[Tubby Isaacs]

War on red tape, apparently.

From the FT:

The government will also change the law so companies are only liable for civil damages claims if they can be shown to have acted negligently, rather than being automatically responsible.

Good luck with proving that, Mr Injured Employee.

[Angelina Buxombotté]

I'm really surprised anyone takes the LibDems seriously, nowadays.
At one time I had a morsel of respect for them as a party but that disappeared when they joined the Tories in the coalition. The major issue being that of University fees for undergraduates. Clegg became Hitler in my mind after that.
Nope. They'll never ever get my vote. Not ever. I still see Shirley Williams and David Steel as people who would drink the contents of a cuspidor to further their political careers.
Evil incarnate.

Rant over

[Tubby Isaacs]

This is the one Lib Dem that some people do take seriously. I don't doubt he's better than Fallon and Hancock, his ministers, but that's quite a low bar.

There's also complete exemption from inspection in some areas like pubs, shops and offices, unless you have a bad record. Seeing you don't get inspected, I wonder how you'll supposed to acquire a bad record.

Anyway, I reckon anywhere where they pile up stock and boxes would be worth a look- they're obeying the law anyway, aren't they, so won't take long. Obviously pubs with their cellars and barrells being chucked about- nothing can go wrong there.

[Fozzy]

The government will also change the law so companies are only liable for civil damages claims if they can be shown to have acted negligently, rather than being automatically responsible.

But that's more or less what the law is now, with the exception of one or two fairly rare exceptions involving the escape of dangerous substances on to other people's properties. Even an H&S breach isn't automatic proof of negligence leading to the injury complained of. This has echoes of little Dave getting all big and tough about the law on defending yourself or your property, only to propose legislation repeating what the law already states.

[Bones McCoy]

War on red tape, apparently.

From the FT:

The government will also change the law so companies are only liable for civil damages claims if they can be shown to have acted negligently, rather than being automatically responsible.

Good luck with proving that, Mr Injured Employee.

OOps.. (Buncefield).

[PaulOnBooks]

Ahead of Living Wage Week, during which campaigners will highlight a rise in the number of organisations that are accredited as paying it – from 60 to more than 400 in the last year – business secretary Vince Cable has announced that he is taking steps to make his department pay its lowest earning staff at a level closer to the living wage.

A Department for Business spokesperson said that "on the basis of fairness and current affordability" Cable had "instructed his department to raise the wages of the lowest paid contracted staff working at BIS premises across the UK".

He's a prince among men.

[PaulOnBooks]

Vince isn't holding back the tide of private enterprise gorging itself:

A failure to place controls on the number of students enrolling for higher learning qualifications at scores of private colleges has left an £80m shortfall in the budget of the Department for Business this year, a deficit that is forecast to soar to a third of a billion pounds in the next two years.

Four in 10 of those receiving financial support to study for HNDs and HNCs are from overseas – compared with 5% for publicly funded higher education in general. Fearing possible fraud and eager to scale back expenditure, the business department has in the last few weeks stopped HND and HNC grants and loans going to about 5,000 Romanians and Bulgarians, suspended funding payments to one college, and is this week sending letters to 23 of the fastest growing privately run colleges in England telling them not to admit more students than they had registered on official surveys last year.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... -shortfall" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[new puritan]

So big is the overspend that the business department has had to propose cuts of £25m to the Access to Learning hardship fund, which provides financial support for students, and £20m from budget spent on higher education teaching to help balance the books in the next financial year. One insider added: "We're only realising now the size the blank cheque we've written to private providers."

Absolutely fucking useless. Incredible incompetence.