Tag Archives: government

Shared parenting should not be confused with parental rights

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Some interesting information pinged into the Frost Magazine inbox from the Law Society. Did you know that shared parenting should not be confused with parental rights?

Shared parenting legislation, aimed at strengthening relationships between parents and children after separation, could detract from children’s wellbeing, the Law Society is warning.

Responding to a Government consultation, published today, in which ministers are proposing different ways to establish the notion of “shared parenting” after separation, Law Society President John Wotton said: “Introducing a legislative presumption of shared parenting could lead to unrealistic expectations from fathers, with a huge rise in fathers asking the courts for ‘equal time’. This could undermine the Government’s drive towards mediation and out of court settlements. The Government should avoid any implication in the statute of any right to equal time with a child, or any prescription of appropriate amounts of time.

The primary focus should be on the rights and welfare of the children, not those of parents. The principle that the welfare of the child is the court’s paramount consideration should be maintained.”

John Wotton pointed out that: “The current legislation does not favour one parent over another, but seeks to ensure that arrangements following breakdown are based on the best interests of the child.

“It is in a child’s best interest to have a meaningful relationship with both parents where it is safe to do so. The benefit of ongoing involvement with both parents is already a factor in the court’s decision-making process.

“There is no doubt, unfortunately, that once a court has made an order for access, and a father finds that the access is being thwarted by the mother, there is no currently effective remedy for the father. The Law Society therefore welcomes the Government’s intention to find more effective sanctions to enforce breaches of court orders regarding care arrangements.”

RAFA NADAL JOINS POKERSTARS

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Olympic gold medallist and multiple Grand Slam tennis champion Rafael Nadal has joined PokerStars, lending his support to the world’s largest online poker site and inviting sports fans to join him in playing the popular game of poker.

Known globally for his fierce competitive spirit, the 26-year-old Spanish superstar is keen to learn the game of poker. Through mentorship with PokerStars pros and playing online, Rafa will draw on many of the skills heuses to such great effect on the tennis court to improve his game one step at a time.

“It’s no secret that I love to compete and try my very best in everything, whether that’s tennis, golf or video games,” Nadal said. “When I discovered the game of poker, I chose to join PokerStars because they understand what it takes to be the best and associate themselves with the qualities of champions. I’m very happy to be working with them.”

Rafa will play poker in spare moments this summer while he concentrates on his tennis. In the Autumn, he will be able to devote more time to poker and to representing PokerStars in online tournaments, in advertising campaigns and at charity events. Details of these will be announced in the coming months.

“Rafa Nadal represents all that is great about competition – the mix of talent, intellect, dedication and mental strength that you find in champions in every sport,” said MarkScheinberg, PokerStars Chairman of the Board. “We are proud to have Rafa as an ambassador for the brand and excited at the opportunity to help him enjoy and improve his game.”

Rafa joins a stable of elite athletes who have chosen poker as their “other game” and who play with PokerStars, including other Olympic medallists.

He will play a key role in introducing new players to the game of poker, particularly in his native Spain where online poker is surging in popularity following the recent awarding of government licenses to operate online poker. PokerStars is committed to providing regulated, safe and secure environments for poker players of all skill levels and is the choice of more poker players than any other site.

Consumers are invited to join Rafa on his journey to improve his poker game at a dedicate site: http://www.pokerstars.co.uk/poker/promotions/rafa-nadal/. Twitter followers can participate in the conversation about Rafa’s poker playing by using #nadalpoker.

UNICEF famous faces join campaigners to speak up for children at Rio

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UNICEF famous faces join campaigners calling on government to speak up for children at Rio

Ewan McGregor, Rio Ferdinand, Eddie Izzard, Keira Knightley & more get involved

Ewan McGregor, Keira Knightley, Rio Ferdinand, Eddie Izzard, Keeley Hawes, Simon Reeve and Martin Bell are just some of the high profile figures who have joined UNICEF UK’s campaign calling on the government to speak up for children at this week’s Rio Earth Summit.

