I heard Thought for the Day this morning for the first time in ages.
What a load of banal piffle and cliches. Not one interesting thought at all. Not even remotely. Utter twaddle. You'd get more sense if you picked words randomly out of a dictionary.
Why does Radio 4 persist with it?
Because the law requires a certain amount of religion in prime time
It's not religion. I could take that. There might be some interest in that. It's garbage.
You mean the BBC is using it's required time on religion to inculcate an indifference to religion by associating it with piffel - well I never.
No, don't be silly. The religious bods they retain are bishops and rabbis and similar. The fault is with them, not the beeb.
Anne Atkins is, nevertheless, always the stand out most dire.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
OK so can we please clarify ( @Chris looking at you). How many Omicron cases do we think we have here and what is the daily current run rate.
OK.
50k cases per day confirmed by testing has approximated very roughly to double or a bit more in the monitoring report. So, that means underlying case rate is probably 100-125k.
If we take the 20% S dropout at face value, that means 20-25k Omicron cases a day, of which perhaps 10k will show up in the testing by sample date for 13-14/12 (whose figures aren't fully in yet). Perhaps 5-7k Omicron in yesterday's by report date figures. Note that these will be very heavily concentrated towards London as the main hotspot currently (perhaps 3-5k of the 11.7k London by report date yesterday).
Surely the first thing that needs to be done here is clarify what per day means?
New cases or people currently infected?
I'm saying 125k new infections per day at current of which 50k per day are being picked up by testing.
I'm thinking peak might be a tad above 200k infections per day being picked up by testing, this being held down a touch by different regions peaking their quite rapid waves at different times.
OK so can we please clarify ( @Chris looking at you). How many Omicron cases do we think we have here and what is the daily current run rate.
It's unknowable isn't it. 5,000 ish we know of. How many do we not know of? Finger in the air job.
Also, what is a Omicron case? If someone has been jabbed and boosted and has sufficient virus present up their nostrils to trigger a positive test result, but is completely unaware, then is this a case or not and who cares?
It's a case, it's also a case if the person doesn't have the test but not a known one.
The reasons for counting it as a case are
i) Ability to transmit onward ii) Enchanced individual immunity in the general SEIR system.
By that logic every single person should be doing a LFT every day.
We have all been recommended to do two a week since the summer.
Have we? I didn't know that. Goodness, my daughter did one this morning before school and the quantity of stuff; the swab sticks, trays, sachets, bags - all non-biodegradable and going to landfill.
Yep, and now one full box of the things (seven, with one used every day) can be used by the double-jabbed to dodgy contact self-isolation requirements, the demand for the things will soar. Hence the ordering website having run out of them yesterday.
Billions and billions of extra little pieces of plastic absolutely everywhere.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Nonsense. They are already exclusive and it is a clear waste of taxpayers' money, unjustifiable when so many other businesses pay in full.
OK so can we please clarify ( @Chris looking at you). How many Omicron cases do we think we have here and what is the daily current run rate.
It's unknowable isn't it. 5,000 ish we know of. How many do we not know of? Finger in the air job.
Also, what is a Omicron case? If someone has been jabbed and boosted and has sufficient virus present up their nostrils to trigger a positive test result, but is completely unaware, then is this a case or not and who cares?
It's a case, it's also a case if the person doesn't have the test but not a known one.
The reasons for counting it as a case are
i) Ability to transmit onward ii) Enchanced individual immunity in the general SEIR system.
By that logic every single person should be doing a LFT every day.
If you wanted to pick up true prevalence that's how you'd have to do it. Note schoolchildren during term time are subject to this regime (Well twice a week) so their prevalence during term time is likely a far truer measure than the general population.
Or you could test a representative sample?
Difficult to get a truly representative sample I expect. But yes it's the best we have as an estimate of total prevalence.
My NHS Number is of the form DDMMYYNNNN. If that's the case for everyone then the number given is not a valid number.
Mine is, as far as I can see, completely random numbers so they don't have to be birthday related.
My NHS number neither contains my date of birth nor, sadly, does it contain a locomotive number I can share a picture of.
NHS numbers and number formats have their own wikipedia page. There does not seem to be any scope for NHS numbers starting with birthdays or any dates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_number
Ah, so the Scottish system is different. Glad to see that it includes a check digit. Don't mention on twitter that it includes a gender digit.
I heard Thought for the Day this morning for the first time in ages.
What a load of banal piffle and cliches. Not one interesting thought at all. Not even remotely. Utter twaddle. You'd get more sense if you picked words randomly out of a dictionary.
Why does Radio 4 persist with it?
Because the law requires a certain amount of religion in prime time
It's not religion. I could take that. There might be some interest in that. It's garbage.
You mean the BBC is using it's required time on religion to inculcate an indifference to religion by associating it with piffel - well I never.
No, don't be silly. The religious bods they retain are bishops and rabbis and similar. The fault is with them, not the beeb.
Anne Atkins is, nevertheless, always the stand out most dire.
Is Clifford Longley still going? He would usually have me throwing things at the radio back in my R4-listening days.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
If that happens it only proves that their commitment to charitable aims is only skin-deep. They're not charities, they're mechanisms for entrenching privilege and inequality. Well done to the Scottish government.
OK so can we please clarify ( @Chris looking at you). How many Omicron cases do we think we have here and what is the daily current run rate.
It's unknowable isn't it. 5,000 ish we know of. How many do we not know of? Finger in the air job.
Also, what is a Omicron case? If someone has been jabbed and boosted and has sufficient virus present up their nostrils to trigger a positive test result, but is completely unaware, then is this a case or not and who cares?
It's a case, it's also a case if the person doesn't have the test but not a known one.
The reasons for counting it as a case are
i) Ability to transmit onward ii) Enchanced individual immunity in the general SEIR system.
By that logic every single person should be doing a LFT every day.
If you wanted to pick up true prevalence that's how you'd have to do it. Note schoolchildren during term time are subject to this regime (Well twice a week) so their prevalence during term time is likely a far truer measure than the general population.
Or you could test a representative sample?
Difficult to get a truly representative sample I expect. But yes it's the best we have as an estimate of total prevalence.
Well, it's not like the theory is not reasonably well understood. The ONS have been testing the same set of people for a couple of years now should be able to tell us the answer.
I heard Thought for the Day this morning for the first time in ages.
What a load of banal piffle and cliches. Not one interesting thought at all. Not even remotely. Utter twaddle. You'd get more sense if you picked words randomly out of a dictionary.
Why does Radio 4 persist with it?
Because the law requires a certain amount of religion in prime time
It's not religion. I could take that. There might be some interest in that. It's garbage.
You mean the BBC is using it's required time on religion to inculcate an indifference to religion by associating it with piffel - well I never.
No, don't be silly. The religious bods they retain are bishops and rabbis and similar. The fault is with them, not the beeb.
Thought for the Day today was by Jayne Manfredi who is just a liberal lay preacher in line with BBC speak not even a full time minister let alone a bishop or rabbi.
