[Debatewise RRT] Re: General election debates
- From: "Alex Helling" <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:08:02 -0000
Hi Melissa,
You were going to write a debate on whether there should be an
English Parliament I noticed that even though I did tell him which ones the
RRT was/are doing Hassan has gone and added that debate himself
http://debatewise.org/debates/1749-there-should-be-an-english-parliament so
my apologies for that. His debates do not have many points and need a lot of
improving (I did tell him just to get the debates up rather than being too
bothered about the content) so if you were working on the question then
either add to that one or else publish your own and I will unpublish
Hassan's. If you are doing your own then we need it published by Friday,
although as it is the url we need it is not necessary for the debate to be
completely finished.
Regards,
Alex
-----Original Message-----
From: debatewiserrt-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:debatewiserrt-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of mjb524@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 10 March 2010 15:17
To: debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Debatewise RRT] Re: General election debates
I'll take there should be an English parliament.
On Mar 9 2010, Alex Helling wrote:
>Evening all,
>
>
>
>Things are slightly different today. Due to the upcoming elections
>Debatewise will be working with votematch to help give voters an idea as to
>the issues behind the policies of the parties. This means we have rather a
>lot of debates to do and unfortunately the people behind votematch have
>given us very little time in which to do these debates so we need your help
>to create them.
>
>
>
> I have listed all the debates that need doing below (we may get some more
> for Scotland/Wales/NI later) so if you could take them as usual. I have
> also listed some similar debates for reference. Equally for the ones I
> have been doing please add to them and I apologise to those of you whose
> points I have cannibalised in order to create the debates!
>
>
>
> Because we only have the 19th to create these debates if you take one and
> then decide you can't do it please email me in plenty of time so that we
> can do the debate here at HQ
>
>
>
> And finally could you please put the debates on our election site rather
> than the normal Debatewise site: http://electionuk.debatewise.org/ (you
> can log in with your usual details)
>
>
>
>Thanks
>
>Alex
>
>
>
>Debates on the site for you to add to:
>
>
>
http://electionuk.debatewise.org/debates/1734-an-independent-board-should-al
> locate-nhs-resources-to-different-parts-of-the-country
>
>
>
http://electionuk.debatewise.org/debates/1733-the-cost-of-nhs-administration
> -should-be-cut-by-one-third
>
>
>
http://electionuk.debatewise.org/debates/1735-the-government-should-withdraw
> -troops-from-afghanistan-with-a-year
>
>
>
>
>
>Economy:
>
>
>
>The Bank of England should have overall responsibility for financial
>oversight
>
>The financial crisis and the recession that have affected us over the last
>few years have shown that we need a change in the regulatory system that
>provides oversight for the city and the banks. The Financial Services
>Authority having failed the Conservatives believe that the Bank of England
>have much more power over the financial sector.
>
>
>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/5906113/Sir
> -James-Sassoon-why-I-told-the-Tories-to-scrap-the-FSA.html
>
>http://www.publicservice.co.uk/feature_story.asp?id=12296
>
>
>
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldeconaf/101/1010
> 8.htm
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/870
>
>
>
> The Government should be compelled by law to cut the deficit by 50%
> within 4 years
>
> The UK is currently running a budget deficit of 12%, that is higher than
> Greece a country that is in particularly hot water due to its fiscal
> imprudence. Everyone agrees that this has to be reduced, but how quickly
> should this be done and how far does it need to be cut? No one really
> knows. Governments do not like making big cuts in services as they are
> unpopular so introducing a law forcing a cut in the deficit within a
> certain time could be useful to whichever party wins the election.
>
>
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/07/deficit-fetishism-govern
> ment-spending
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8514767.stm
>
>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102
><http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=ay3jUtAyftac>
>&sid=ay3jUtAyftac
>
>
>
> All departments should bear the brunt of spending cuts to reduce the
> deficit
>
> Both the Conservatives and the Labour party are promising to ring fence
> some areas from any spending cuts, areas such as international
> development and the NHS. However such ring fencing simply means that the
> cuts have to be bigger elsewhere in order to make up for the inability to
> cut in some areas. This is unequal. The public may say they care most
> about the NHS but they may change their tune when they find that the fire
> service is drastically cut back because their can't be cuts in other
> areas.
>
>
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/sep/16/public-spending-departme
> nts-money-cuts
>
>
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/05/financial-crisis-public-
> spending-tax
>
>
>
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/artic
> le7034353.ece
>
>
>
>Employment and Equal Ops:
>
>
>
> All companies who employ more than 250 people should be forced to publish
> an annual report comparing the average pay of men with the average pay of
> women in the company.
>
>Pay between men and women doing the same job is supposed to be equal, but
>even if and where it is there are many other little inequalities that
>reducing the earning power of women. Having to publish a comparison between
>the average earnings of men and women at companies would show which
>companies are closing the gender gap and which have some way to go. Naming
>and shaming is a way that may encourage firms to voluntarily equalise pay.
