Interesting Links for 24-01-2018

[andrewducker]

In-N-Out - the burger chain that sees the value in decent wages

(tags: food jobs pay )

Brexit and the Sewel (legislative consent) Convention

(tags: UK Europe Scotland NorthernIreland wales law )

On Mulling Over the Sutton Gas Inflection Point and Other Energy Market Changes

(tags: energy renewables thefuture )

Behold: The Capisceptic Alliance!

(tags: capitalism politics labour )

Why Infants Stop Crying When You Stand Up

(tags: viaSwampers babies )

Jeremy Hunt admits supply of EU cancer drugs to Britain could be disrupted if Brexit talks break down

(tags: cancer drugs medicine Europe uk )

Ursula K Le Guin. 1929 - 2018

(tags: death writing UrsulaKLegGuin )

Deaf mum sues Little Mix promoter in sign language row

(tags: deafness disability law uk )

MP calls for tougher laws after women groped at men-only charity gala

(tags: abuse women charity uk )

How Russia’s Hilarious, Homoerotic “Satisfaction” Became a Nationwide Meme of Solidarity

(tags: Russia lgbt meme viaSwampers )

Scholars who believe nurture trumps nature also tend to doubt the scientific method

(tags: science nature nurture personality society )

Doctors blocked by Home Office from taking up vital NHS jobs

Have I mentioned my general hatred of the home office?
(tags: NHS doctors immigration UK OhForFucksSake )

'I felt vulnerable and violated': Why rape victims fear smear tests

(tags: rape health women )

How to protect pensions when a company goes bust

(tags: pensions business uk )

Why Brexit is Enid Blyton's fault

(tags: children stories uk europe bigotry )

Fact check: Scotland's Union flag row

(tags: flags scotland headdesk )

Camels banned from Saudi beauty contest over Botox

(tags: camels beauty saudiarabia )

Mary Lee Berners-Lee obituary (A pinoeer, and one of the world's first freelance programmers)

(tags: programming history women )

Elon Musk's $0 Salary Encapsulates the Legend of Tesla

(tags: Tesla money thefuture )

Comments

[danieldwilliam]

I'm curious about the changes that Maria Miller is proposing to the Equalities Act. Any idea what provisions she thinks need to be changed and how they need to be changed?

Or is she engaged in some legal magical thinking?

http://jackofkent.com/2012/10/the-law-and-magical-thinking/

[andrewducker]

I'd be curious to see what specifics she wants, certainly.

[danieldwilliam]

Because if she isn't actually advocating very specific changes to the law where the law is clearly deficient what she's actually doing is distracting people from the fact that she is planning to take no action whatsoever about this matter and hopes that concerned citizens will forget all about it after a new cycle or two.

Reading the FT report there doesn't look to me to be much that isn't already covered by the law.

Groping waitresses who don't want to be groped is already sexual assault.

Lying about the nature of a job and the actual duties required is already actionable under employment law.

The problem seems to me not to be that these things are not legislated against but that nobody who has power cares about enforcing the law and nobody who cares about enforcing the law has power. Or time. Or energy.

[alithea]

Yep, lack of enforcement is the problem as far as I can see. That and access to justice.

[danieldwilliam]

Lack of access to justice is the key thing.

If Maria Miller had come out and said "The existing law is perfectly adequate to deal with this situation. However, people don't have good access to courts, we should review our legal aid provision to make sure it helped people who had been the victim of sexual harrassment at work." I would have believed that she both understood the problem and wanted to solve it.

[andrewducker]

Perhaps giving them time is what she means by "perhaps it’s time the government gives the Equality Act some real teeth?" ?

[danieldwilliam]

Sadly I don't think so.

What I mean by time is that launching a legal action for breach of employment law is time consuming. You don't get time off your new job to sue your old job for breach of contract. You don't get the weekend you spent exhausted because you've been worried about appearing in court back. Certainly not at double time.

If what has happened to you is that an employment agency has mispresented a one night job as "chit chatting with wealthy men in glamourous surroundings whilst sipping chilled champagne" and the reality is "being felt up and forced to haggle over the price for sexual services you weren't intending to sell by wealthy men whilst being force fed tequila shooters" then a prefectly rational response is to file it under Unfortunate Experiences and not take any action because life is too short and the damages are likely to be a few hundred quid.

And that allows employment agencies in these circumstances to lower their compliance burden and to shift the risk of compliance with a safe place of work and adherance to contracts to the agency staff.

If Harriet Harmon had said what Maria Miller had said I'd still not be convinced that the government intended to take any action effective action. The fact that it is Maria Miller makes me even more sceptical.

[calimac]

John Scalzi's tribute to Le Guin is the best I've read so far.

[andrewducker]

Thank you, that was good.

[alithea]

Oh that is indeed lovely, thanks

[alithea]

That Blyton story is a nice piece of writing, I enjoyed the take home message conclusion a lot.

[skington]

I'm curious that Rafael Behr's take on Capisceptism hasn't attracted any comments. I'd have thought we'd have been its target audience?

I think Rafael Behr has been a really useful addition to the Guardian's roster of columnists: not only does he have interesting things to say, he socially knows a lot of Tories. That's a valuable and rare hinterland for the Guardian's comment section.

[alithea]

I'm going to read it over lunch now you've pointed it out :) The headline didn't grab me and I didn't have the brain for reading everything yesterday.