* McGregor, Knightley, Izzard, Hawes and Bell all filmed video messages for UNICEF UK’s Speak Up campaign.
* On 7th June, broadcaster and UNICEF supporter Simon Reeve joined young UNICEF supporters at a Rio discussion event with environment minister, Caroline Spelman.
* On 12th June Rio Ferdinand tweeted a series of comedy twitpics under the hashtag #Rio4Rio, urging his 2.8 million followers to sign UNICEF UK’s Speak Up petition.
* On 13th June, young campaigners met with Nick Clegg in Whitehall and handed him a list of the thousands of signatories who have signed the petition so far.

Rio Ferdinand, a long term UNICEF supporter, caused a Twitter stir last Tuesday when he tweeted a cryptic twitpic which read “Everyone’s asking ‘What’s happening with Rio?’” alongside a picture of him looking quizzical. Only from his later tweets – which included an image of the footballer wearing a feathered carnival head dress – did it become clear that Ferdinand was tweeting to raise awareness of UNICEF UK’s Speak Up campaign to ensure children are at the heart of the Rio Earth Summit’s agenda.

UNICEF supporters Keira Knightley, Eddie Izzard, and Keeley Hawes joined UNICEF Ambassadors Ewan McGregor and Martin Bell in recording special video messages stating that they are “speaking up for children at the Rio Earth Summit.”

Rio Ferdinand said:

“Speaking as a Rio, I know life isn’t all carnivals, beaches and playing football. At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro global leaders will discuss the future of the planet and we want them to think about the world’s children. That’s why I’m speaking up for children with UNICEF UK and hope that everyone who follows me on Twitter will do the same.”

Simon Reeve said:

”We have to think more long-term and protect our planet for future generations. And so of course we have to get youngsters and children involved, and make them central to the debates and discussions that take place in Rio.”

Eddie Izzard said

“There is a massive opportunity for the UK government to put children at the heart of the Rio Earth summit. Children should be at the top of the summit agenda.”

Sign the Speak Up For Children petition at www.unicef.org.uk/speakup

Are The Good Times Really Over For Good?

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For someone in their twenties it is hard to think of a time which has been harder economically than right now. But I do know that this is not true. There have been many booms and busts before, times much harder than this. Rationing, world wars, the great depression.

But what of the future? My generation seems to have gotten the muddy end of the stick. The OECD, a respected British think tank, said that Britain has slipped into a double dip recession and more pupils than ever are getting free school meals, the governments indicator of a child growing up in poverty. Tube drivers might be raking it in, getting paid £500 just to show up for work each day during the Olympics, but the rest of us are struggling.

Are the good times really over?We have become generation rent, unemployment is high, we not only have a harder time getting our dream job, but getting any job at all. I have friends that are moving out of West London where I live because they cannot afford it, struggling to find jobs and even if they have one, struggling to survive the squeeze.

Not getting to the nitty gritty. Tuition fees are up to a staggering amount, 9K a year for an education, transport costs go up above inflation every year; the Oyster caps at £10 per day in London. Then there is the fact that if you get an unpaid internship these days you are one of the lucky ones. It seems everyone is taking everything from the young. I am luckier than most. My education days are behind me and so are my internships: but if the children really are the future, then what of it? Are the good times really over for good? Everything from stamps and food is going up. Petrol is so expensive people cannot even get to work and the government is looking shifty after the cash-for-access scandal. Never mind the fact we don’t have any privacy anymore and they are trying to bring in web-monitoring.

Government debt is at a £988.7 billion. And who is going to have to pay that off? The decent, hard working people of Britain. Oh well. We can always print some more money.

What good will come from this? Lessons maybe. We lived in a society that saw the word ‘credit’ and did not take in the fact that actually means ‘debt’. Above all we will do what the British do: keep calm and carry on. You may want to cross your fingers too.

 

Cameron’s Fatal Blunder Over Web Monitoring

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It has been a calamitous few weeks for the PM with his and his parties poll numbers falling through the floor. The only saving grace is that the other parties and their leaders are disliked just as much.

