Childcare vouchers when on maternity leave

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email The success of a Budget is measured in how long it takes to collapse. Some arrive pre-collapsed, others collapse in real time. In recent years, success has been if they haven’t collapsed by the time the Office for Budget Responsibility publishes its analysis, revealing in very clear detail all of the horrific things the chancellor deliberately chose not to say. Kwasi Kwarteng ’s mini-Budget didn’t suffer this fate, because he and Liz Truss wisely chose to block the Office for Budget Responsibility from analysing it, and just to be doubly careful, they also sacked the head of the treasury department, who they probably deep down knew was going to tell them that it was going to collapse with pyrotechnic effect but they’d rather not hear. A very successful Budget is one that is still vaguely intact by the time economists, … [Read more...] about The Budget will bring ‘a lost decade for living standards’ – haven’t we already had one of those?

The Florida Senate passed a piece of legislation on Thursday that would make all K-12 students eligible for state-funded vouchers. In a 26-12 vote, the state Senate approved House Bill 1 , sponsored by the Education Quality Subcommittee, which would make every family able to receive up to $8,000 through the Education Savings Accounts (ESA) program to cover education expenses outside of the public school system. The state House passed the bill on March 17 and the legislation now heads to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk. (RELATED: The School Choice Movement Is Picking Up Steam Across The Country) “We are funding students in this state,” Republican state Sen. Corey Simon, the senate sponsor of the bill, told NBC Miami. “Parents have spoken.” Students who are “residents of the state” or “eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade 12” can receive a tax-payer funded voucher, under the legislation. The vouchers would be distributed on a “priority” basis, as … [Read more...] about Florida Lawmakers Sends Universal School Choice Program To DeSantis’ Desk

In a lawsuit stemming from a ski accident that occurred in 2016, actress Gwyneth Paltrow testified in her own defense telling the court Friday she was the actual victim in the collision. Retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 76, is suing Paltrow after reportedly suffering a brain injury and four broken ribs when she allegedly collided into him at the Deer Valley resort in Utah seven years ago. Sanderson has alleged that Paltrow was skiing “recklessly,” leaving him on the ground injured as she and her entourage made their way down the rest of the mountain. Paltrow offered an alternative sequence of events while on the stand, claiming instead to have been struck by Sanderson.  Paltrow alleged that as she was watching her children ski down the slope her accuser slammed into her from behind. “I was skiing and two skis came between my skis, forcing my legs apart,” Paltrow stated, according to Variety, adding that Sanderson’s body was pressing against hers. Paltrow testified that … [Read more...] about ‘You Skied Directly Into My F*cking Back’: Gwyneth Paltrow Pushes Back On Ski Crash Allegations In Testimony

Robert Lewinger is tired of being berated by his gastroenterologist because he’s overdue for a colonoscopy. He’s perfectly willing to have one. And he’s more than ready for cataract surgery on his second eye. The problem: Mr. Lewinger, 72, a retired lawyer who lives in Manhattan, can’t schedule either of these procedures, which involve anesthesia or sedation, unless he supplies the name and phone number of the person taking him home afterward. Otherwise, clinics and outpatient surgical centers refuse to make appointments. Mr. Lewinger is also willing to undergo Mohs surgery, as his dermatologist has recommended, for two small skin cancers on his face. But the surgeons associated with her practice also insist on medical escorts, even though most Mohs surgery is performed under local anesthesia and doesn’t require them. Transportation itself isn’t the difficulty; Mr. Lewinger could summon an Uber or a Lyft, call a car service or hail a cab. What he needs is “someone to escort me … [Read more...] about You May Need That Procedure. But Do You Really Need an Escort?

When it came to the treatment of diseases, the ancient Romans had no shortage of magical remedies, several of which involved iron nails. To cure epilepsy, the first-century historian Pliny the Elder advised driving a nail into the ground at the spot where the afflicted person’s head lay at the start of the seizure. The Romans hammered nails into doors to avert plagues and pounded coffin nails into thresholds to keep nightmares at bay. Nails from tombs and crucifixions were sometimes even worn around the neck as talismans against fevers, malaria and evil spells. Recently, archaeologists excavated an unusual set of talismanic nails from a mountaintop necropolis on the outskirts of Sagalassos in southwestern Turkey. In an early Roman imperial tomb, 41 broken nails were found scattered among the cremated remains of an adult male who had lived in the second century A.D. and was buried in situ. Twenty-five of the nails were headless and deliberately bent at right angles; the others were … [Read more...] about In a Roman Tomb, ‘Dead Nails’ Reveal an Occult Practice

