Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
A more sensible move would be to make it by mileage rather than by years.
Does a 7 year old car of reasonable quality really need four annual checks? Probably not. But testing it every 12,000 miles after the first 40,000 would make sense.
Equally, I can see it would be difficult to enforce compared to a simple date system.
I would suggest biannually until 10 years old then annually. Modern cars last well compared to the rusty wrecks that I drove in the eighties.
Yes, that’s the right answer. Modern cars increasingly have 10 year rust warranties, so let the MoT look for tyres and exhausts.
Biennially though, not biannually.
At the very least an interim mandatory tyre check, maybe at a tenner a go. I still think the two year idea is folly. Perhaps the frequency reduction less tyre checks could be introduced for electric cars.
A few years back, I was talking with a chap who had come up with a sensor system that could detect tire state - tread depth and general state. I wonder what happened to it.
Good idea, but it won't be retrofitted on a 2004 Corsa, which worries me.
I find the way that exotic tech becomes standard in cars interesting.
Once upon a time, anti-lock brakes were only fitted on the more expensive and exotic military jets. Now they are a legal requirement for new cars.
Get general tire health monitoring into Bugattis and us Head Count will find it built into our cars within 5 years....
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
The person who runs this account claims to be an ex-spook who’s now an ‘ethical leaker’. Certainly very anti the current government. Also claims to have contacts in No. 10.
How true all that is, I don’t know. But I have my doubts.
But, if this turns out to be accurate, maybe I’ll have to accept they are who they say they are:
The idea that Raab, or indeed anyone, would deliberately watch pornography in the Commons chamber simply doesn't pass the sniff test. Why would anyone do that?
What might have happened is someone texted/WhatsApped something NSFW and they opened the message before realising what it was.
I was on a plane once, and a gentleman a few rows ahead of me got his laptop out.
As he opened it, it came out of sleep mode, and continued playing the video be had been watching in his hotel room the previous evening. Unfortunately for him, the volume was loud, and the panting and moaning was heard by the entire plane.
He slammed the laptop shut and went a very bright red.
How sure are we the "porn" in the chamber wasn't a NSFW WhatsApp message that flashed up when the MP checked his phone and scrolled through?
I got (an unexpected) one of those today without any warning.
Exactly. I suggested this very possibility earlier. To me, that’s the likely reality. Who exactly would sit in the Commons chamber and watch porn? The whole thing sounds completely barmy.
Agree with this - and I despise the Tories
I hadn’t realised earlier that it was a FRONTBENCHER.
To be honest, Raab does look like the type.
Don’t you watch any TV detective shows? 🙄
Don’t get it. Please explain. My point is that Raab looks sexually dodgy.
Well it’s never the obvious one is it? Judge Dredd Gardenwalker.
"His eyes are a bit close together, you can tell 'es a wrong 'un" - Constable Savage.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
I wouldn’t. I’d move.
You may not be able to afford to move to an expensive enough area that ensures even the non faith, non selective state schools are generally good
"Spoke to someone v close to govt last week and they were super worried about govt finances. Forget about lower spending they were seeing a likelihood of cuts. The debt servicing bill is eye watering and unsustainable. That puts the Cons in a difficult place in the run up to any election."
My first instinct was (and still is) that this is Treasury bollocks to scare backbench MPs and excuse the current tax regime.
They were very worried. And not sure what would happen when the penny drops amongst the public at large.
This sounds like probable baloney.
The traditional point of concern is when Govt Debt Interest is getting towards 4% of GDP.
(Open to correction if anyone has any startling recent or alternate data.)
And as mentioned to @rcs1000 very sensitive to inflation in itself, on account of its index-linked borrowing, and also the concomitant rate rises.
That depends what % of borrowing is index linked. Two reasons we were comparatively insulated from the impacts in 2010 and following was that most of our borrowing was a) our high percentage of fixed rate public debt and b) our longer term public debt compared to most other countries (10-15 years vs 5 years) so we did not have to go into the market to roll it over as soon.
So there was headroom to spread out public finance recovery.
The % of index-linked is higher now - not sure how much higher.
If there is an analysis that demonstrates this is a real problem in terms of borrowing costs going to an unacceptable level of GDP *now* I'd like to see it - rather than speculation on possibilities.
Aha - see max supplied some numbers.
From your document:
"Relative to March 2021, interest costs have been revised up by £15.0 billion in 2021- 22, £15.5 billion in 2022-23 and an average of nearly £6 billion a year across the rest of the forecast. Again, this is predominantly due to higher than expected RPI inflation, with the increase in interest costs associated with index-linked gilts accounting for £13.8 billion and £10.3 billion of the increase in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively. Higher interest rates also increase debt interest spending across the forecast, while a higher path for Bank Rate reduces the impact of the APF in bringing down interest costs from 2022-23 onwards. "
That was an October 2021 document. Six months ago. Oh how the world has changed since then.
