Ed’s inbox – March 17th

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

If Ed Miliband could only read five blogposts each day, he’d read these ones…

The poor lose out to the privileged in the coalition’s education policy – Comment is Free
By James Mills

George Orwell famously described England in 1941 as a family, and one in which “the young are generally thwarted and most of the power is in the hands of irresponsible uncles”. Well, now it is in the hands of Uncle Dave and Uncle Nick, and the young – or some of them – are certainly being thwarted. Despite Wednesday’s figures, which show youth unemployment rising a week before the budget, this government still plans to scrap the education maintenance allowance (EMA) – a scheme that costs £550m and is said by the Institute for Fiscal Studies to have produced a “substantial” increase in attainment levels among 16- to 19-year-olds from the poorest backgrounds. – Read more.

IDS: “Extra cash can hurt the poor” – Liberal Conspiracy
By Don Paskini

Delivering the Keith Joseph Memorial Lecture, Iain Duncan Smith attacked Labour’s policies of reducing poverty by giving people more money, claiming that the political class had become “fixated” on income levels alone. He argued that increasing the income of people in poverty could even be counterproductive, while admitting that the Tories had “largely ignored” the issue of child poverty while in opposition.

Now when Duncan Smith talks about how giving people more money is counter productive, what he is thinking about is a drug addict who just uses the money to buy drugs, a feckless layabout who spends the money on booze and a Sky Sports subscription, and other such bogeymen familiar to readers of right wing newspapers. – Read more.

Civil service compete with BBC for best cuts euphemisms – Political Scrapbook
By Laurence Durnan

While the broadcaster may exchange “savings” for “cuts”, civil service mandarins will not be outdone by the BBC. Whitehall’s finest have been hard at work developing a suitably opaque gobbledygook to describe the assault on public services.

A two-day training programme delivered at the plush Sunningdale Park in Berkshire is designed to help civil service high fliers cope with the impact of George Osborne’s policies. But the session, entitled “Leading in a Changing Landscape”, refers not to cuts but to: – Read more.

The CHAOS of the government’s sickness benefit reform – Diary of a Benefit Scrounger
By Sue Marsh

As you might know by now, this week, I have been focussing on government plans to reform sickness benefits.

Perceived wisdom amongst lobbyists and campaign groups is that this government aim to force 1.5 million of the 2.2 million currently receiving Incapacity Benefits (IB and ESA, employment Support Allowance) off benefits and into work.

This will be done in two ways : – Read more.

The worldwide Irish AGM – St Paddy’s day – Labour Uncut
By Kevin Meagher

I have a picture above my desk; a copy of a Punch cartoon from the 1840s. It depicts a monkey-like figure, in ragged clothes, a crumpled hat on its head, long arms thrashing around in the air. The creature smokes a small pipe, a menacing grimace for a face. Underneath, the caption reads: “The Irish hod-carrier. Lower than a Negro”.

It may not be pleasant. And, indeed, it may be a work of its time; but as the son of a bricklayer – and erstwhile hod-carrier myself – that picture is a constant reminder of who I am and where I come from. The struggles and insults that Irish people have endured for generations; depicted, as we were, as sub-human creatures of uncertain temperament. – Read more.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from everyone at LabourList.

Our suggestions for Ed’s inbox are limited by what we read – so if you’ve seen a blogpost that should be in Ed’s inbox, let us know.