The debacle over jerry cans and the budget has been bad enough but it is the issue of civil liberties that has permanently damaged the PM.

One can only wonder as to why Tory strategists weren’t running around in panic when the crazy idea of ‘web and email monitoring was raised’. What where they thinking? How was the PM’s finger so off the political pulse? Cameron compounded the error by publicly coming out and defending the policy, a fatal misjudgement.

Has he been blind to Ron Paul movement in the US? Did he not see the response to SOPA? It was the NO2ID movement which did so much damage to the Labour party. And it was the brave actions of David Davis (who would  now be home secretary had he not sacrificed his career)  and the subsequent Conservative plan to abolish ID cards which brought so many over to the conservatives at the last election.

They should have learnt. YOU DO NOT PISS OFF THE INTERNET IF YOU WANT TO WIN ELECTIONS. No one understands this better than Obama and his strategists. This is why he ditched his support for SOPA. Already the government is facing a backlash from ‘Anonymous’ who have been launching attacks on the Home Office website, although it would be a mistake to think that theses extremists are the problem.

One can only conclude that Tory HQ thought this policy would further damage the Lib Dems. It has certainly achieved this. But this in itself doesn’t make a huge amount of sense as Cameron has tried so hard previously to placate his coalition partners.

But if they thought this was an issue which was only important to Lib Dems they have severely miscalculated. This is a policy which many conservatives feel is fundamentally un-conservative. A further unnecessary intrusion of the state in our lives. Cameron should know that these neo con policies have very little support on this side of the Atlantic.

As a result the Conservative party has only succeeded in splitting itself. Prominent members such as Mog, Raab, Davis and Goldsmith have come out in furious opposition.

Once again the Tories have been tarnished as the nasty party. The painstaking re branding has been ruined. This decision may well be the one which costs Cameron the next election.

 

Frost Mag is supporting Cosmopolitan magazine's F-Word campaign.

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COSMOPOLITAN Launches the ‘F-word’ campaign. Cosmopolitian is launching its campiagn on International Women’s Day, and Frost Magazine is supporting them.

This International Women’s Day (8th March) Cosmopolitan will be launching its ‘F Word’ campaign, a series of initiatives championing women – and men – to stand up and be counted and get what they deserve; equality in all aspects of their lives. The ‘F word’ has been created by Cosmopolitan to highlight the fact there has never been a more important time to be a feminist. The magazine has teamed up with some of the UK’s biggest stars who all support the campaign, including Annie Lennox, Jameela Jamil, Emma Bunton and Professor Green.

Miquita Oliver:

“I’ve gone up and down in weight and I’ve never been very glamorous so I’ve always used what I have which is my personality. It would mean so much to me if there were girls who watched me on the telly and thought ‘Oh actually I can just be a funny cool person.’ It’s important to push your personality rather than wearing ‘the right’ skinny jeans.”

Emma Willis:

“People think of it as a dirty word but being a feminist doesn’t mean you’re loud and lairy. You can still be feminine and be a feminist.”

According to the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for equality between men and women, men are currently getting paid almost 15% more than females, rising to 55% in the banking sector. It has also revealed that this is likely to widen, due to public sector job cuts, which are historically female dominated.

Cosmopolitan, the magazine for smart spirited women, believes it is time to take action. It wants the government to get tough now on equal pay, by making it mandatory for companies who employ 250 people or more to carry out a public, annual equal-pay audit – this was due to become law under the last government, but was shelved in 2012 in favour of making these audits voluntary.

The magazine is calling all British women to fight for their right to an equal pay packet by signing the Cosmopolitan Equal Pay petition at www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/equalpay. Cosmo is hoping to gather 100,000 signatures and plans to present the petition to David Cameron later in the year.

Louise Court, Cosmopolitan, Editor, said: “When we heard that the pay gap looked likely to widen in 2012 we felt it was time to stand up and make a difference for women in the UK today. Many women don’t even realise that they could be doing exactly the same job as their male colleagues and not being paid the same wage – it’s time to highlight this unfairness and make positive changes!”

