UK Government spending breakdown

This site gives some detailed figures

Most political parties have well developed, detailed policies on a range of issues. A common question asked of many policies is what will it cost, or how will you pay for it?

You can see how often cost, and the economy, is raised in the parties' political broadcasts on TV, some of which are gathered here.

This often comes up during 'PMQs' (Prime Minister's Questions', a weekly event in the House of Commons when the PM has to answer a series of questions from other MPs. Here's an iPlayer link to an example.

The links below will help YOU to answer these questions for YOUR policies!

YOU should be prepared and equipped to answer questions such as this, or others - perhaps from some who don't sure your views!

You can also find data (and opinions) on specific areas of government spending by googling terms like this one, or 'uk defence spending'

2014 UK GOVERNMENT SPENDING FIGURES:

Guardian (UK daily 'broadsheet' or 'quality' newspaper) pie chart of 2014 government budget here.

BBC summary of 2014 budget changes.

You can also get a pie chart at the ukpublicspending website, or click on areas of government spending for some more detail on where the money goes.

There are many more resources, often more challenging, in this post.

(2013:
Presented as a pie chart here.
In greater detail here.)

Guardian pie chart: click HERE for full-size view

Not as detailed, but click HERE to see this version.

Image Issues: Miliband's big speech

We will be exploring the issue of image in politics, how reportage and perception of personality can predominate, leaving actual policy as a secondary matter.

Here's how (traditionally pro-Labour, left-wing) The Guardian's cartoonist Steve Bell reflected Miliband's September 2014 Labour Party Conference speech - seen as a key step on the way to the 2015 general election:

C4 News produced multiple packages to reflect his speech. This one is relatively 'unvarnished', and presents Miliband's 6 policy pledges in a fairly straightforward fashion:


This second C4 News package precedes any word from Miliband with correspondent commentary which frames Miliband and his speech in a largely negative light, which continues with the manner in which his actual speech is presented. It is worth reflecting on the point that while newspapers are not prohibited from being biased (although their own self-regulation Editor's Code includes a clause on 'Accuracy'), it is strictly illegal for broadcast news media to be biased. OfCom can remove the license to broadcast from offenders - and indeed has done just that to some cable/satellite news stations:


According to these young writers, Milliband appeals to young voters.

GitBo

We will watch this video at the end of the lesson:


Some links:

For any picture galleries, you may have to skip through ads; do not click on any ads.
Q+A or GENERAL GUIDES:
BBC (2013)
The Wiki.
Guardian (2008) [quality UK newspaper]

LATEST NEWS STORIES:
Guardian (quality UK newspaper)
VIDEO: C4 News 2013 report (7mins)

PICTURE GALLERY:
Daily Telegraph (UK quality newspaper). 20+ images.
New York Post (USA tabloid), a pro-GitBo view?
Huffington Post (a major politics blog). It may be easier to copy pictures from this one.
Time magazine (global news mag.)
BBC.

YOUNG ADULT NOVEL:
Guantanomo Boy [Amazon link]: you can read the brief description and user reviews, but you can also click LOOK INSIDE and read the start of the book! Can you find the quote from Gandhi?
Publisher description.

STUDENT PROTEST:
Daily News (US college students)

DEFENDING G. BAY: ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR:
Guardian (UK quality newspaper) report on US government defence.

HOW YOUNG/OLD ARE PRISONERS?
Guardian (UK quality newspaper) report. NB: the video with this story is disturbing.

THE BRITISH PRISONERS:
Guardian interview with inmate [please don't watch the video; we will watch it together later]
VIDEO: Moazzem Begg speaks about his experience as a detainee

HUMAN RIGHTS VIEW:
AUDIO: UK lawyer Clive Stafford Smith puts forward the human rights argument against G.Bay
UN condemns G.Bay practices (Guardian report)

COMEDIAN ON HUNGER STRIKE:
Daily Mail: (UK mid-market/tabloid; may be blocked) Frankie Boyle pledges to use libel award to campaign for last UK GitBo prisoner
Guardian (UK quality newspaper) report: Boyle goes on hunger strike and tweets updates.
Huffington Post (major US right-wing politics blog) on Boyle's hunger strike tweets.
Digital Spy (celebrity blog): short report on Boyle's hunger strike.
Wiki on Shaker Aamer.