The problem with it today is it is not religious enough
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Nonsense. They are already exclusive and it is a clear waste of taxpayers' money, unjustifiable when so many other businesses pay in full.
No, absolutely justifiable and expanding opportunity and access to some of the best schools in the country benefiting us all in the long run. Of course leftwingers like you hate it as you hate choice in education but who cares, as a conservative I obviously don't and in England at least there will be no following of the SNP line by this Conservative government
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
At this juncture we have to ask why, if the Scottish Government has such a downer on private education, it doesn't simply nationalise all these institutions and be done with it?
It'd certainly be an interesting experiment. If much of the problem with the governing class really is that it's full of incompetent and entitled public school wankers (e.g. Cameron and Johnson,) then bringing down the public schools could have very positive long-term effects.
(I've no great interest in the private education debate anywhere, never mind in Scotland, BTW. Just wondering.)
OK so can we please clarify ( @Chris looking at you). How many Omicron cases do we think we have here and what is the daily current run rate.
It's unknowable isn't it. 5,000 ish we know of. How many do we not know of? Finger in the air job.
Also, what is a Omicron case? If someone has been jabbed and boosted and has sufficient virus present up their nostrils to trigger a positive test result, but is completely unaware, then is this a case or not and who cares?
It's a case, it's also a case if the person doesn't have the test but not a known one.
The reasons for counting it as a case are
i) Ability to transmit onward ii) Enchanced individual immunity in the general SEIR system.
By that logic every single person should be doing a LFT every day.
We have all been recommended to do two a week since the summer.
Have we? I didn't know that. Goodness, my daughter did one this morning before school and the quantity of stuff; the swab sticks, trays, sachets, bags - all non-biodegradable and going to landfill.
Yep, and now one full box of the things (seven, with one used every day) can be used by the double-jabbed to dodgy contact self-isolation requirements, the demand for the things will soar. Hence the ordering website having run out of them yesterday.
Billions and billions of extra little pieces of plastic absolutely everywhere.
Billions, or at least millions, of pieces of plastic mainly in landfill where it is not much of a concern. The trick is not to take your used test kits on holiday then hurl them into the Pacific Ocean, natural home of the plastic waste problem.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
If that happens it only proves that their commitment to charitable aims is only skin-deep. They're not charities, they're mechanisms for entrenching privilege and inequality. Well done to the Scottish government.
No, they are amongst the best schools in the world.
However no surprise a left liberal like you is desperate to congratulate the SNP given Starmer would jump into bed with them straight away if he needed SNP support to form a government in 2023/24
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
If that happens it only proves that their commitment to charitable aims is only skin-deep. They're not charities, they're mechanisms for entrenching privilege and inequality. Well done to the Scottish government.
No, they are amongst the best schools in the world.
However no surprise a left liberal like you is desperate to congratulate the SNP given Starmer would jump into bed with them straight away if he needed SNP support to form a government in 2023/24
The fact private schools don't pay business rates and state schools do is an anomaly that was going to be fixed years ago.
Covid just delayed the inevitable for a few years.
Heck the entire way it's done is designed by HMRC to allow the tax to be collected as soon as a suitably minded Government takes power.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
At this juncture we have to ask why, if the Scottish Government has such a downer on private education, it doesn't simply nationalise all these institutions and be done with it?
It'd certainly be an interesting experiment. If much of the problem with the governing class really is that it's full of incompetent and entitled public school wankers (e.g. Cameron and Johnson,) then bringing down the public schools could have very positive long-term effects.
(I've no great interest in the private education debate anywhere, never mind in Scotland, BTW. Just wondering.)
The best state schools in the country were grammar schools, so Labour had to begin the process of getting rid of them. The best state schools in the country are now private schools on the whole, so left liberals then have to get rid of them. Then they would get rid of outstanding church schools and free schools, can't have choice and excellence in education of course can we.
Then of course the obvious conclusion is to nationalise Marks and Spencer etc, indeed anything which offers the highest quality and just give everyone the bog standard in everything. Standard practice for the left
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools - although please try to provide a suitable justification for why a private school shouldn't pay Business Rates (I could do with a laugh).
Anyone wondering where the wall to wall negative front pages for Boris are, not to worry, they are coming back. My prediction, Wednesday evenings Front Pages so they are on racks in Shropshire Thursday. Partly due to government ramping panic to get them through Tuesdays votes - they will turn off the ramping and odd numbers they giving out, once Votes out the way.
It’s just the Daily Mirror and Starmer who want Boris out ? Ha ha. It’s everyone who cares about the Conservative Party and wants to see the Conservative Party Build Back Better from these lows Boris dragging them to, who want Boris out asap. let’s see if I’m right. Wednesday night. 🙂
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
If that happens it only proves that their commitment to charitable aims is only skin-deep. They're not charities, they're mechanisms for entrenching privilege and inequality. Well done to the Scottish government.
No, they are amongst the best schools in the world.
However no surprise a left liberal like you is desperate to congratulate the SNP given Starmer would jump into bed with them straight away if he needed SNP support to form a government in 2023/24
I'm congratulating them because they've done something I agree with, and I'm not a sad party hack who can't see good in other parties. I wouldn't vote SNP if I lived in Scotland, but I think they're fine. Even the Tory party has some good people left in it, although most of them were chucked out by Johnson or have left in disgust at his corruption, lies and incompetence.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
Quite happy to pay taxes to give the next generation a good start in life. Not happy to give tax breaks that subsidise an elitist system that hinders meritocracy.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 45m Another query. Keep reading about January lockdown. But if the figure of 200,000 cases yesterday is accurate, based on the analysis cases are doubling every two days, within 19 days every single person in the country will have been infected. So what would lockdown achieve.
I'm wondering whether the government fear-mongering is designed in part to create at atmosphere which will make the 75, or whatever, Plan B rebels to retreat from voting against.
I heard Thought for the Day this morning for the first time in ages.
What a load of banal piffle and cliches. Not one interesting thought at all. Not even remotely. Utter twaddle. You'd get more sense if you picked words randomly out of a dictionary.
Why does Radio 4 persist with it?
Because the law requires a certain amount of religion in prime time
It's not religion. I could take that. There might be some interest in that. It's garbage.
You mean the BBC is using it's required time on religion to inculcate an indifference to religion by associating it with piffel - well I never.
No, don't be silly. The religious bods they retain are bishops and rabbis and similar. The fault is with them, not the beeb.
Thought for the Day today was by Jayne Manfredi who is just a liberal lay preacher in line with BBC speak not even a full time minister let alone a bishop or rabbi.
The problem with it today is it is not religious enough
Weirdly, despite not being religious myself, I absolutely agree with you. If they are going to have thought for the day as a mandatory religious slot then it should be a thought about religion whereas too often it’s purely a usually left wing polemic on some social issue most of the time.