See the article in its original context from November 3, 2000 Section Page Buy Reprints View on timesmachine TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Gov. George W. Bush said tonight that he was arrested for driving while intoxicated 24 years ago while visiting his family's vacation home in Kennebunkport, Me. After a boisterous rally here, Mr. Bush hastily arranged his first news conference in about a month to confirm reports by WCSH-TV and WPXT-TV in Portland, Me., about his arrest. ''I'm not proud of that,'' Mr. Bush said, clutching the hand of his wife, Laura, as he faced reporters in a driveway. ''I've oftentimes said that years ago I made some mistakes. I drank too much, and I did on that night.'' He said that he had been driving, that he had admitted to a police officer who pulled him over that he had been drinking and that he had paid a fine. ''I regret that it happened,'' he said. ''But it did. I've … [Read more...] about THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: A DRIVING OFFENSE; Bush Acknowledges an Arrest for Drunken Driving in 1976

Kathryn Marie Gallagher, a fashion designer whose pieces were worn by Lady Gaga, the actress Laverne Cox and dancers of the New York City Ballet, was working on her 27th collection last summer. A few weeks before her sudden death, she posted photos of translucent garments that reflected her Gothic aesthetic and her fondness for somber colors. “I always love that I can’t give anything away too soon bc it’s soooo blackkk,” she wrote on Facebook last May. On July 24, less than a month before her 36th birthday, the police responded to a 911 call and found Ms. Gallagher lying unresponsive in her bed in her Lower East Side apartment. There were no obvious signs of trauma and she was pronounced dead at the scene. On Friday, the police declared her death a homicide after the medical examiner concluded that she died of acute intoxication caused by a mixture of fentanyl, p-pluorofentanyl and ethanol. “There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing,” the police said in a … [Read more...] about Overdose Death of Designer Who Dressed Lady Gaga Is Ruled a Homicide

In lucrative paid speeches that Hillary Clinton delivered to elite financial firms but refused to disclose to the public, she displayed an easy comfort with titans of business, embraced unfettered international trade and praised a budget-balancing plan that would have required cuts to Social Security, according to documents posted online Friday by WikiLeaks. The tone and language of the excerpts clash with the fiery liberal approach she used later in her bitter primary battle with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and could have undermined her candidacy had they become public. Mrs. Clinton comes across less as a firebrand than as a technocrat at home with her powerful audience, willing to be critical of large financial institutions but more inclined to view them as partners in restoring the country’s economic health. In the excerpts from her paid speeches to financial institutions and corporate audiences, Mrs. Clinton said she dreamed of “open trade and open borders” throughout … [Read more...] about Leaked Speech Excerpts Show a Hillary Clinton at Ease With Wall Street

See the article in its original context from November 8, 1991 Section Page Buy Reprints View on timesmachine TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. In a new book, Gary Sick, a Middle East expert and former Carter Administration official, presents what he describes as an exhaustive collection of evidence to bolster his assertion, now under heated debate in Congress and elsewhere, that senior officials of the Reagan campaign negotiated a secret agreement with Iran in 1980 to delay the release of the American hostages. Mr. Sick's … [Read more...] about A Book Asserts Reagan Slowed Hostage Release

Nine in 10 foodbanks fear running out of supplies to hand to hungry families, a heartbreaking study revealed tonight. Seventy per cent of outlets said they were “extremely” or “very concerned” about their “ability to continue to support” those in need amid the cost-of-living crisis. Another 23% who responded to the SurveyMonkey study for the BanktheFood network were “somewhat concerned”. Some 97% of foodbanks which answered the poll reported surges in demand over the past 12 months as the living standards disaster crisis gripped Britain. The biggest increase was seen among working families with children aged under 12, with 26% of foodbanks reporting rises in demand from these households. The next biggest was from households with children under 12, in a home where no-one worked. Read More Foodbanks are struggling to keep up with demand ( Image: Getty Images) Three per cent of foodbanks said the biggest increase came from “working people in public services such … [Read more...] about Foodbanks fear they will run out of supplies for hungry families as crisis bites