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Omnishambles
Omnishambles is a neologism first used in the BBC political satire ''The Thick of It'' in 2009. The word is compounded from the Latin prefix ''omni-'', meaning "all", and the word ''shambles'', a term for a situation of total disorder. Originally a " shambles" denoted the designated stock-felling and butchery zone of a medieval street market, from the butchers' benches (Latin ''scamillus'' "low stool, a little bench"). The word refers to a situation that is seen as shambolic from all possible perspectives. It gained popularity in 2012 after sustained usage in the political sphere led to its being named ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Word of the Year, and it was formally added to the online editions of the '' Oxford Dictionary of English'' in August 2013. Background The term, coined by writer Tony Roche, was first used at the end of the first episode of the third series of BBC political satire ''The Thick of It'', broadcast in 2009, during which Nicola Murray (Rebecca Front) is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Thick Of It
''The Thick of It'' is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of British government. Written and directed by Armando Iannucci, it was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially with a small cast focusing on a government minister, his advisers and their party's spin-doctor. The cast was significantly expanded for two hour-long specials to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as prime minister in 2007, which saw new characters forming the opposition party added to the cast. These characters continued when the show switched channels to BBC Two for its third series in 2009. A fourth series about a coalition government was broadcast in 2012, with the last episode transmitted on 27 October 2012. The series has been described as the 21st century's answer to '' Yes Minister.'' It highlights the struggles and conflicts between politicians, party spin doctors, advisers, civil servants and the media. In similar fash ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pasty Tax
"Pasty tax" was a popular phrase used by the British press to describe a proposal in the 2012 United Kingdom budget to simplify the tax treatment of "hot takeaway food" so that Value Added Tax (United Kingdom), Value Added Tax (VAT) would be charged at 20% in all cases. The change would have increased the sale price of hot snacks such as sausage rolls and Pasty#Cornish pasty, Cornish pasties sold on the premises where they were baked. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne delivered the proposal of the so-called "March Budget". Background Under long-standing Value Added Tax (United Kingdom), VAT legislation, sale of most foods bought to eat or cook at home is zero-rated for VAT, meaning that no tax is charged. By contrast, meals bought and consumed in a restaurant, and hot take-away food or drink, are charged at a standard 20% tax rate. At the boundary between these two classes, there has been a history of legal challenges around food which is baked for sale, and is s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2012 United Kingdom Budget
The 2012 United Kingdom budget was delivered by George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Wednesday 21 March 2012. It was the third budget of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government that was formed in 2010, and also the third to be delivered by Osborne. Its key points included a rise in the personal tax allowance, a cut in the top rate of income tax and in the rate of corporation tax, and a new level of stamp duty on high-value properties. Key measures Taxes Osborne announced that from April 2013, the annual personal income tax allowance will be raised from £8,105 to £9,205. It was estimated this would make 24 million people better-off by up to £220 per year. The 40% tax band will become applicable for incomes over £41,450 per year (a reduction of £1,025 from £42,475) and the top tax band for high-earners will be reduced to 45% from 50%; Osborne said the 50% rate introduced by the previous Labour government was "damag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Roche (writer)
Tony Roche is an English television, radio and film comedy writer and producer, best known as a writer of the HBO comedy '' Veep'', the BBC Television series ''The Thick of It'' and its film spin-off '' In the Loop''. He is credited with inventing the word omnishambles, which was named 2012 Word of the Year by the Oxford English Dictionary. Stand-up and radio After graduating from Warwick University with a degree in English, Roche became a stand-up comedian using material from a magazine he had produced in his final year. He was spotted at one of his stand-up comedy shows and asked to write jokes and topical sketches for radio. Roche's first radio assignment was writing for '' The Alan Davies Show'' radio programme and for John Shuttleworth on BBC Radio 4. He created the series '' World of Pub'' for BBC Radio, and later adapted it for television. He also worked on the radio series '' The Sunday Format'', Television Working with the creator of ''The Sunday Format'', John Mor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neologism
A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted into mainstream language. Neologisms are often driven by changes in culture and technology. In the process of language formation, neologisms are more mature than '' protologisms''. A word whose development stage is between that of the protologism (freshly coined) and neologism (new word) is a ''prelogism''. Popular examples of neologisms can be found in science, fiction (notably science fiction), films and television, branding, literature, jargon, cant, linguistics, the visual arts, and popular culture. Former examples include '' laser'' (1960) from Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation; ''robot'' (1941) from Czech writer Karel Čapek's play '' R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)''; and ''agitprop'' (1930) (a portmanteau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Balls
Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Normanton and later for Morley and Outwood between 2005 and 2015. Balls attended Nottingham High School before he studied philosophy, politics and economics at Keble College, Oxford, and was later a Kennedy Scholar in economics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He was a teaching fellow at Harvard from 1988 to 1990, when he joined the ''Financial Times'' as the lead economic writer. Balls had joined the Labour Party while attending Nottingham High School, and became an adviser to Shadow Chancellor Gordon Brown in 1994, continuing in this role after Labour won the 1997 general electi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuka Umunna
Chuka Harrison Umunna (; born 17 October 1978) is a British retired politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Streatham from 2010 until 2019. A former member of the Labour Party, he was part of the Shadow Cabinet from 2011 to 2015. He left Labour in February 2019, when he resigned to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other MPs. Later in 2019, he left Change UK and, after a short time as an independent MP, joined the Liberal Democrats. In the 2019 general election, he was unsuccessful in being re-elected as an MP and did not return to the House of Commons. Born in Lambeth to a Nigerian father and English-Irish mother, Umunna was educated at St Dunstan's College, a private school in Catford, Lewisham. He then studied law at the University of Manchester and Nottingham Trent University. A teenage member of the Liberal Democrats, he joined the Labour Party in 1997 when the party was styling itself as "New Labour". He worked as a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hansard
''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printer to the Parliament at Westminster. Origins Though the history of the ''Hansard'' began in the British parliament, each of Britain's colonies developed a separate and distinctive history. Before 1771, the British Parliament had long been a highly secretive body. The official record of the actions of the House was publicly available but there was no record of the debates. The publication of remarks made in the House became a breach of parliamentary privilege, punishable by the two Houses of Parliament. As the populace became interested in parliamentary debates, more independent newspapers began publishing unofficial accounts of them. The many penalties implemented by the government, including fines, dismissal, imprisonment, and investiga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members of the socialist Fabian Society, such as George Bernard Shaw, who was a founding director. Today, the magazine is a print–digital hybrid. According to its present self-description, it has a Liberalism in the United Kingdom, liberal and Progressivism in the United Kingdom, progressive political position. Jason Cowley (journalist), Jason Cowley, the magazine's editor, has described the ''New Statesman'' as a publication "of the left, for the left" but also as "a political and literary magazine" with "sceptical" politics. The magazine was founded by members of the Fabian Society as a weekly review of politics and literature. The longest-serving editor was Kingsley Martin (1930–1960), and the current editor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every Wednesday at noon when the House of Commons is sitting, during which the prime minister answers questions from members of Parliament (MPs).The Institute for Government has described PMQs as 'the most distinctive and internationally famous feature of British politics.' History Although prime ministers have answered questions in parliament for centuries, until the 1880s, questions to the prime minister were treated the same as questions to other ministers of the Crown: asked without notice, on days when ministers were available, in whatever order MPs rose to ask them. In 1881 fixed time-limits for questions were introduced and questions to the prime minister were moved to the last slot of the day as a courtesy to the 72-year-old prime mini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Miliband
Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2010 and 2015, resigning after Labour's defeat at the 2015 general election. Alongside his brother, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, he served in the Cabinet from 2007 to 2010 under Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Miliband was born in the Fitzrovia district of Central London to Polish Jewish immigrants Marion Kozak and Ralph Miliband, a Marxist intellectual and native of Brussels who fled Belgium during World War II. He graduated from Corpus Christi College, Oxford and later from the London School of Economics. Miliband became first a television journalist, then a Labour Party researcher and a visiting scholar at Harvard University, before rising to become one of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leader Of The Opposition (UK)
The Leader of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition, more commonly referred to as the Leader of the Opposition, is the person who leads the His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition, Official Opposition in the United Kingdom. The position is seen as the shadow head of government of the United Kingdom. Constitutional convention (political custom), By convention, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons that is not in Government of the United Kingdom, government. When a single party wins outright, this is the party leader of the second-largest political party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The current Leader of the Opposition is Keir Starmer, Sir Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party. Starmer 2020 Labour Party leadership election (UK), was elected to that position on 4 April 2020. The Leader of the Opposition is often vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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