I find the Rabbis, Sikh and Buddhist contributors they have on are usually very good at melding a religious perspective on an event without it being “political” and I very much enjoy Tim Stanley’s contributions whether I agree with him or not but generally it’s someone having a go from a “progressive” perspective and nothing to do with religion at all - plenty of other slots on Today already cover that……
"The Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, urged the government to make sure that any reforms of the HRA were backed by evidence, not driven by political rhetoric."
A typical lawyer, he puts all his writings behind paywalls.
These comments are free.
But I can summarise for you if you want.
The first time I clicked on the Substack link, it said it was for subscribers only. The second time, it worked!
The HRA fundamentally changed the relationship between the Judiciary and Parliament, and many of the appointments to the Strasbourg court have been fundamentally political in nature.
Having left the EU, where membership of the ECHR was compulsory, it’s worth taking another look at that relationship, although there’s a fine line to tread in trying to rebalance the relationship in favour of Parliament.
A starting point should be, for example, that a foreign national sentenced to a year’s imprisonment should be assumed to be a candidate for deportation, except in very exceptional circumstances. People who wish to appeal their deportation, can do so from outside the UK and at their own expense.
The problem being that Priti Vacant wants to define "forrin national" as anyone she believes may be eligible to be a citizen somewhere else.
They should get HYUFD to rewrite the HRA. Define "citizen" as someone who has always voted Conservative, hates Scotland and is a congregant of the Church of England. Anyone who fails these simple and humane tests doesn't get a vote.
For example a Brit married to a Ukranian national could be deemed eligible for a Ukranian passport and refused entry to the UK.
People are voting for the Face Eating Leopards Party again.
No they’re not.
North Lab 49% Con 29% Midlands L 47% C 33% South C 43% L 35% London L 48 C 27
England L 43% C 35# Scotland SNP 53% C 20% L 13% Wales L 54% PC 21% C 21%
Women L 42% C 30% Men L 37% C 33%
UK L 39% C 32% LD 9% SNP 5% Grn 5% Ref 4%
(On behalf of ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Survation interviewed 1,218 adults online aged 18+ living in the UK between 10th and 11th December 2021.)
Although I hesitate to poke the hive...imagine what a different situation it would be if SLab hadn't self-destructed, and there were ~50 more Labour MPs in the Commons. No difference to the Tory majority, of course, but a huge difference to the problem of grinding out an election win.
All it needs is minor shrinkage, and just the cost of educating the extra pupils will swallow all that, never mind all the other benefits that come from having some diversity in the sector, and public benefits provided.
Anyone wondering where the wall to wall negative front pages for Boris are, not to worry, they are coming back. My prediction, Wednesday evenings Front Pages so they are on racks in Shropshire Thursday. Partly due to government ramping panic to get them through Tuesdays votes - they will turn off the ramping and odd numbers they giving out, once Votes out the way.
It’s just the Daily Mirror and Starmer who want Boris out ? Ha ha. It’s everyone who cares about the Conservative Party and wants to see the Conservative Party Build Back Better from these lows Boris dragging them to, who want Boris out asap. let’s see if I’m right. Wednesday night. 🙂
PS Santa arrested for not wearing a mask ☹️
Santa can now buy beard defender masks. No excuses.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools now have to pay Business Rates - the anomaly was that state schools paid it, private schools avoided paying it.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
OK so can we please clarify ( @Chris looking at you). How many Omicron cases do we think we have here and what is the daily current run rate.
OK.
50k cases per day confirmed by testing has approximated very roughly to double or a bit more in the monitoring report. So, that means underlying case rate is probably 100-125k.
If we take the 20% S dropout at face value, that means 20-25k Omicron cases a day, of which perhaps 10k will show up in the testing by sample date for 13-14/12 (whose figures aren't fully in yet). Perhaps 5-7k Omicron in yesterday's by report date figures. Note that these will be very heavily concentrated towards London as the main hotspot currently (perhaps 3-5k of the 11.7k London by report date yesterday).
Great makes sense thanks. Do we think we know how long Omicron has been a "thing" in the UK.
Iirc, S dropout really wasn't being picked up at all until mid November, perhaps a week or so before it hit the news. So, the initial seed from Southern Africa resulting in community spread (as opposed to an isolated case) was probably in early November and took a week or two to show up sufficiently in the testing stats. It was 0.3% by late November, so around 100-150 cases of S dropout per day. So, 10k now, would represent, very roughly, about 6-7 Omicron doublings since then.
My NHS Number is of the form DDMMYYNNNN. If that's the case for everyone then the number given is not a valid number.
Mine is, as far as I can see, completely random numbers so they don't have to be birthday related.
My NHS number neither contains my date of birth nor, sadly, does it contain a locomotive number I can share a picture of.
NHS numbers and number formats have their own wikipedia page. There does not seem to be any scope for NHS numbers starting with birthdays or any dates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_number
Ah, so the Scottish system is different. Glad to see that it includes a check digit. Don't mention on twitter that it includes a gender digit.
Yep. Developed ages ago (70s?) I think with the farsighted view of the benefits of being able to link records across different services. when pretty much everything was still on paper. Still beyond what we have in England as it's been embedded for so long (which means better epidemiology research is possible with Scottish data than English; unfortunately, with the Scotland population being much smaller, the research benefits are only really there for more common conditions)
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second hand details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
It's worth saying that Boris could (were he to care enough) implement your solution and impose it on Scotland - why don't you see if he will do so.
I heard Thought for the Day this morning for the first time in ages.
What a load of banal piffle and cliches. Not one interesting thought at all. Not even remotely. Utter twaddle. You'd get more sense if you picked words randomly out of a dictionary.
Why does Radio 4 persist with it?
Because the law requires a certain amount of religion in prime time
It's not religion. I could take that. There might be some interest in that. It's garbage.
You mean the BBC is using it's required time on religion to inculcate an indifference to religion by associating it with piffel - well I never.
No, don't be silly. The religious bods they retain are bishops and rabbis and similar. The fault is with them, not the beeb.
Thought for the Day today was by Jayne Manfredi who is just a liberal lay preacher in line with BBC speak not even a full time minister let alone a bishop or rabbi.
The problem with it today is it is not religious enough
Weirdly, despite not being religious myself, I absolutely agree with you. If they are going to have thought for the day as a mandatory religious slot then it should be a thought about religion whereas too often it’s purely a usually left wing polemic on some social issue most of the time.
I find the Rabbis, Sikh and Buddhist contributors they have on are usually very good at melding a religious perspective on an event without it being “political” and I very much enjoy Tim Stanley’s contributions whether I agree with him or not but generally it’s someone having a go from a “progressive” perspective and nothing to do with religion at all - plenty of other slots on Today already cover that……
To add to the above I find the sport slot on Today becoming another “issues” slot instead of, you know, Sport.
It constantly finds some sort of “issue” to ram down the listener’s ears and insists on pushing these issues ahead of what people want to know - the sports results and news.
And if they have another slot on Britney Fucking Spears “freedom”…….
OK so can we please clarify ( @Chris looking at you). How many Omicron cases do we think we have here and what is the daily current run rate.
It's unknowable isn't it. 5,000 ish we know of. How many do we not know of? Finger in the air job.