US PRESIDENT OBAMA ON G.BAY:
VIDEO: I will close it...
VIDEO: Woman heckles Obama over failing to close G.Bay

The Hackgate Scandal

Your task today is to produce a briefing on one of the recent major media/politics stories:
(1) the so-called 'Hackgate' scandal that has lead to the convictions of some prominent media figures, and difficult questions being asked of the Prime Minister, David Cameron

We'll watch the short Newsround report on the Hackgate trial, 


You/your group will get a stamp for every informative section you include on elements such as...

• who is Andy Coulson; what jobs has he had? [Guardian articles] [Wiki]
• what is his link to the PM? [BBC, with video of PMQs] [Guardian] [Daily Mail: Piers Morgan]
• who is Rebecca Brooks and why was she on trial? [Guardian articles] [Wiki]
• who is Rupert Murdoch and what does he have to do with this? [Wiki] [Guardian articles]
• what UK media does Murdoch own? [21st Century Fox companies] [News Corp companies]
• what media does he own in the USA and elsewhere? [21st Century Fox companies] [News Corp companies]
• what is 'Hackgate'? [Wiki]
• what was the Leveson inquiry? [Wiki] [BBC guide]
• who are 'Hacked Off' and what is their viewpoint? [Wiki]
• what is IPSO? [Wiki]

You can easily find informtaion with searches including some of the following:
Hackgate, phone hacking, News International, News of the World closure, Milly Dowler hacking, Hacked Off Hugh Grant, News International court case, Rebecca Brooks Andy Coulson trial, Rupert Murdoch hacking questions (etc)

Some sample links are contained in the list above, but here are a few more:
the Wiki;
BBC timeline (up to 2012);
CNN facts guide;
Guardian newspaper articles on phone hacking;
the prosecution case (BBC summary);
the main players (BBC guide);
2014 who's who (updated BBC guide).

Facts and figures on UK population

Some links to help you better explore this:
Government's Office of National Statistics (ONS) report that 1 in 8 of UK population were born abroad.
More ONS links.
Guardian table with ethnic breakdown for each council area in Eng + Wales.
Wiki figures for UK and Eng + Wales.
Bar charts showing ehtnic breakdown.

One of the data charts in the Oxford Uni source.

Oxford Uni tables and pie charts (scroll down for pie chart, Figure 2, see the screenshot in this post).

MPs getting rowdy in the Commons

An example of the (Deputy) Speaker trying to assert control over a rowdy House of Commons:

The rules on the behaviour of MPs are rather strict - when speaking in the House of Commons you are not permitted to accuse another MP of lying, no matter how strong the evidence may be. That would be 'unparliamentary language'.

MPs can be ejected from the Commons chamber for breaking the rules, and this has happened to the likes of George Galloway and Ian Paisley over the years. In most cases 'the Speaker' will intervene, an MP who doesn't take part in votes and basically puts aside his/her loyalty to their own party to see that the Commons runs smoothly: they decide who gets to speak, in what order, for how long, whether they have broken any rules, and oversees the scheduling of debates - which bills get a chance of a first/second/third reading.

Here's an example of an MP doing what 'Tarzan' (the nickname given to Tory MP, later a powerful government minister, Michael Heseltine) did back in 1976 - swinging the mace that lies between the two front benches.

By the way, did you know that the gap between the benches is measured in sword lengths, to avoid conflict?!
Below the line: several videos showing MPs misbehaving!

Darth Vader for President?

This brings to mind the growing protest over the census form (every 10 years the government sends out compulsory forms to track the demographics of the UK, including sections for religion) which has seen 'Jedi' become the 4th biggest 'religion' in the UK, rivalled by The Flying Spaghetti Monster. We also have the Pirate Party in the UK, dedicated to overturning digital copyright laws.
At the very end of the article, there is a sense of some seious politics amidst the theatrics:

The UIP was registered in 2010 and aims to create an electronic government in Ukraine, transition to digital media and offer free computer courses to all citizens.

Read the full article here.