>
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jan/06/equality-bill-pay
>
>
>
http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2009-09-14/gender-pay-gap-stays-as-wide-
> as-ever
>
>
>
>The total hours allowed in a working week should not be decided by the EU
>
> The French and the Europeans generally are stereotyped in Britain and the
> US as being much more fun loving and wishing to work shorter working
> weeks than 'Anglo-Saxon economies' such as Britain. However the European
> Union now has a big say over many areas of regulation that were
> previously the preserve of Westminster. The amount of time we work is one
> of them. The working time directive is one of them. It limits us to a
> working week of 48 hours, however we are perfectly at liberty to set our
> own national limits on working weeks that are less than 48 hours as
> several European countries have.
>
>
>
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timcollard/100007914/the-working-time-dire
> ctive-the-one-jewel-in-the-eus-plastic-crown/
>
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/17/eu-work-and-careers
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/818
>
>
>
>People on job seekers allowance who refuse a job should lose their benefits
>
> When there are millions looking for work people should be given every
> incentive they can be to make sure that if they get offered a job they
> take it. It is a simply a drain on the state's resources if someone
> refuses a job and carries on collecting jobseekers allowance the state
> should not nanny people until they happen to find a job that they like.
> Job seekers should be given the option of either taking the first job
> they are offered or losing their benefits if they wish to turn it down.
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7176032.stm
>
>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6605850.ece
>
>
>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/1574822/Tor
> ies-to-strip-benefits-if-jobless-refuse-work.html
>
>
>
>Immigration and Asylum:
>
>
>
> Asylum seekers should be allowed to work while waiting for their
> application to be processed
>
>Asylum seekers sitting around doing nothing is of no use to anyone. They
>should instead be doing something productive while waiting to see if their
>asylum application is granted. Not allowing them to work forces them into
>poverty while they wait for our slow system of processing applications to
>pass them through the system. If they are allowed to work and if at the end
>of it all they are rejected at least they will have gained something during
>their stay and contributed to the economy.
>
>
>
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-let-as
> ylumseekers-work-1609199.html
>
>
>
http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2007/10/asylum-seekers-work-amnest
> y
>
>
>
http://www.church-poverty.org.uk/campaigns/livingghosts/destituteanddesperat
> e
>
>
>
>ID cards should be compulsory for immigrants and asylum seekers
>
> The Home office keeps getting into difficulties with asylum seekers,
> either through having more than predicted or with failures to deport
> asylum seekers who then go on to commit crimes. Having ID cards
> compulsory for immigrants means that it is much more difficult for the
> home office to lose people. ID cards are meant to reduce the numbers of
> people working illegally so this makes immigrants an obvious target group
> and they provide a test case for any eventual role out for everyone.
>
>
>
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/idcardsforforeignnationals/
>
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1793151.stm
>
>
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jun/09/labour-id
> -cards
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/1
>
>
>
>People committed of crimes who were not born in this country should be
>deported
>
> People who have committed crimes who were not born here should consider
> themselves to have forfeited their right to stay in the UK. While it
> seems obvious that where possible we should deport violent criminals who
> are not native there are many circumstances where it would not be
> appropriate. Should we be deporting everyone convicted for petty crimes?
> What do we do if the country they come from is not safe?
>
>
>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1563890/Foreigners-commit-fifth-of-cr
> ime-in-London.html
>
>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6211514.ece
>
>
>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/7149720/Failure-to-deport
> -foreign-criminals-costs-60m-a-year.html
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/691
>
>
>
>Parliamentary Reform:
>
>
>
>There should be a referendum on changing the electoral system for General
>Elections in the next Parliament.
>
>The current first past the post electoral system that we have in this
>country no longer interprets the people's wishes very well. It is very
>possible that the conservatives may get a bigger percent of the votes while
>getting fewer seats than Labour. The Liberal democrats and other small
>parties will almost certainly be even worse off. Although it might not
>include a range of possible electoral systems a referendum would at least
>allow a debate on the issue of electoral reform and it is likely than any
>system decided on would be more representative than our present one.
>
>http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/votingsystems/systems.htm
>
>
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/09/bill-define-election-bro
> wn-legacy
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8492622.stm
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/155
>
>
>
>The number of MPs should be reduced by 10%
>
> During this parliament many MPs have discredited themselves and the
> Houses of Parliament with their excessive expenses claims. While there
> have been reforms put in place to reduce these claims there are still a
> total of 646 MPs in the House of Commons. The House of Representatives in
> the USA has 435 congressmen to represent a population almost five times
> the size.
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7294330.stm
>
>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6078282.ece
>
>
>
>The Government should legislate for elections to the House of Lords within
>the next Parliament
>
> Labour has been promising an elected House of Lords since they were
> elected in 1997, there has been progress with hereditary peers leaving
> however there has been no movement to having the House of Lords elected
> rather than appointed. If we are going to lecture dictators on the
> benefits of democracy we should show that we believe in them too, an
> appointed chamber such as we have now shows that we do not take democracy
> seriously. But is legislating to create an elected House of Lords really
> a priority with the economy in such a bad state?