Also, what is a Omicron case? If someone has been jabbed and boosted and has sufficient virus present up their nostrils to trigger a positive test result, but is completely unaware, then is this a case or not and who cares?
It's a case, it's also a case if the person doesn't have the test but not a known one.
The reasons for counting it as a case are
i) Ability to transmit onward ii) Enchanced individual immunity in the general SEIR system.
By that logic every single person should be doing a LFT every day.
We have all been recommended to do two a week since the summer.
Have we? I didn't know that. Goodness, my daughter did one this morning before school and the quantity of stuff; the swab sticks, trays, sachets, bags - all non-biodegradable and going to landfill.
I'll predict that 3/5 to 2/3 of adults will be boosterised by new year.
This third dose is has wiped us both out. Can barely raise myself out of bed.
It wasn't the clubbing until dawn ?
Hope you're better soon. I was lucky with no apparent reaction to the booster, while the first AZN dose floored me for a day. What to expect seems pretty random.
I suspect it's got a lot to do with whether your body currently has recently had a Covid infection or not - vaccination after a mild infection could explain why some people reacted so badly to a jab / booster.
It's why we shifted our boosters to January because tomorrow (when we were booked to get our boosters) is on the 4 week limit from when the Mrs was infected - waiting another 2 weeks just feels sensible.
I had Covid, and got my booster the day after the post infection limit expired, so it doesn't appear to be that.
But you don't know how you would have felt if you had had the booster a week earlier having not been aware you were had had Covid?
My point is that 1 reason why people may feel ill after having the jab is because they are currently (and unknowingly) fighting a Covid (or other) infection.
That possible, but at a guess I suspect it's more to do with the great variability in individual immune response.
I am not sure if I am just in a bad mood, but the media and politics this morning seems particularly full of trite and banal words and phrases,
So, in no particular order, here is my lame list for 2021:
1. Indulgent 2. Iconic 3. Curated 4. Getting on with the job 5. Katie Price 6. Intimate 7. Any headline with words in CAPITAL letters 8. Rees Mogg 9. Omicron 10. Bubbles
Cicero is clearly not a fan of the ICONIC Daily Mail, despite their carefully curated coverage of an indulgent PARTY hosted by Jacob Rees Mogg, where the bubbles flowed, as did rumours about a scientist who should have been getting on with the job researching Omicron, but was actually GETTING IT ON and intimate with KATIE PRICE instead.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Nonsense. They are already exclusive and it is a clear waste of taxpayers' money, unjustifiable when so many other businesses pay in full.
I think they probably aren't, given that Scottish Indy Schools spend £30m a year on bursaries, means tests and not means tested, and that many Indy schools are about specialisms the state can't provide.
Not that Scottish Gov has much of a record of encouraging diversity.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
Quite happy to pay taxes to give the next generation a good start in life. Not happy to give tax breaks that subsidise an elitist system that hinders meritocracy.
Rubbish, it is you advocating reducing access to our best schools hindering meritocracy.
I believe in choice in education as much as anything else. Even if you got rid of every private school in the country it would do nothing for meritocracy, private school parents would send their children to the best state schools in the most expensive suburbs or commuter belt towns in the country.
Bright kids from council estates would go to bog standard comps in the inner cities or poor ex industrial or seaside towns when they might have a chance of getting a scholarship to a private school now
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
They are not removing charitable status - the change is that charitable status no longer provides an exemption.
As I said its actually something the UK government could fix were they bothered to do so and wanted to score some points.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
They are not removing charitable status - the change is that charitable status no longer provides an exemption.
As I said its actually something the UK government could fix were they bothered to do so and wanted to score some points.
Correct.
It is a change costing the sector a little under 10% of turnover if I counted it correctly.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
NNDR raises £25bn a year - where else would the money come from?
I heard Thought for the Day this morning for the first time in ages.
What a load of banal piffle and cliches. Not one interesting thought at all. Not even remotely. Utter twaddle. You'd get more sense if you picked words randomly out of a dictionary.
Why does Radio 4 persist with it?
Because the law requires a certain amount of religion in prime time
It's not religion. I could take that. There might be some interest in that. It's garbage.
What we need is a good Redemptorist preacher on Thought for the Day, like Father Joseph Furniss:
Ps. xx. Thou shalt make him as an oven of fire in the time of thy anger.
You are going to see again the child about which you read in the Terrible Judgement, that it was condemned to hell. See! It is a pitiful sight. The little child is in this red hot oven. Hear how it screams to come out. See how it turns and twists itself about in the fire. It beats its head against the roof of the oven. It stamps its little feet on the floor of the oven. You can see on the face of this little child what you see on the faces of all in hell -- despair, desperate and horrible! The same law which is for others is also for children. If children, knowingly and willingly, break God's commandments, they must also be punished like others. This child committed very bad mortal sins, knowing well the harm of what it was doing, and knowing that hell would be the punishment. God was very good to this child. Very likely God saw that this child would get worse and worse, and would never repent, and so it would have to be punished much more in hell. So God, in His mercy, called it out of the world in its early childhood.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
They are not removing charitable status - the change is that charitable status no longer provides an exemption.
As I said its actually something the UK government could fix were they bothered to do so and wanted to score some points.
Is that applying to all charities or just education-related charities?
One of the reasons for the explosion of charity stores on the High Street is the NNDR exemption.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
The more exclusive these institutions become, the more vulnerable they become. Think about it.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 45m Another query. Keep reading about January lockdown. But if the figure of 200,000 cases yesterday is accurate, based on the analysis cases are doubling every two days, within 19 days every single person in the country will have been infected. So what would lockdown achieve.
I'm wondering whether the government fear-mongering is designed in part to create at atmosphere which will make the 75, or whatever, Plan B rebels to retreat from voting against.
I think it's designed to create a victory narrative for the government. Declare Omicron an impending disaster. Speed-up boosters to avert disaster. There is no disaster. Christmas is saved. Declare victory over Omicron!
Added benefit that in the now unlikely case that Omicron does cause a disaster, at least they can credibly claim they did everything they reasonably could.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
They are not removing charitable status - the change is that charitable status no longer provides an exemption.
As I said its actually something the UK government could fix were they bothered to do so and wanted to score some points.
Is that applying to all charities or just education-related charities?
One of the reasons for the explosion of charity stores on the High Street is the NNDR exemption.
Just independent schools, with aiui an exception for those which work with special needs.
The 200,000 Omicron cases per day claim is being discussed uncritically as fact on BBC Breakfast at the moment. Doesn't seem to have occurred to anybody that we now have an implied case rate (given most cases are still Delta) of a million a day, yet somehow only 50k cases are being picked up by test and the country isn't collapsing under the massive weight of illness.
Turnips.
Yes, it is shocking that the media is repeating this without realising that an error was made. Especially given that the error was thoroughly aired yesterday.
Obviously Javid - who is maybe suffering from a cognitive disorder if as Health Secretary he's incapable of digesting the one most pertinent bit of data - should have said 200,000 people infected with Omicron in total, out of a total of 1.5 million currently infected with COVID.