Meanwhile 25% of our debt is index linked.
Without undermining the seriousness of balancing the budget (which I do believe in) index linked isn't really that major of an issue.
Sure a quarter to a third may be index linked, but if the country is growing in real terms then that should really be read as two thirds to three quarters is not index linked.
Debt to GDP is the relevant figure, and debt servicing to GDP. Inflation may cost cash, but if the GDP is growing then that should relatively cancel each other out.
A few decades of inflation is probably what we need now to deflate away the debts we have borrowed. That is basically what succeeded from 45 to 74 approximately.
£46 billion is the amount spent this year in debt interest payments. It is easy to hide this as 3% of something or other. It is £1000 per year for 40 million people. That's a lot of extra tax to pay, or a lot of universal credit increase that didn't happen. And we have borrowed much more than this figure this year anyway, so we haven't even paid anything, we have just increased the debt.
That 46bn is before the return of interest from the BoE. Don't forget that a not insubstantial proportion of our debt is held by the BoE.
People as dim as me need to know where the BoE gets all that money from to return the interest, where they got the money from to fund the government debt in the first place; and I am so dim that I think that if the BoE conjures up the stuff from the air that they are stealing value from someone who does the actual paying. Could that be us by any chance?
Eh?
The point is that HMG doesn't really pay interest on bonds held by the Bank of England, as the money is returned to the Treasury. The real debt service load is therefore less than the headline number.
Just pop that into the language of dim people like me.....
The Bank of England has printed money and bought the debt. Since we owe money to the Bank, but we own the Bank, we owe money to ourselves so its cancelled out.
We still report the headline figure of how much we owe as the full debt total, including to the Bank, as it is a polite conceit to pretend that the Bank didn't print money in order to finance the debt.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
What do you mean. I ran a charity shop.
Where did i claim you ran a charity shop, I said MP's should rarely be allowed to run one.
No. I ran a charity shop. Why can’t I become a MP. Unless I’m rare?
Well done. Although there are people on here who think you are blue.
Northern Ireland Assembly Most Seats - Best prices
Sinn Féin 1.2 DUP 5.5 Alliance 20 SDLP 42 UUP 44 TUV 201
I would have thought Sinn Fein being the largest party is just about free money TBH. I don't really see how SF gets less than 25 seats and the DUP more than 24 at this point. I would have thought the DUP's recent behaviour would also make Alliance and SDLP voters more likely to transfer to UUP candidates.
The GreenMachine's prediction yesterday was very interesting, particularly the DUP getting only one seat in North Belfast (potentially the only unionist seat there).
DUP have long been the most transfer unfriendly. Even more than SF.
My point is more about people transferring tactically to the UUP now to try and block the DUP in various seats.
It seems unlikely that the UUP will only gain one seat overall instead of maybe two, I think they could well get a 2nd in Upper Bann for example and Diane Dodds could be a major scalp.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
I wouldn’t. I’d move.
You may not be able to afford to move to an expensive enough area that ensures even the non faith, non selective state schools are generally good
I’m telling you what I would do, not what others would do
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
I wouldn’t. I’d move.
You may not be able to afford to move to an expensive enough area that ensures even the non faith, non selective state schools are generally good
On the religious schools - the churches have put in all kind of elaborate tests to smoke out the "Education Christians"* who frequent the back pews of various churches.
I was actually referring to something more interesting. We happen to live in the catchment area for two primaries - one outstanding in every way. The other is the pits.
The middle class people commit fraud to get into the good one. Literally. People have been done in court.
The people who live join the council estates - some of which are literally next to the good school - universally send their children to the bad one. Nearly universally.
A few, who are interested in education, send their kids to the good one. I used to reach out and talk to them - they tended to feel a bit isolated at parents gatherings etc. Listening to their accounts of being told "that place isn't for the likes of us", by their neighbours, was interesting.
*The local RC Reverend liked the term - I explained I'd invented it by analogy to the Rice Christians who would turn up at missionary churches in China.
On mobileporngate, it seems to me relevant that the accused is a Tory MP, and the complainant and her corroborator are also both Tory MPs. Surely they must be pretty sure of their ground to go public (within their own party) against one of their own? It's obvious that it's not party politics being played out here.
"Spoke to someone v close to govt last week and they were super worried about govt finances. Forget about lower spending they were seeing a likelihood of cuts. The debt servicing bill is eye watering and unsustainable. That puts the Cons in a difficult place in the run up to any election."
My first instinct was (and still is) that this is Treasury bollocks to scare backbench MPs and excuse the current tax regime.
They were very worried. And not sure what would happen when the penny drops amongst the public at large.
