Dont ask me! Not yet worked it out sorry! L David just reminded me a few minutes ago, I will work it out tomorrow morning (It takes quite a lot of time so I would not be able to get it done today anyway). So that this is a useful email here is an update on the status of yesterday?s debates: Blue = Done/may need editing, Red = been taken/being done. Crime: 1. New prisons need to be built to ease overcrowding ? By Hassan http://debatewise.org/debates/1633 http://debatewise.org/debates/755 2. Homeowners should be free from prosecution when protecting themselves against intruders ? By Hassan http://debatewise.org/debates/1624 Defence and Foreign Affairs: 3. The UK?s nuclear deterrent should be reduced. ? By Alex http://debatewise.org/debates/1162 (may be possible simply to alter the debate) http://debatewise.org/debates/144 http://revisewise.debatewise.com/debates/748 4. The Government should withdraw troops from Afghanistan with a year ? By Alex http://debatewise.org/debates/932 http://debatewise.org/debates/1048 Economy: 5. 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 6. The Government should be compelled by law to cut the deficit by 50% within 4 years ? By Nadia (RRT) 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 7. All departments should bear the brunt of spending cuts to reduce the deficit ? By Sarah (RRT) 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 Education: 8. SATs tests for eleven year olds should be scrapped. ? By Hassan http://debatewise.org/debates/186 http://debatewise.org/debates/1215 9. There should be tax breaks for home-schooling parents ? By Hassan 10. Tuition fees should be scrapped ? By Hassan http://debatewise.org/debates/723 http://debatewise.org/debates/899 http://debatewise.org/debates/197 Environment: 11. We should build new nuclear power plants. ? By Alex http://debatewise.org/debates/493 http://debatewise.org/debates/838 http://debatewise.org/debates/1357 12. Man made climate change is a myth ? By Alex http://debatewise.org/debates/1466 http://debatewise.org/debates/455 Employment and Equal Ops: 13. 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 14. 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 15. People on job seekers allowance who refuse a job should lose their benefits ? By Harriet (RRT) 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 Health: 16. The cost of NHS administration should be cut by one third ? By Alex http://debatewise.org/debates/1222 1. An independent board should allocate NHS resources to different parts of the country ? By Alex http://debatewise.org/debates/657 Immigration and Asylum: 2. Asylum seekers should be allowed to work while waiting for their application to be processed ? By Victoria (RRT) 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 3. 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 4. 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: 5. There should be a referendum on changing the electoral system for General Elections in the next Parliament. ? By Doug (RRT) 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 6. 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 7. The Government should legislate for elections to the House of Lords within the next Parliament ? By Doug (RRT) 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: 8. 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 9. 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: 10. There should be an English Parliament ? By Melissa (RRT) 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 11. 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: 12. 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 13. 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 14. 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 exercise. 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 From: debatewiserrt-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:debatewiserrt-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of nadia siddiqi Sent: 10 March 2010 16:13 To: debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [Debatewise RRT] Re: debatewiserrt Digest V2 #31 BTW who won DOTM in February? Nadia On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 1:24 PM, nadia siddiqi <nadshi@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: 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 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/07/deficit-fetishism-gover nment-spending> ment-spending http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8514767.stm http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid 601102 <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid 601102&sid=ay3jUtAyftac> &sid=ay3jUtAyftac dibs. Not taken; I checked. Nadia On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 11:09 AM, FreeLists Mailing List Manager <ecartis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: debatewiserrt Digest Tue, 09 Mar 2010 Volume: 02 Issue: 031 In This Issue: [Debatewise RRT] General election debates [Debatewise RRT] Re: General election debates [Debatewise RRT] Re: General election debates ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Alex Helling" <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [Debatewise RRT] General election debates Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 19:08:49 -0000 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 <http://electionuk.debatewise.org/debates/1734-an-independent-board-should-a l%0Alocate-nhs-resources-to-different-parts-of-the-country> locate-nhs-resources-to-different-parts-of-the-country http://electionuk.debatewise.org/debates/1733-the-cost-of-nhs-administration <http://electionuk.debatewise.org/debates/1733-the-cost-of-nhs-administratio n%0A-should-be-cut-by-one-third> -should-be-cut-by-one-third http://electionuk.debatewise.org/debates/1735-the-government-should-withdraw <http://electionuk.debatewise.org/debates/1735-the-government-should-withdra w%0A-troops-from-afghanistan-with-a-year> -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 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/5906113/Si r%0A-James-Sassoon-why-I-told-the-Tories-to-scrap-the-FSA.html> -James-Sassoon-why-I-told-the-Tories-to-scrap-the-FSA.html http://www.publicservice.co.uk/feature_story.asp?id 296 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldeconaf/101/1010 <http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldeconaf/101/101 0%0A8.htm> 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 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/07/deficit-fetishism-gover n%0Ament-spending> ment-spending http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8514767.stm