Hope you are right. If 1.5m in UK are currently infected with Covid the hospitalisation rate (and even the symptomatic rate) is tiny.
"The Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, urged the government to make sure that any reforms of the HRA were backed by evidence, not driven by political rhetoric."
A typical lawyer, he puts all his writings behind paywalls.
These comments are free.
But I can summarise for you if you want.
The first time I clicked on the Substack link, it said it was for subscribers only. The second time, it worked!
The HRA fundamentally changed the relationship between the Judiciary and Parliament, and many of the appointments to the Strasbourg court have been fundamentally political in nature.
Having left the EU, where membership of the ECHR was compulsory, it’s worth taking another look at that relationship, although there’s a fine line to tread in trying to rebalance the relationship in favour of Parliament.
A starting point should be, for example, that a foreign national sentenced to a year’s imprisonment should be assumed to be a candidate for deportation, except in very exceptional circumstances. People who wish to appeal their deportation, can do so from outside the UK and at their own expense.
The problem being that Priti Vacant wants to define "forrin national" as anyone she believes may be eligible to be a citizen somewhere else.
They should get HYUFD to rewrite the HRA. Define "citizen" as someone who has always voted Conservative, hates Scotland and is a congregant of the Church of England. Anyone who fails these simple and humane tests doesn't get a vote.
For example a Brit married to a Ukranian national could be deemed eligible for a Ukranian passport and refused entry to the UK.
People are voting for the Face Eating Leopards Party again.
No they’re not.
North Lab 49% Con 29% Midlands L 47% C 33% South C 43% L 35% London L 48 C 27
England L 43% C 35# Scotland SNP 53% C 20% L 13% Wales L 54% PC 21% C 21%
Women L 42% C 30% Men L 37% C 33%
UK L 39% C 32% LD 9% SNP 5% Grn 5% Ref 4%
(On behalf of ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Survation interviewed 1,218 adults online aged 18+ living in the UK between 10th and 11th December 2021.)
Although I hesitate to poke the hive...imagine what a different situation it would be if SLab hadn't self-destructed, and there were ~50 more Labour MPs in the Commons. No difference to the Tory majority, of course, but a huge difference to the problem of grinding out an election win.
Imagine a world without Jim Murphy, Gordon Brown and Wee Dougie? We’re living the dream.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
They are not removing charitable status - the change is that charitable status no longer provides an exemption.
As I said its actually something the UK government could fix were they bothered to do so and wanted to score some points.
Correct.
It is a change costing the sector a little under 10% of turnover if I counted it correctly.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
The more exclusive these institutions become, the more vulnerable they become. Think about it.
Yep.
Step one on a campaign to make them more exclusive, and eventually close them all.
"The Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, urged the government to make sure that any reforms of the HRA were backed by evidence, not driven by political rhetoric."
A typical lawyer, he puts all his writings behind paywalls.
These comments are free.
But I can summarise for you if you want.
The first time I clicked on the Substack link, it said it was for subscribers only. The second time, it worked!
The HRA fundamentally changed the relationship between the Judiciary and Parliament, and many of the appointments to the Strasbourg court have been fundamentally political in nature.
Having left the EU, where membership of the ECHR was compulsory, it’s worth taking another look at that relationship, although there’s a fine line to tread in trying to rebalance the relationship in favour of Parliament.
A starting point should be, for example, that a foreign national sentenced to a year’s imprisonment should be assumed to be a candidate for deportation, except in very exceptional circumstances. People who wish to appeal their deportation, can do so from outside the UK and at their own expense.
The problem being that Priti Vacant wants to define "forrin national" as anyone she believes may be eligible to be a citizen somewhere else.
They should get HYUFD to rewrite the HRA. Define "citizen" as someone who has always voted Conservative, hates Scotland and is a congregant of the Church of England. Anyone who fails these simple and humane tests doesn't get a vote.
To be fair, that used to be the law! (Under the 39 Articles) so he would just be reaching into the past for inspiration
IIRC there wasn't anything about 'hating Scotland' was there? Might have been something about Scots, of course!
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
NNDR raises £25bn a year - where else would the money come from?
Well, that £350m a week that we're saving comes to ~£18bn. Combined with other Brexit benefits, surely we could do it now?
All it needs is minor shrinkage, and just the cost of educating the extra pupils will swallow all that, never mind all the other benefits that come from having some diversity in the sector, and public benefits provided.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
Quite happy to pay taxes to give the next generation a good start in life. Not happy to give tax breaks that subsidise an elitist system that hinders meritocracy.
Rubbish, it is you advocating reducing access to our best schools hindering meritocracy.
I believe in choice in education as much as anything else. Even if you got rid of every private school in the country it would do nothing for meritocracy, private school parents would send their children to the best state schools in the most expensive suburbs or commuter belt towns in the country.
Bright kids from council estates would go to bog standard comps in the inner cities or poor ex industrial or seaside towns when they might have a chance of getting a scholarship to a private school now
Just as a matter of interest, what do you define as a 'best' school? Is it one which takes disadvantaged children and give them a good chance in life. or one which takes already 'advantaged' children and gives the access to a similar circle in later life?
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
They are not removing charitable status - the change is that charitable status no longer provides an exemption.
As I said its actually something the UK government could fix were they bothered to do so and wanted to score some points.
Correct.
It is a change costing the sector a little under 10% of turnover if I counted it correctly.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
The more exclusive these institutions become, the more vulnerable they become. Think about it.
Yep.
Step one on a campaign to make them more exclusive, and eventually close them all.
You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
The more exclusive these institutions become, the more vulnerable they become. Think about it.
On the way to expanding the bog standard comprehensive for the majority as is the goal of the SNP and the leftwing of the Labour Party while restricting choice for the majority or bright children who might get a scholarship. The only escape route left for wealthy parents who can still send their children to the best state schools in the most expensive suburbs
All it needs is minor shrinkage, and just the cost of educating the extra pupils will swallow all that, never mind all the other benefits that come from having some diversity in the sector, and public benefits provided.
I went on the Internet, and I found Annalena and her new aeroplane:
Can't comment on Photoshop or Not.
Well the last government did order new planes to replace the old ones. I'm not sure the foreign minister getting on a government plane to travel abroad on government business is particularly noteworthy. Maybe she should have set an example by getting the train.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
NNDR raises £25bn a year - where else would the money come from?
If it were up to me? VAT. That raises £135bn a year.
If it were up to me I'd abolish NNDR and National Insurance. I'd slimline the tax system so all income-related taxes are on income tax (thus removing the exemption on NI from unearned income) and have business-related taxes on VAT.
If a business is successful it will generate more VAT.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Nonsense. They are already exclusive and it is a clear waste of taxpayers' money, unjustifiable when so many other businesses pay in full.