This sounds like probable baloney.
The traditional point of concern is when Govt Debt Interest is getting towards 4% of GDP.
(Open to correction if anyone has any startling recent or alternate data.)
And as mentioned to @rcs1000 very sensitive to inflation in itself, on account of its index-linked borrowing, and also the concomitant rate rises.
That depends what % of borrowing is index linked. Two reasons we were comparatively insulated from the impacts in 2010 and following was that most of our borrowing was a) our high percentage of fixed rate public debt and b) our longer term public debt compared to most other countries (10-15 years vs 5 years) so we did not have to go into the market to roll it over as soon.
So there was headroom to spread out public finance recovery.
The % of index-linked is higher now - not sure how much higher.
If there is an analysis that demonstrates this is a real problem in terms of borrowing costs going to an unacceptable level of GDP *now* I'd like to see it - rather than speculation on possibilities.
Aha - see max supplied some numbers.
From your document:
"Relative to March 2021, interest costs have been revised up by £15.0 billion in 2021- 22, £15.5 billion in 2022-23 and an average of nearly £6 billion a year across the rest of the forecast. Again, this is predominantly due to higher than expected RPI inflation, with the increase in interest costs associated with index-linked gilts accounting for £13.8 billion and £10.3 billion of the increase in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively. Higher interest rates also increase debt interest spending across the forecast, while a higher path for Bank Rate reduces the impact of the APF in bringing down interest costs from 2022-23 onwards. "
That was an October 2021 document. Six months ago. Oh how the world has changed since then.
Meanwhile 25% of our debt is index linked.
Without undermining the seriousness of balancing the budget (which I do believe in) index linked isn't really that major of an issue.
Sure a quarter to a third may be index linked, but if the country is growing in real terms then that should really be read as two thirds to three quarters is not index linked.
Debt to GDP is the relevant figure, and debt servicing to GDP. Inflation may cost cash, but if the GDP is growing then that should relatively cancel each other out.
A few decades of inflation is probably what we need now to deflate away the debts we have borrowed. That is basically what succeeded from 45 to 74 approximately.
£46 billion is the amount spent this year in debt interest payments. It is easy to hide this as 3% of something or other. It is £1000 per year for 40 million people. That's a lot of extra tax to pay, or a lot of universal credit increase that didn't happen. And we have borrowed much more than this figure this year anyway, so we haven't even paid anything, we have just increased the debt.
That 46bn is before the return of interest from the BoE. Don't forget that a not insubstantial proportion of our debt is held by the BoE.
People as dim as me need to know where the BoE gets all that money from to return the interest, where they got the money from to fund the government debt in the first place; and I am so dim that I think that if the BoE conjures up the stuff from the air that they are stealing value from someone who does the actual paying. Could that be us by any chance?
Eh?
The point is that HMG doesn't really pay interest on bonds held by the Bank of England, as the money is returned to the Treasury. The real debt service load is therefore less than the headline number.
Just pop that into the language of dim people like me.....
The Bank of England has printed money and bought the debt. Since we owe money to the Bank, but we own the Bank, we owe money to ourselves so its cancelled out.
We still report the headline figure of how much we owe as the full debt total, including to the Bank, as it is a polite conceit to pretend that the Bank didn't print money in order to finance the debt.
The only real danger from printing money like that is inflation. So it looks like we got away with it.
Evening all, just to say a huge thank you to Shadsy for tonight's Local Elections Preview at Smarkets, the panel was excellent as was the food, and lots of well-informed questions too.
Great to see OGH and Quincel there as well as Stodge proudly sporting a beard
It's a fantastic venue and evenings there are always really enjoyable.
The person who runs this account claims to be an ex-spook who’s now an ‘ethical leaker’. Certainly very anti the current government. Also claims to have contacts in No. 10.
How true all that is, I don’t know. But I have my doubts.
But, if this turns out to be accurate, maybe I’ll have to accept they are who they say they are:
The idea that Raab, or indeed anyone, would deliberately watch pornography in the Commons chamber simply doesn't pass the sniff test. Why would anyone do that?
What might have happened is someone texted/WhatsApped something NSFW and they opened the message before realising what it was.
I was on a plane once, and a gentleman a few rows ahead of me got his laptop out.
As he opened it, it came out of sleep mode, and continued playing the video be had been watching in his hotel room the previous evening. Unfortunately for him, the volume was loud, and the panting and moaning was heard by the entire plane.
He slammed the laptop shut and went a very bright red.
How sure are we the "porn" in the chamber wasn't a NSFW WhatsApp message that flashed up when the MP checked his phone and scrolled through?
I got (an unexpected) one of those today without any warning.
I must have dull friends. Nobody sends me impromptu (or even promptu) porn.