According to a poll of Cosmopolitan readers, 58% would not describe themselves as being a feminist. However, Cosmopolitan believes that there has never been a more important time to be a feminist with inequality between the sexes at an all time high. “It’s time to grab back the word ‘feminism’. It’s a perfectly good word. But we need to simplify it. It’s about equal rights; that’s all. It’s not about being enemies of men.” Says Annie Lennox of the Cosmopolitan F Word campaign.

Chancellor’s statement shows a glimmer of hope

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George Osborne’s autumn statement was an opportunity for the government to return much needed confidence to the retail sector to boost growth. The Chancellor’s statement questions the conventional wisdom that countries can spend their way to economic prosperity, as reference to consumer spending is almost completely bypassed.

Last week’s concerning official figures published by the Office for National Statistics paint a worrying economic picture for the retail and distribution sector. The figures were followed by a warning from the British Retail Consortium that the ONS were in fact painting a far rosier picture than they were hearing from their members.

Kevin Flood, co-founder and CEO of Shopow, the UK’s largest social shopping site, commented, “For the British economy to start growing it is absolutely vital confidence returns. With conditions still fragile on Britain’s high street, providing greater support for SMEs and freezing the proposed fuel duty rise are welcome. The Chancellor’s proposed extension to rate relief for small firms and the implementation of a credit easing program to underwrite up to £40bn of small business loans will give smaller firms greater confidence. It will not however alleviate the strain on the purse strings of the consumer.

Kevin adds, “The Government needs to review its decision on VAT however to alleviate some of the economic gloom people are experiencing. A temporary cut in VAT would help give consumers confidence to get out and spend.”

David Cameron Sacks Green Envoy Zac Goldsmith in 'Petty and Vindictive' Move.

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It is rare to meet a politician with integrity, who keeps their word, and it seems Zac Goldsmith has paid the price for keeping to his.

Prime Minister David Cameron has been accused of being ‘petty and vindictive’ after the Tory MP for Richmond Park had a key Government job taken away from him after he defied him over the EU.

Goldsmith had previously been appointed by the Prime Minister as his personal Downing Street envoy in a bid to fight global warming. The offer was withdrawn a mere two days before Goldsmith’s first assignment, and a matter of hours after he voted in favour of a referendum on the EU.

Goldsmith was due to start work as the Prime Ministers ‘climate change and forest envoy’ last month. His first task was to meet with President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, where forests are at risk. The meeting that was to be held in London last month was publicly announced. Goldsmith was then barred from attending and the job offer was revoked.

The Richmond Park MP said last night: ‘I was always going to vote for the referendum motion, not least because I promised my constituents I would.

‘But the Government was very unwise to impose a three-line whip on Conservative MPs. It created  all sorts of problems for itself that could have been avoided.’

Goldsmith refused to comment on the job offer being revoked, but said: ‘Reversing the decline of forestry worldwide is one of the most important battles faced by our species.
‘I don’t need a formal government role to pursue that work.’

Two days earlier, he was among 81 Tory MPs who voted in favour of a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU and ignored Mr Cameron’s order to toe the line.

A Government source had this to say: ‘You cannot have someone rebelling against the Government one day and walking into a government job the next. Not when two ministerial aides resigned over the EU vote. But Zac is a great guy  and we hope we can revive this job offer in time.’

A fellow MP disagreed and told the Daily Mail: ‘It was petty and vindictive to cancel this post. Zac had every right to vote in favour of a referendum on Europe.

‘The Government constantly says it is giving top priority to efforts  to curb climate change and yet it is prepared to risk that to punish an MP for sticking to his principles on the EU. It is the kind of thing that brings politics into disrepute.’

Well-placed government sources said Goldsmith had spent months in talks with Government officials about the climate change and forest envoy role.

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne and Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman had all given the go-ahead for his appointment

Read Frost’s interview with Zac Goldsmith