No, absolutely justifiable and expanding opportunity and access to some of the best schools in the country benefiting us all in the long run. Of course leftwingers like you hate it as you hate choice in education but who cares, as a conservative I obviously don't and in England at least there will be no following of the SNP line by this Conservative government
I am not sure if I am just in a bad mood, but the media and politics this morning seems particularly full of trite and banal words and phrases,
So, in no particular order, here is my lame list for 2021:
1. Indulgent 2. Iconic 3. Curated 4. Getting on with the job 5. Katie Price 6. Intimate 7. Any headline with words in CAPITAL letters 8. Rees Mogg 9. Omicron 10. Bubbles
As if a Christmas song by Ed Sheeran and Elton John wasn't enough to put your teeth on edge already, its lyrics contain the intolerable sin against grammar of "it's Christmas time for you and I." Jesus! We truly are living in an age of idiocy. Somebody pass me the launch codes.
Indeed, awful cultural appropriation of the Rastafari I!
Fed up with middle aged/older people ringing up Radio Scotland:
"I was at the pub and a bunch of students came in. Given how many young people have Covid, I really wish they would stay at home"
"On a packed train to the football. Made me feel really vulnerable".
If people are worried enough to call in and complain, I'd gently suggest they take the initiative and stay at home themselves.
Young people have given too much already. See the SG report out today on mental health.
+1
(By the way, saw your comment on “safer people”. Fairy nuff. Replace with “Sober people are less likely to die a distressing, long-drawn-out death.” That better?)
I heard Thought for the Day this morning for the first time in ages.
What a load of banal piffle and cliches. Not one interesting thought at all. Not even remotely. Utter twaddle. You'd get more sense if you picked words randomly out of a dictionary.
Why does Radio 4 persist with it?
Because the law requires a certain amount of religion in prime time
It's not religion. I could take that. There might be some interest in that. It's garbage.
You mean the BBC is using it's required time on religion to inculcate an indifference to religion by associating it with piffel - well I never.
No, don't be silly. The religious bods they retain are bishops and rabbis and similar. The fault is with them, not the beeb.
Anne Atkins is, nevertheless, always the stand out most dire.
The woman this morning was appalling - utter drivel.
I get an email in my inbox called Christian Art. Bear with me. It usually references some Bible story - not the most obvious ones either - but its real value is that it accompanies this with some painting or other artwork based on the story, often very loosely. And not just 15th century stuff either. But more modern art as well.
And that is its value. If you are even vaguely interested in art you get to see a new painting every day, are told something about it and where to go and see it in the flesh, if you want. Plus you can read the Biblical reference if you want.
Radio 4 could usefully use the time allocated for Banality of the Day to telling people about all this lovely art. Who knows? It might inspire artists of the future or even just teach them something about our cultural heritage.
Anything than the "I was shopping for peas and I wondered what would Jesus do" bollocks we get.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
NNDR raises £25bn a year - where else would the money come from?
If it were up to me? VAT. That raises £135bn a year.
If it were up to me I'd abolish NNDR and National Insurance. I'd slimline the tax system so all income-related taxes are on income tax (thus removing the exemption on NI from unearned income) and have business-related taxes on VAT.
If a business is successful it will generate more VAT.
VAT rate 30% (35% with employee NI as well) - that would go down well.
"The Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, urged the government to make sure that any reforms of the HRA were backed by evidence, not driven by political rhetoric."
A typical lawyer, he puts all his writings behind paywalls.
These comments are free.
But I can summarise for you if you want.
The first time I clicked on the Substack link, it said it was for subscribers only. The second time, it worked!
The HRA fundamentally changed the relationship between the Judiciary and Parliament, and many of the appointments to the Strasbourg court have been fundamentally political in nature.
Having left the EU, where membership of the ECHR was compulsory, it’s worth taking another look at that relationship, although there’s a fine line to tread in trying to rebalance the relationship in favour of Parliament.
A starting point should be, for example, that a foreign national sentenced to a year’s imprisonment should be assumed to be a candidate for deportation, except in very exceptional circumstances. People who wish to appeal their deportation, can do so from outside the UK and at their own expense.
The problem being that Priti Vacant wants to define "forrin national" as anyone she believes may be eligible to be a citizen somewhere else.
They should get HYUFD to rewrite the HRA. Define "citizen" as someone who has always voted Conservative, hates Scotland and is a congregant of the Church of England. Anyone who fails these simple and humane tests doesn't get a vote.
To be fair, that used to be the law! (Under the 39 Articles) so he would just be reaching into the past for inspiration
IIRC there wasn't anything about 'hating Scotland' was there? Might have been something about Scots, of course!
Elizabeth was besties with Mary, Queen of Scots….
What's that to do with the 39 Articles? Couldn't even see anything about France, let alone Scotland.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Nonsense. They are already exclusive and it is a clear waste of taxpayers' money, unjustifiable when so many other businesses pay in full.
No, absolutely justifiable and expanding opportunity and access to some of the best schools in the country benefiting us all in the long run. Of course leftwingers like you hate it as you hate choice in education but who cares, as a conservative I obviously don't and in England at least there will be no following of the SNP line by this Conservative government
“Benefiting us all”
Lol
Should we be levying NNDR on Oxfam charity stores? Or British Heart Foundation ones? Or local Hospice ones?
All it needs is minor shrinkage, and just the cost of educating the extra pupils will swallow all that, never mind all the other benefits that come from having some diversity in the sector, and public benefits provided.
Ho ho.
Yes, I feel your pain.
The numbers are quite clear.
In due course they will reap their whirlwind.
Nah. The Nordic countries do just fine without these preposterous institutions.
I see the Economist's Health Editor has reported on a tele-conference that's just taken place with private healthcare experts in South Africa. Summarising, the key points about Omicron appear to be: a) It is less severe (estimated 29% less so), but b) both vaccines and previous infection is less effective at preventing infection/re-infection with the new variant, c) the combination of greater transmissibility and lower vaccine resistance presents a risk of more cases needing healthcare intervention despite its lower severity; in particular children are estimated 20% more likely to be hospitalised with the new variant.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Nonsense. They are already exclusive and it is a clear waste of taxpayers' money, unjustifiable when so many other businesses pay in full.
No, absolutely justifiable and expanding opportunity and access to some of the best schools in the country benefiting us all in the long run. Of course leftwingers like you hate it as you hate choice in education but who cares, as a conservative I obviously don't and in England at least there will be no following of the SNP line by this Conservative government
“Benefiting us all”
Lol
Should we be levying NNDR on Oxfam charity stores? Or British Heart Foundation ones? Or local Hospice ones?
They only benefit some people too.
I don’t really care about the tax status of private schools, I just find HYUFD’s claim that they “benefit us all” hilarious.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
NNDR raises £25bn a year - where else would the money come from?
If it were up to me? VAT. That raises £135bn a year.
If it were up to me I'd abolish NNDR and National Insurance. I'd slimline the tax system so all income-related taxes are on income tax (thus removing the exemption on NI from unearned income) and have business-related taxes on VAT.
If a business is successful it will generate more VAT.
VAT rate 30% (35% with employee NI as well) - that would go down well.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
NNDR raises £25bn a year - where else would the money come from?