I got an explicit Angela Rayner meme today. "Ironic", of course.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
On mobileporngate, it seems to me relevant that the accused is a Tory MP, and the complainant and her corroborator are also both Tory MPs. Surely they must be pretty sure of their ground to go public (within their own party) against one of their own? It's obvious that it's not party politics being played out here.
Apparently it was from a meeting of the Tory Backbench 2022 Committee, for women, which explains why Oliver Dowden was there (I’m not making any of this up) and porn/bridgerton gate was just one of a number of shocking allegations of out of order behaviour that came out of it. Apparently.
On cumulative basis, is this going to give the media a “sleazey politicians” inspired fuckmule coming right on eve of the elections?
1hr15min train journey from Huddersfield to Sheffield cancelled 5mins before departure.
Next quickest (and more expensive) journey takes 1hr 40mins. It takes half the time to drive.
It's been like this for my entire life and there's no imminent plan to improve it.
Yes, but the Huddersfield to Sheffield line doesn't really serve that market, because the demand is very very small. It's not town-to-nearest-big-city - it'snit kike Huddersfield to Leeds or Rotherham to Sheffield. It's basically a village line serving Penistone and the smaller communities west of Barnsley. It's a line which was very very lucky to survive beeching. If you're one if the few people who makes that journey by public transport, that's bad luck for you - but also good luck that that journey exists at all. Unlike, say, Barnsley to Manchester or Bolton to Liverpool. I'm not saying rail transport in the North is good - but Huddersfield to Sheffield is not representative.
Did any of the “God’s” say “I always read your pieces on PB for entertainment Stodge - but I read MoonRabbit for racing tips and to better understand what is happening in politics.”
Nb. 600-800, not happening apparently, Rawling and Thrasher have -400 a disaster for Tories in mail today, on basis so many of these seats that are up are held by Labour on a high mark for them in 2018, so just Labour holds is actually not a bad Labour performance. The NS said a similar thing. In a way it means Boris is lucky, again, as losing 300 the media narrative will be better than expected for Tories, disappointing for Starmer, but the psephological experts won’t be listened to that this isn’t fair or true. Like you I have high hopes for good Libdem night. And it will be interesting watching greens, as con to green the Tory’s will shrug off as mid term government, but Labour to green will be horrible for Labour to explain.
One of the problems this time is boundary changes mean a considerable number of "new" Wards have been created so using the Councillor numbers from last time as a basis to calculate the seat changes this time is misleading and inaccurate, one might argue, up there with some people's racing tips and understanding of politics.
Don't forget we have a big round of all-up elections in Wales and Scotland as well as many English urban centres such as London and Birmingham along with the usual third-up councils.
As an example, Labour will probably gain 6 seats in Newham without doing very much at all because the 20 3-member Wards are now 22 thanks to population growth. Some Councils have more seats, some fewer.
For the Conservatives to lose 40-50% of the council seats being defended is melt down territory so I agree 800 looks overblown. Losing a quarter would mean 400-450 and that feels more sensible but again looking at the figures the scope for losses is outside London where the Conservatives made gains last time (as did Labour and the LDs as the UKIP local Government base was annihilated) rather than in London where the Conservatives lost 92 last time.
The prediction in London is 71 more Conservative losses which would be 14% of the total. 30% outside London would be 250 on the old boundaries - add a few for the new boundaries and you get close to 400.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Ukraine 1.93 Italy 6 Sweden 9.4 England and satellite states 13.5 Castile and satellite states 22 50 bar
I’ve heard the U.K. entry and I’d give it 100. It’s another shocker.
The quality of the song is irrelevant when it comes to the Yookay. They could put up a timeless classic, performed by musical geniuses, and it would still end up in the bottom quartile. It’s not the song that’s duff, it’s the brand.
Why do you call it Yookay?
It’s up there with EUSSR, “Keith”, and “Little ‘Un” in the PB cringe stakes.
But slightly behind
“It’s a view”
“feature not a bug”
and
“It’s one of those irregular verbs”
These have mostly died out.
I feel like it’s time to bring “unspoofable” back, though.
“Colour me x” is another one that has gently faded away. Although I did witness the irregular verbs make a cameo today.
Agreed that “unspoofable” and “beyond parody” are ripe for revival.
"Little 'Un?"
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
Ukraine 1.93 Italy 6 Sweden 9.4 England and satellite states 13.5 Castile and satellite states 22 50 bar
I’ve heard the U.K. entry and I’d give it 100. It’s another shocker.
The quality of the song is irrelevant when it comes to the Yookay. They could put up a timeless classic, performed by musical geniuses, and it would still end up in the bottom quartile. It’s not the song that’s duff, it’s the brand.
Why do you call it Yookay?