http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid 601102 <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid 601102&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 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/sep/16/public-spending-departm e%0Ants-money-cuts> nts-money-cuts http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/05/financial-crisis-public- <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/05/financial-crisis-public -%0Aspending-tax> 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- <http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2009-09-14/gender-pay-gap-stays-as-wide -%0Aas-ever> 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 <http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timcollard/100007914/the-working-time-dir e%0Active-the-one-jewel-in-the-eus-plastic-crown/> 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 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/1574822/To r%0Aies-to-strip-benefits-if-jobless-refuse-work.html> 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 <http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-let-a s%0Aylumseekers-work-1609199.html> 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 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jun/09/labour-i d%0A-cards> -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 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1563890/Foreigners-commit-fifth-of-c r%0Aime-in-London.html> 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 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/7149720/Failure-to-depor t%0A-foreign-criminals-costs-60m-a-year.html> -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 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/09/bill-define-election-br o%0Awn-legacy> 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- <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/20/parliament-reform-house -%0Aof-lords> of-lords http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/article.php?id0 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 <http://colineldridge.org.uk/news/000025/bring_back_link_between_pensions_an d%0A_earnings_say_lib_dems.html> _earnings_say_lib_dems.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-target-state-pension-in <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-target-state-pension-i n%0A-battle-to-balance-books-1787328.html> -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 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/jan/25/retirement-age-scrapped-equalit y%0A-commission> -commission http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/7309292/State-pe <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/7309292/State-p e%0Ansion-age-should-be-70-PwC-says.html> 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 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/18/devolution-england-pseu d%0Ao-democracy> o-democracy http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8558466.stm http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/philipjohnston/7396040/David-C <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/philipjohnston/7396040/David- C%0Aameron-will-have-to-finally-address-English-resentment-over-devolution.h tml> 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 <http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/9238909/Would_Britain_vote_t o%0A_leave_the_EU/> _leave_the_EU/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1225053/A-referendum-Mr-Cameron-CO <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1225053/A-referendum-Mr-Cameron-C O%0AULD-people.html> ULD-people.html http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23763500-tories-set-to-retrea <http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23763500-tories-set-to-retre a%0At-on-eu-referendum-pledge.do> 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 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7005840/Marriage-is-good-for- u%0As-its-time-to-support-it.html> s-its-time-to-support-it.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/18/family-marriage-tax-came <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/18/family-marriage-tax-cam e%0Aron-labour> 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 <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clarke-back-in-line-on-inheri t%0Aance-tax-cut-policy-1652601.html> ance-tax-cut-policy-1652601.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/alicethomson/3554424/Ive-chang <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/alicethomson/3554424/Ive-chan g%0Aed-my-mind-on-inheritance-tax.html> 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_ <http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/alexsingleton/8046867/Its_inefficient_and _%0Aunfair_to_make_poor_people_pay_income_tax/> unfair_to_make_poor_people_pay_income_tax/ http://debatewise.org/debates/1013 Use Revisewise @ http://revisewise.debatewise.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 19:26:30 +0000 Subject: [Debatewise RRT] Re: General election debates From: Victoria Hilliard <victoria.hilliard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Can I take asylum seekers should be allowed to work? Thanks. On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 7:08 PM, Alex Helling <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 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 296 > > > 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 601102&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?id0 > > 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/ > > > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 23:30:37 +0000 Subject: [Debatewise RRT] Re: General election debates From: Harriet Lowe <tehexile@xxxxxxxxx> People on job seekers allowance who refuse a job should lose their benefits On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 7:08 PM, Alex Helling <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 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 296 > > > 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 601102&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?id0 > > 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/ > > > ------------------------------ End of debatewiserrt Digest V2 #31 ********************************** -- Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahman. They who work selfishly for results are miserable. --"Bhagavad Gita." -- Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahman. They who work selfishly for results are miserable. --"Bhagavad Gita." No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2732 - Release Date: 03/09/10 19:33:00