If it were up to me? VAT. That raises £135bn a year.
If it were up to me I'd abolish NNDR and National Insurance. I'd slimline the tax system so all income-related taxes are on income tax (thus removing the exemption on NI from unearned income) and have business-related taxes on VAT.
If a business is successful it will generate more VAT.
I thought Business Rates were up for reform, because the South East squealed so much when theirs were raised to the equivalent level of everybody else's a few years ago when the properties were revalued (?). Or was it abandoned?
The 200,000 Omicron cases per day claim is being discussed uncritically as fact on BBC Breakfast at the moment. Doesn't seem to have occurred to anybody that we now have an implied case rate (given most cases are still Delta) of a million a day, yet somehow only 50k cases are being picked up by test and the country isn't collapsing under the massive weight of illness.
Turnips.
Yes, it is shocking that the media is repeating this without realising that an error was made. Especially given that the error was thoroughly aired yesterday.
Obviously Javid - who is maybe suffering from a cognitive disorder if as Health Secretary he's incapable of digesting the one most pertinent bit of data - should have said 200,000 people infected with Omicron in total, out of a total of 1.5 million currently infected with COVID.
Walker and Nugent were discussing the numbers with their regular scientists earlier and the latter failed to challenge the numbers, either. This is either part of a massive conspiracy of misinformation intended to terrify the public into getting their booster jabs (unnecessary - most folk by this stage of the game are either vaccine enthusiasts or heel diggers,) or the average IQ of the entire British establishment is about 78 and most of them are therefore utterly incapable of spotting arrant nonsense.
Fortunately I have reached the past caring stage of this whole catastrophe and can therefore laugh about all of this, otherwise it would be deeply depressing.
After reading that Raab gave two rather different estimates today for the number of Omicron hospitalisations - namely 9 and 250 - I'd suggest ignoring anything said by a politician and waiting for something said by a medical or scientific officer preferably in writing, to avoid mistakes.
Thankfully according to the BBC Raab has now corrected himself: It's 10. "Explaining the discrepancy, he told ITV: "I misheard one of the questions around whether it was hospitalisations of Omicron-related patients or more generally."
So he thinks there are only 250 people in hospital with COVID-19 "more generally"? When the daily admission rate is about a thousand. God help us.
I suppose the likely explanation is that it's 250 patients who are suspected of having Omicron but not confirmed.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Nonsense. They are already exclusive and it is a clear waste of taxpayers' money, unjustifiable when so many other businesses pay in full.
No, absolutely justifiable and expanding opportunity and access to some of the best schools in the country benefiting us all in the long run. Of course leftwingers like you hate it as you hate choice in education but who cares, as a conservative I obviously don't and in England at least there will be no following of the SNP line by this Conservative government
“Benefiting us all”
Lol
Should we be levying NNDR on Oxfam charity stores? Or British Heart Foundation ones? Or local Hospice ones?
They only benefit some people too.
Judging by the behaviour in some charities they should be paying extra tax not getting any sort of advantage. Some of their staff should be having interviews with the police, frankly.
So in the space of 3 posts, its good, bad and indifferent news from SA....
Moderately good news for the UK at least, I think. The two-dose protection against severe illness is still fairly good (although falling off for older cohorts), and we know that a third dose will boost that protection very substantially.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Och well, we'll just have to live without the quality of the likes of Prince Andrew and Tony Blair in our public life (or a bit less of it at any rate).
So protection of two doses against hospitalisation down to only 60-70% in older age groups versus 93% for the Delta wave? That makes the Omicron wave more severe than the Delta wave, not less, yes?
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Or prices go up, some students leave and state schools have more pupils to teach.
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
Then taxpayers have to pay even more taxes to support the extra pupils in the state system
I didn't say it's a great plan I pointed out the flaws.
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools.
If there's anomalies then you can fix the anomalies.
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They are fixing the anomaly - which is why Scottish private schools have to pay Business Rates.
Alternatively you could exempt state schools from NNDR too.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
Really? since when did you become an expert on Business Rates - the second details I get from my daughter working for the VOA are continually interesting.
Not within the existing system.
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
NNDR raises £25bn a year - where else would the money come from?
If it were up to me? VAT. That raises £135bn a year.
If it were up to me I'd abolish NNDR and National Insurance. I'd slimline the tax system so all income-related taxes are on income tax (thus removing the exemption on NI from unearned income) and have business-related taxes on VAT.
If a business is successful it will generate more VAT.
VAT rate 30% (35% with employee NI as well) - that would go down well.
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Och well, we'll just have to live without the quality of the likes of Prince Andrew and Tony Blair in our public life (or a bit less of it at any rate).
Most of our top doctors, surgeons and lawyers also went to private schools. A large proportion of the rest went to grammar schools
Which just means they will have to offer fewer scholarships and bursaries and become even more exclusive only to children of the rich. Yet another own goal by Sturgeon
Nonsense. They are already exclusive and it is a clear waste of taxpayers' money, unjustifiable when so many other businesses pay in full.
No, absolutely justifiable and expanding opportunity and access to some of the best schools in the country benefiting us all in the long run. Of course leftwingers like you hate it as you hate choice in education but who cares, as a conservative I obviously don't and in England at least there will be no following of the SNP line by this Conservative government
“Benefiting us all”
Lol
Should we be levying NNDR on Oxfam charity stores? Or British Heart Foundation ones? Or local Hospice ones?
They only benefit some people too.
Judging by the behaviour in some charities they should be paying extra tax not getting any sort of advantage. Some of their staff should be having interviews with the police, frankly.
Many Oxfam shops are full blown businesses with some market domination - such as the specialist bookshop and wedding outlets. So imo yes.
But the bigger thing is perhaps the effective corporation tax exemption when a business is owned by a charity and donates the profits.
There's room for reform on Indy Schools, but it needs to be thought through not kneejerk ideology, which is what we get here.
Comments
I'm thinking peak might be a tad above 200k infections per day being picked up by testing, this being held down a touch by different regions peaking their quite rapid waves at different times.
Billions and billions of extra little pieces of plastic absolutely everywhere.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Service_Central_Register_(Scotland)
The problem with it today is it is not religious enough
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b9ppdc
It's worth saying it's a clearcut anomaly though because State schools generally pay non-domestic business rates, private ones receive relief - so you can see why its going to go.
It'd certainly be an interesting experiment. If much of the problem with the governing class really is that it's full of incompetent and entitled public school wankers (e.g. Cameron and Johnson,) then bringing down the public schools could have very positive long-term effects.
(I've no great interest in the private education debate anywhere, never mind in Scotland, BTW. Just wondering.)
However no surprise a left liberal like you is desperate to congratulate the SNP given Starmer would jump into bed with them straight away if he needed SNP support to form a government in 2023/24
Covid just delayed the inevitable for a few years.
Heck the entire way it's done is designed by HMRC to allow the tax to be collected as soon as a suitably minded Government takes power.