It’s up there with EUSSR, “Keith”, and “Little ‘Un” in the PB cringe stakes.
But slightly behind
“It’s a view”
“feature not a bug”
and
“It’s one of those irregular verbs”
These have mostly died out.
I feel like it’s time to bring “unspoofable” back, though.
“Colour me x” is another one that has gently faded away. Although I did witness the irregular verbs make a cameo today.
Agreed that “unspoofable” and “beyond parody” are ripe for revival.
"Little 'Un?"
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
Was it not applied to Mr Sunak? Or was that a rather more, erm, Disney-related term?
On mobileporngate, it seems to me relevant that the accused is a Tory MP, and the complainant and her corroborator are also both Tory MPs. Surely they must be pretty sure of their ground to go public (within their own party) against one of their own? It's obvious that it's not party politics being played out here.
Read the room. The good men of PB have decided this poor Tory MP caught watching porn was the innocent victim of a harmless bit of banter from one of his many friends, who sent him a sexually explicit meme that's easy for the simple-minded women now allowed into the chamber to confuse with real porn. And that's okay!
Ukraine 1.93 Italy 6 Sweden 9.4 England and satellite states 13.5 Castile and satellite states 22 50 bar
I’ve heard the U.K. entry and I’d give it 100. It’s another shocker.
The quality of the song is irrelevant when it comes to the Yookay. They could put up a timeless classic, performed by musical geniuses, and it would still end up in the bottom quartile. It’s not the song that’s duff, it’s the brand.
Why do you call it Yookay?
It’s up there with EUSSR, “Keith”, and “Little ‘Un” in the PB cringe stakes.
But slightly behind
“It’s a view”
“feature not a bug”
and
“It’s one of those irregular verbs”
These have mostly died out.
I feel like it’s time to bring “unspoofable” back, though.
“Colour me x” is another one that has gently faded away. Although I did witness the irregular verbs make a cameo today.
Agreed that “unspoofable” and “beyond parody” are ripe for revival.
"Little 'Un?"
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
Was it not applied to Mr Sunak? Or was that a rather more, erm, Disney-related term?
Disney-related? You have me at a disadvantage on that one.
On mobileporngate, it seems to me relevant that the accused is a Tory MP, and the complainant and her corroborator are also both Tory MPs. Surely they must be pretty sure of their ground to go public (within their own party) against one of their own? It's obvious that it's not party politics being played out here.
Not party politics. But if it did turn out the accused was entirely innocent it wouldn't be the first time a politician had been stitched up by his own side.
"Spoke to someone v close to govt last week and they were super worried about govt finances. Forget about lower spending they were seeing a likelihood of cuts. The debt servicing bill is eye watering and unsustainable. That puts the Cons in a difficult place in the run up to any election."
My first instinct was (and still is) that this is Treasury bollocks to scare backbench MPs and excuse the current tax regime.
They were very worried. And not sure what would happen when the penny drops amongst the public at large.
This sounds like probable baloney.
The traditional point of concern is when Govt Debt Interest is getting towards 4% of GDP.
(Open to correction if anyone has any startling recent or alternate data.)
And as mentioned to @rcs1000 very sensitive to inflation in itself, on account of its index-linked borrowing, and also the concomitant rate rises.
That depends what % of borrowing is index linked. Two reasons we were comparatively insulated from the impacts in 2010 and following was that most of our borrowing was a) our high percentage of fixed rate public debt and b) our longer term public debt compared to most other countries (10-15 years vs 5 years) so we did not have to go into the market to roll it over as soon.
So there was headroom to spread out public finance recovery.
The % of index-linked is higher now - not sure how much higher.
If there is an analysis that demonstrates this is a real problem in terms of borrowing costs going to an unacceptable level of GDP *now* I'd like to see it - rather than speculation on possibilities.
Aha - see max supplied some numbers.
From your document:
"Relative to March 2021, interest costs have been revised up by £15.0 billion in 2021- 22, £15.5 billion in 2022-23 and an average of nearly £6 billion a year across the rest of the forecast. Again, this is predominantly due to higher than expected RPI inflation, with the increase in interest costs associated with index-linked gilts accounting for £13.8 billion and £10.3 billion of the increase in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively. Higher interest rates also increase debt interest spending across the forecast, while a higher path for Bank Rate reduces the impact of the APF in bringing down interest costs from 2022-23 onwards. "
That was an October 2021 document. Six months ago. Oh how the world has changed since then.
Meanwhile 25% of our debt is index linked.
Without undermining the seriousness of balancing the budget (which I do believe in) index linked isn't really that major of an issue.
Sure a quarter to a third may be index linked, but if the country is growing in real terms then that should really be read as two thirds to three quarters is not index linked.