>
>http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm41/4183/ref-08.htm
>
>
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/20/parliament-reform-house-
> of-lords
>
>http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/article.php?id=30
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/1223
>
>
>
>Pensions and Retirement:
>
>
>
>Pensions should be tied to average earnings in the next Parliament
>
>Margret Thatcher in 1980 abolished the link that there had been between
>pensions and average earnings meaning that the state pension has been
>falling in value relative to earnings in almost every year since. This is
>obviously unfair, however it would be very costly to restore the link and
>the public purse is in no position to foot the bill in the near future.
>
>
>
http://colineldridge.org.uk/news/000025/bring_back_link_between_pensions_and
> _earnings_say_lib_dems.html
>
>
>
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-target-state-pension-in
> -battle-to-balance-books-1787328.html
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/790
>
>
>
>The retirement age should be scrapped
>
> Scrapping the retirement age would potentially solve numerous current and
> future problems. It could help reduce our budget deficit if the state
> retirement age is increased meaning less is paid out while if more people
> are working then there will be more money coming in to the treasury. So
> long as there is a retirement age it is easy for companies to pressurise
> people who want to work into retirement. In the future having no
> retirement age would help combat the problems of an ageing population
> such as a shrinking workforce and their being less people to pay for
> pensioners pensions.
>
>
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/jan/25/retirement-age-scrapped-equality
> -commission
>
>
>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/7309292/State-pe
> nsion-age-should-be-70-PwC-says.html
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/848
>
>
>
>Sovereignty and Devolution:
>
>
>
>There should be an English Parliament
>
> We have a Scottish Parliament, a Welsh Assembly and a Assembly at
> Stormont for Northern Ireland that has just voted to have policing and
> justice powers devolved to them. This leaves England, with most of the
> British population without its own parliament. In many cases the MPs for
> Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can vote on laws that can only
> affect England while English MPs have very little say over what happens
> in those areas with their own assemblies, this represents a democratic
> deficit that has to be sorted out.
>
>
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/18/devolution-england-pseud
> o-democracy
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8558466.stm
>
>
>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/philipjohnston/7396040/David-C
>
ameron-will-have-to-finally-address-English-resentment-over-devolution.html
> http://debatewise.org/debates/1246
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/3
>
>
>
>There should be a referendum on the UK's continued membership of the
>European Union.
>
> We were denied a vote on the Lisbon treaty that many wanted, although so
> far the results of the treaty have been less than spectacular. The UK has
> however had a referendum on its membership and voted to become a member
> of the EEC, so should a referendum simply be on the changes that have
> taken place since then? There is very little in the way of referendums in
> Britain, so such a referendum on leaving the EU should only occur if a
> party that has promised one in its election manifesto wins the election.
> Many would like to have a referendum on the continued membership of the
> EU so putting aside questions about what do we do if we leave the EU
> should we get to vote?
>
>
>
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/9238909/Would_Britain_vote_to
> _leave_the_EU/
>
>
>
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1225053/A-referendum-Mr-Cameron-CO
> ULD-people.html
>
>
>
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23763500-tories-set-to-retrea
> t-on-eu-referendum-pledge.do
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/846
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/784
>
>
>
>
>
>Tax:
>
>
>
>Marriage should be incentivised through the tax system.
>
>David Cameron has proposed a that marriage should be incentivised, although
>he rapidly had to retreat due to not having the proposal all costed. The
>Conservative proposals would have a transferrable tax allowance for all
>married couples costing £3.2 billion. The tax system is regularly used to
>incentivise or punish behaviour such as smoking or drinking. So it should
>incentivise things that are good for us such as marriage which provides for
>more stability, particularly for children.
>
>
>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7005840/Marriage-is-good-for-u
> s-its-time-to-support-it.html
>
>
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/18/family-marriage-tax-came
> ron-labour
>
>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6992961.ece
>
>
>
>Estates less than £1million pounds should not be liable for Inheritance Tax
>
> Inheritance tax, often portrayed as the 'death tax' by its opponents.
> Everyone dislikes having to pay tax, but why should we be bothered about
> paying taxes on unearned wealth. An inheritance is a windfall so it makes
> no difference to those gaining the windfall if the taxman shares in the
> gain. Does it make a difference if it is a relatively small amount?
>
>
>
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clarke-back-in-line-on-inherit
> ance-tax-cut-policy-1652601.html
>
>
>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/alicethomson/3554424/Ive-chang
> ed-my-mind-on-inheritance-tax.html
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/1182
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/333
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/1052
>
>
>
> People earning less than £10,000 pounds a year should not have to pay
> Income tax
>
> Income tax for an income below £10,000 seems like a pointless excercise.
> The treasury is not likely to get much money out of the tax and at the
> same time will be encouraging those people who earn such small amounts to
> stay on welfare payments instead of spending their time working in return
> for their pittance. However even if they do pay income tax the chances
> are they will be able to get as much back in benefits and means tested
> allowances. They still use the free services of the state such as the NHS
> and the education system so should they not pay for it?
>
>
>
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/alexsingleton/8046867/Its_inefficient_and_
> unfair_to_make_poor_people_pay_income_tax/
>
>http://debatewise.org/debates/1013
>
>
>
>
>
>Use Revisewise @ http://revisewise.debatewise.com/
>
>
>
>
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