Then of course the obvious conclusion is to nationalise Marks and Spencer etc, indeed anything which offers the highest quality and just give everyone the bog standard in everything. Standard practice for the left
But if State schools have to pay business rates it's impossible to justify an exception for other schools - although please try to provide a suitable justification for why a private school shouldn't pay Business Rates (I could do with a laugh).
Anyone wondering where the wall to wall negative front pages for Boris are, not to worry, they are coming back. My prediction, Wednesday evenings Front Pages so they are on racks in Shropshire Thursday. Partly due to government ramping panic to get them through Tuesdays votes - they will turn off the ramping and odd numbers they giving out, once Votes out the way.
It’s just the Daily Mirror and Starmer who want Boris out ? Ha ha. It’s everyone who cares about the Conservative Party and wants to see the Conservative Party Build Back Better from these lows Boris dragging them to, who want Boris out asap. let’s see if I’m right. Wednesday night. 🙂
PS Santa arrested for not wearing a mask ☹️
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I find the Rabbis, Sikh and Buddhist contributors they have on are usually very good at melding a religious perspective on an event without it being “political” and I very much enjoy Tim Stanley’s contributions whether I agree with him or not but generally it’s someone having a go from a “progressive” perspective and nothing to do with religion at all - plenty of other slots on Today already cover that……
Savings: 37m.
Benefit of Independent School Sector to Scotland:
https://www.scis.org.uk/assets/Uploads/PDFs/Economic-Impact-of-the-Scottish-Council-of-Independent-Schools-final-report-13Apr16.pdf
All it needs is minor shrinkage, and just the cost of educating the extra pupils will swallow all that, never mind all the other benefits that come from having some diversity in the sector, and public benefits provided.
https://www.thebeardstruggle.com/products/the-beard-defender?campaignid=13935545226&adgroupid=124554890803&term=face mask for beards&gc_id=13935545226&ad_id=534176764977&tmid=534176764977&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnuGNBhCPARIsACbnLzqtkNQWc_sacIIQEiTXip30N_2dCjSahWwsgZNzMESr6BpIjhz4wr8aAkjsEALw_wcB
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C17654/2021-12-14/detailed#allox_id=0
3 hours 15 minutes is pretty good.
No need to remove charitable status to fix the anomaly though.
I went on the Internet, and I found Annalena and her new aeroplane:
Can't comment on Photoshop or Not.
It's worth saying that Boris could (were he to care enough) implement your solution and impose it on Scotland - why don't you see if he will do so.
It constantly finds some sort of “issue” to ram down the listener’s ears and insists on pushing these issues ahead of what people want to know - the sports results and news.
And if they have another slot on Britney Fucking Spears “freedom”…….
Rant over, sorry…….
I'm saying if you're going to change the law to remove charitable status from private schools due to this anomaly, you could just as easily change the law to grant it to state schools - or to exempt state schools from NNDR.
I don't like NNDR and think it should be abolished preferably anyway. Pernicious tax.
EDIT: Just saw your edit about Scotland. I see no reason why the government should interfere on a devolved matter with Scotland.
Not that Scottish Gov has much of a record of encouraging diversity.
I believe in choice in education as much as anything else. Even if you got rid of every private school in the country it would do nothing for meritocracy, private school parents would send their children to the best state schools in the most expensive suburbs or commuter belt towns in the country.
Bright kids from council estates would go to bog standard comps in the inner cities or poor ex industrial or seaside towns when they might have a chance of getting a scholarship to a private school now
As I said its actually something the UK government could fix were they bothered to do so and wanted to score some points.
It is a change costing the sector a little under 10% of turnover if I counted it correctly.Numbers wrong, the £37m is a 5 year figure.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50665658
So about 1-2% of turnover. afaics
Which will be recovered I imagine by fees up and bursaries / public benefit down.
One of the reasons for the explosion of charity stores on the High Street is the NNDR exemption.
Added benefit that in the now unlikely case that Omicron does cause a disaster, at least they can credibly claim they did everything they reasonably could.
https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/13/harley-davidsons-ev-motorcycle-unit-livewire-to-go-public-via-spac/
What's the prediction for today's omicron new cases?
I'm going for 305,671!
So messy.
Step one on a campaign to make them more exclusive, and eventually close them all.
Yes, I feel your pain.
"I was at the pub and a bunch of students came in. Given how many young people have Covid, I really wish they would stay at home"
"On a packed train to the football. Made me feel really vulnerable".
If people are worried enough to call in and complain, I'd gently suggest they take the initiative and stay at home themselves.
Young people have given too much already. See the SG report out today on mental health.
In due course they will reap their whirlwind.
I see that in Sweden independent schools are funded by the local council.
https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/organisation-private-education-80_en
Far less ideological , which is far better.
If it were up to me I'd abolish NNDR and National Insurance. I'd slimline the tax system so all income-related taxes are on income tax (thus removing the exemption on NI from unearned income) and have business-related taxes on VAT.
If a business is successful it will generate more VAT.
https://twitter.com/miamalan/status/1470684351151157252
Lol
(By the way, saw your comment on “safer people”. Fairy nuff. Replace with “Sober people are less likely to die a distressing, long-drawn-out death.” That better?)
I get an email in my inbox called Christian Art. Bear with me. It usually references some Bible story - not the most obvious ones either - but its real value is that it accompanies this with some painting or other artwork based on the story, often very loosely. And not just 15th century stuff either. But more modern art as well.
And that is its value. If you are even vaguely interested in art you get to see a new painting every day, are told something about it and where to go and see it in the flesh, if you want. Plus you can read the Biblical reference if you want.
Radio 4 could usefully use the time allocated for Banality of the Day to telling people about all this lovely art. Who knows? It might inspire artists of the future or even just teach them something about our cultural heritage.
Anything than the "I was shopping for peas and I wondered what would Jesus do" bollocks we get.
1. 2 doses of Pfizer’s jab makes vaccinated people 70% less likely to get hospitalised vs. unvaccinated people
2. This is lower than 93% protection the jab gave in SA’s Delta wave (93%)
3. Less protection for older cohorts (but maybe because they were jabbed earlier)
They only benefit some people too.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10306211/DR-ANGELIQUE-COETZEE-alerted-wider-world-Omicron-believe-Britain-overreacting.html
2207; total count 6920
In Javid's head ?
1 million
So he thinks there are only 250 people in hospital with COVID-19 "more generally"? When the daily admission rate is about a thousand. God help us.
I suppose the likely explanation is that it's 250 patients who are suspected of having Omicron but not confirmed.
VAT generates £120bn
NICs £144bn
I was using the Employer NI figure as the grand total
VAT without NNDR = 25%
VAT without NNDR & Employer NI = 36%
VAT without NNDR & NI = 47%
As I said the laffer curve kills things quickly which is why it's a bit here and a bit there.
"Blessed are the peas' makers."
But the bigger thing is perhaps the effective corporation tax exemption when a business is owned by a charity and donates the profits.
There's room for reform on Indy Schools, but it needs to be thought through not kneejerk ideology, which is what we get here.