Debt to GDP is the relevant figure, and debt servicing to GDP. Inflation may cost cash, but if the GDP is growing then that should relatively cancel each other out.
A few decades of inflation is probably what we need now to deflate away the debts we have borrowed. That is basically what succeeded from 45 to 74 approximately.
£46 billion is the amount spent this year in debt interest payments. It is easy to hide this as 3% of something or other. It is £1000 per year for 40 million people. That's a lot of extra tax to pay, or a lot of universal credit increase that didn't happen. And we have borrowed much more than this figure this year anyway, so we haven't even paid anything, we have just increased the debt.
That 46bn is before the return of interest from the BoE. Don't forget that a not insubstantial proportion of our debt is held by the BoE.
People as dim as me need to know where the BoE gets all that money from to return the interest, where they got the money from to fund the government debt in the first place; and I am so dim that I think that if the BoE conjures up the stuff from the air that they are stealing value from someone who does the actual paying. Could that be us by any chance?
Eh?
The point is that HMG doesn't really pay interest on bonds held by the Bank of England, as the money is returned to the Treasury. The real debt service load is therefore less than the headline number.
Just pop that into the language of dim people like me.....
The Bank of England has printed money and bought the debt. Since we owe money to the Bank, but we own the Bank, we owe money to ourselves so its cancelled out.
We still report the headline figure of how much we owe as the full debt total, including to the Bank, as it is a polite conceit to pretend that the Bank didn't print money in order to finance the debt.
The only real danger from printing money like that is inflation. So it looks like we got away with it.
"Ex-Fed chief Ben Bernanke famously said that QE does not work in theory, but does work in practice. Monetarists retort that QE has worked exactly as you would expect under the quantity theory of money.
If they are right – and they have been right over the last two years – it implies that the abrupt switch from QE to QT is going to lead to a drastic slowdown in the broad money supply. This will set off an asset crash this year followed by economic mayhem next year if central banks do not back off in time."
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to state schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
Reavers and Lemainers?
Reavers and Reavers, mostly.
"He stole my cattle in revenge for the cattle I stole from his cousin, who is actually my nephew, who stole cattle from my wife's brothers first cousin. Who is also a cousin of mine. I think I stole some of his cattle..."
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own, and are willing to pay for that, then that should be their choice.
The taxpayer shouldn't be paying for sectarian discrimination.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
Reavers and Lemainers?
Reavers and Reavers, mostly.
"He stole my cattle in revenge for the cattle I stole from his cousin, who is actually my nephew, who stole cattle from my wife's brothers first cousin. Who is also a cousin of mine. I think I stole some of his cattle..."
That's not really true - it was feuds between clans (reflected by the distance which they rode on their raids).
Who the heck sends anyone porn? I have never felt the urge to send any. Nor have I ever received any. Maybe that's just me.
And of course, define porn.
“Porn? I was catching up on last episode of bridgeton!”
Phones should be banned from the chamber. Or just put a Faraday cage around it during the rebuild.
I agree. None of them are listening to the debate. They are all on their phones. I had assumed updating and checking twitter to make it look like they relevant, but seems just watching porn.
No, they don't. I was at the event - one person expressed it as a "slight possibility" but more to suggest it was more likely than the Conservatives taking control.
Tony Travers pointed out the LDs had run the Borough for a long time but made no other inference.
Ukraine 1.93 Italy 6 Sweden 9.4 England and satellite states 13.5 Castile and satellite states 22 50 bar
I’ve heard the U.K. entry and I’d give it 100. It’s another shocker.
The quality of the song is irrelevant when it comes to the Yookay. They could put up a timeless classic, performed by musical geniuses, and it would still end up in the bottom quartile. It’s not the song that’s duff, it’s the brand.
Why do you call it Yookay?
It’s up there with EUSSR, “Keith”, and “Little ‘Un” in the PB cringe stakes.
But slightly behind
“It’s a view”
“feature not a bug”
and
“It’s one of those irregular verbs”
These have mostly died out.
I feel like it’s time to bring “unspoofable” back, though.
“Colour me x” is another one that has gently faded away. Although I did witness the irregular verbs make a cameo today.
Agreed that “unspoofable” and “beyond parody” are ripe for revival.
"Little 'Un?"
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
I hadn’t heard that but assumed it was about the Cote, as several PBers seem completely, weirdly obsessed with his height.
(I’m not a fan, there are many things one can reasonably criticise him for, but his height isn’t one of them)
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to state schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
I'm not a leftie, but of course you think that Genghis Khan was a parlour pinko anyway.
Have you not considered that
(a) it is an outrage for public money to be spent on your pet sectarian stuff (b) it is people like your spending public resources on your pet sectarian schools that cause major efficiency and fairness issues? (c) it is people like you taking no interest in the non-faith or non-posh schools that causes a major part of the problem with state education>
Ukraine 1.93 Italy 6 Sweden 9.4 England and satellite states 13.5 Castile and satellite states 22 50 bar
I’ve heard the U.K. entry and I’d give it 100. It’s another shocker.
