Calls to decentralise welfare benefits by the Tories….

Benefit levels and eligibility criteria should be set by local councils, argue the Tories…..

The cost of living is far higher in Essex, say, than it is in Cornwall, so people do not need the same level of benefit. And someone who is 17 does not need the same amount as someone who is 30.

So says Lord Hanningfield, Tory spokesperson on business in the Lords and leader of Essex County Council.

A word that springs to mind: pork-barrelling. Tory voting areas are generally have high costs of living due to the larger populations of rich people. Business persons going bankrupt in Surrey will get more money that people from Neath getting the sack.

A phrase that springs to mind: divide and rule. For the sake of argument instead of JSA being £64.30 wherever you live those  who happen to live north of the Severn-trent line get £54.30 while those south of it get  £74.30. I think our enemies know what that will do for class solidarity.

The tories are the same nasty cynical scum of the earth they have always been.

Green Party policy and sex work

It seems like the Green Party want to change it’s current position on prostitution. Shame if they do change the policy.

I utterly agree though with the remarks made by Natalie Bennett on the issue:

“Once it is decriminalised, like in New Zealand, the safety systems can be put in place by the women themselves to make their work safer,” she argued, adding: “It is about free choice and we are a party of free choice”

These are my own views on sex work as opposed to rehashing the debate. Here as well.

More from Natalie here.

Girls and fear of the spiders: why my spidey senses think this is balderdash

So according to scientific research girls are more scared of spiders than boys. To summarise, it is because we are genetically predisposed to being frightened of these arachnid critters based on some evolutionary malarky…. hunter-gatherer societies…Me Tarzan, You Jane…. Grrrrrrrr…. all part of our collective unconscious.

Funny thing is that I have met a number of blokes with a fear of spiders. One bloke who I shared a house with would set the cat on the spider every time he spotted one (‘Pussycat, kill, kill…kill’). Lo and behold, this certain tabby felis catus would take one look at the spider, semi-whack it with its paw, get bored and subsequently go back to sleep. The spider would scuttle off unharmed…. And same bloke would shout from the bathroom, in that panic fashion, that there was a spider in the bath. The Harpster would came to the rescue, laugh at cowering bloke in the corner while gingerly taking the little spidey creature out of the bathroom without killing it.

And they say girls/women are scaredy cats. So much for rigorous scientific investigation.

My spidey senses think this study is sexist balderdash and piffle…

And if you are scared of the 8 legged creatures …so what!