 5 of the draft regulations in Command Paper Cm 7986, and that the increase should take effect from 1 September 2012.

However, whilst I do not agree with the trebling of fees for full-time undergraduates, as has been made clear in recent posts. As one who has been a part-time undergraduate the provisions on the inclusion of part-time students within the student loan system for the first time is one part of the Bill with which I can agree. Continue reading “Amongst the shouting – there were good things in that vote too”

updated: FIFA wants LGBT fans to put themselves at risk

Post updated§

The FIFA World Cup is not coming to England. No, it is going to Russia in 2018, and to Qatar in 2022? Is there much for me to celebrate in this?

Let’s look at Russia?

ILGA-Europe’s Annual Conference adopted a declaration against homophobic/transphobic attack in Russia

Declaration of the 14th ILGA-Europe conference with regard to attack on LGBT activists in Russia*

ILGA-Europe logo

On October 30, in Tomsk three activists of the local branch of the Russian LGBT Network were attacked while disctributing leaflets to people in the streets with the call or tolerance toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. They were attacked by a group of nine people in the masks. In the results of harsh beating all three activists were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. We draw a particular attention to the fact that the attack took place very close to the police station, but the police officers did not interfere. Continue reading “updated: FIFA wants LGBT fans to put themselves at risk”

a worrying sign of things to come…

I was not at the protests in London this week, but having just watched a video on Oxford Spring I am very glad that I was not. It appears that the Mounted Section of the Metropolitan Police charged into the crowd. As Oxford Spring puts it: There is no excuse for this mounted police charge into the crowd. No, it is not on the scale of the Miner’s Strikes or the Peterloo Massacre but it is still grossly disproportionate to what the police officers faced. The Met’s police chief yesterday stated clearly that there was no cavalry charge. If he … Continue reading a worrying sign of things to come…

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The Portal Magazine – ignoring the reality

Just after I watched the CNN interview with Bishop Andrew Burnham who is leaving the department of state called the ‘Church of England’ to be received into full communion with the Holy See, I noticed an advertisement for The Portal Magazine. I thought that I should subscribe to it. Sadly, those who have put the ordering form together, have made it difficult for those of us who recognise the country in which I live as Northern Ireland, and not Ireland. Indeed the choice given for country was: England Wales Scotland Ireland Not in the UK Now despite the bail-out by … Continue reading The Portal Magazine – ignoring the reality

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