The quality of the song is irrelevant when it comes to the Yookay. They could put up a timeless classic, performed by musical geniuses, and it would still end up in the bottom quartile. It’s not the song that’s duff, it’s the brand.
Why do you call it Yookay?
It’s up there with EUSSR, “Keith”, and “Little ‘Un” in the PB cringe stakes.
But slightly behind
“It’s a view”
“feature not a bug”
and
“It’s one of those irregular verbs”
These have mostly died out.
I feel like it’s time to bring “unspoofable” back, though.
“Colour me x” is another one that has gently faded away. Although I did witness the irregular verbs make a cameo today.
Agreed that “unspoofable” and “beyond parody” are ripe for revival.
"Little 'Un?"
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
Was it not applied to Mr Sunak? Or was that a rather more, erm, Disney-related term?
Disney-related? You have me at a disadvantage on that one.
Disney's original movie was Snow White and the Seven ...
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
Reavers and Lemainers?
Reavers and Reavers, mostly.
"He stole my cattle in revenge for the cattle I stole from his cousin, who is actually my nephew, who stole cattle from my wife's brothers first cousin. Who is also a cousin of mine. I think I stole some of his cattle..."
That's not really true - it was feuds between clans (reflected by the distance which they rode on their raids).
Have you looked at the family trees? Intermarriage was rather common.
Several times, the national government on both sides realised that while they made excellent light cavalry, the err... gentlemen of the borders could not be relied upon to fight each other. Because family/business.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own, and are willing to pay for that, then that should be their choice.
The taxpayer shouldn't be paying for sectarian discrimination.
My main beef with faith schools is that I don't get the option of an atheist school for my kids. As far as I can see, most nominally secular schools also teach God. I think there is still a requirement for a collective act of worship. And if you live in the countryside, from what I can see pretty much all schools are CofE. Country dwellers don't appear to get a choice. If we're to allow faith schools, we should also allow faithless schools.
Ukraine 1.93 Italy 6 Sweden 9.4 England and satellite states 13.5 Castile and satellite states 22 50 bar
I’ve heard the U.K. entry and I’d give it 100. It’s another shocker.
The quality of the song is irrelevant when it comes to the Yookay. They could put up a timeless classic, performed by musical geniuses, and it would still end up in the bottom quartile. It’s not the song that’s duff, it’s the brand.
Why do you call it Yookay?
It’s up there with EUSSR, “Keith”, and “Little ‘Un” in the PB cringe stakes.
But slightly behind
“It’s a view”
“feature not a bug”
and
“It’s one of those irregular verbs”
These have mostly died out.
I feel like it’s time to bring “unspoofable” back, though.
“Colour me x” is another one that has gently faded away. Although I did witness the irregular verbs make a cameo today.
Agreed that “unspoofable” and “beyond parody” are ripe for revival.
"Little 'Un?"
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
Was it not applied to Mr Sunak? Or was that a rather more, erm, Disney-related term?
Disney-related? You have me at a disadvantage on that one.
Don't want to repeat the term. Not fair on him. But there have been references to his height, also not fair on him.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own, and are willing to pay for that, then that should be their choice.
The taxpayer shouldn't be paying for sectarian discrimination.
The taxpayer pays for academic discrimination in areas with grammar schools, the taxpayer pays in part for private sponsorship in academy schools too now, there is no reason the taxpayer cannot also pay for state faith schools. Parents in faith schools also pay their taxes to fund children who attend secular non religious schools after all
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
The trouble is he can't sell it to his own people in its own terms. It was a special operation in the Donbass. He has not tried to make the case for invasion in terms of imperial grandeur or Russians and Ukrainians being the same people. As disturbing as the fascistic event in the football stadium was it appears many of the audience were goaded into attending as public employees or offered a day off work. The trouble is that most Russians appear to accept that what Ukrainians do is up to them. Hence the wild rumours needed about biolabs, Nazis, nuclear weapons and genocide suggesting Russia is in imminent danger. Don't forget that the 'disputed' territories would not be incorporated into Russia but become new independent people's republics.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own, and are willing to pay for that, then that should be their choice.
The taxpayer shouldn't be paying for sectarian discrimination.
My main beef with faith schools is that I don't get the option of an atheist school for my kids. As far as I can see, most nominally secular schools also teach God. I think there is still a requirement for a collective act of worship. And if you live in the countryside, from what I can see pretty much all schools are CofE. Country dwellers don't appear to get a choice. If we're to allow faith schools, we should also allow faithless schools.
You do, you could now set up an atheist free school if you wanted to.
Plus parents can withdraw their children from faith assemblies if they wish
Ukraine 1.93 Italy 6 Sweden 9.4 England and satellite states 13.5 Castile and satellite states 22 50 bar
I’ve heard the U.K. entry and I’d give it 100. It’s another shocker.
The quality of the song is irrelevant when it comes to the Yookay. They could put up a timeless classic, performed by musical geniuses, and it would still end up in the bottom quartile. It’s not the song that’s duff, it’s the brand.
Why do you call it Yookay?
It’s up there with EUSSR, “Keith”, and “Little ‘Un” in the PB cringe stakes.
But slightly behind
“It’s a view”
“feature not a bug”
and
“It’s one of those irregular verbs”
These have mostly died out.
I feel like it’s time to bring “unspoofable” back, though.
“Colour me x” is another one that has gently faded away. Although I did witness the irregular verbs make a cameo today.
Agreed that “unspoofable” and “beyond parody” are ripe for revival.
"Little 'Un?"
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own, and are willing to pay for that, then that should be their choice.
The taxpayer shouldn't be paying for sectarian discrimination.
My main beef with faith schools is that I don't get the option of an atheist school for my kids. As far as I can see, most nominally secular schools also teach God. I think there is still a requirement for a collective act of worship. And if you live in the countryside, from what I can see pretty much all schools are CofE. Country dwellers don't appear to get a choice. If we're to allow faith schools, we should also allow faithless schools.
It still makes the national news in Ireland when a school converts from being Catholic to non-denominational. CofE schools are relatively benign in comparison. Certainly didn't manage to instil any faith into my daughter.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to state schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
I'm not a leftie, but of course you think that Genghis Khan was a parlour pinko anyway.
Have you not considered that
(a) it is an outrage for public money to be spent on your pet sectarian stuff (b) it is people like your spending public resources on your pet sectarian schools that cause major efficiency and fairness issues? (c) it is people like you taking no interest in the non-faith or non-posh schools that causes a major part of the problem with state education>
I like the idea of the CoE as sectarian.
Mind you. I've been considering founding an extremist, fundamentalist offshoot of the Unitarians.
Who the heck sends anyone porn? I have never felt the urge to send any. Nor have I ever received any. Maybe that's just me.
And of course, define porn.
“Porn? I was catching up on last episode of bridgeton!”
Phones should be banned from the chamber. Or just put a Faraday cage around it during the rebuild.
I agree. None of them are listening to the debate. They are all on their phones. I had assumed updating and checking twitter to make it look like they relevant, but seems just watching porn.
Yes, there was an incident a few years back of someone playing candy crush. Which is leß embarrassing than porn but still not really what I would expect of an MP.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
Looking forward to Rory the spook extolling all the things that folk in the Donetsk have in common with those in Luhansk.
Did any of the “God’s” say “I always read your pieces on PB for entertainment Stodge - but I read MoonRabbit for racing tips and to better understand what is happening in politics.”
Nb. 600-800, not happening apparently, Rawling and Thrasher have -400 a disaster for Tories in mail today, on basis so many of these seats that are up are held by Labour on a high mark for them in 2018, so just Labour holds is actually not a bad Labour performance. The NS said a similar thing. In a way it means Boris is lucky, again, as losing 300 the media narrative will be better than expected for Tories, disappointing for Starmer, but the psephological experts won’t be listened to that this isn’t fair or true. Like you I have high hopes for good Libdem night. And it will be interesting watching greens, as con to green the Tory’s will shrug off as mid term government, but Labour to green will be horrible for Labour to explain.
One of the problems this time is boundary changes mean a considerable number of "new" Wards have been created so using the Councillor numbers from last time as a basis to calculate the seat changes this time is misleading and inaccurate, one might argue, up there with some people's racing tips and understanding of politics.
Don't forget we have a big round of all-up elections in Wales and Scotland as well as many English urban centres such as London and Birmingham along with the usual third-up councils.
As an example, Labour will probably gain 6 seats in Newham without doing very much at all because the 20 3-member Wards are now 22 thanks to population growth. Some Councils have more seats, some fewer.
For the Conservatives to lose 40-50% of the council seats being defended is melt down territory so I agree 800 looks overblown. Losing a quarter would mean 400-450 and that feels more sensible but again looking at the figures the scope for losses is outside London where the Conservatives made gains last time (as did Labour and the LDs as the UKIP local Government base was annihilated) rather than in London where the Conservatives lost 92 last time.
The prediction in London is 71 more Conservative losses which would be 14% of the total. 30% outside London would be 250 on the old boundaries - add a few for the new boundaries and you get close to 400.
Gary Burton in reply to HY made a solid point which caught my eye.
Since Boris been leader the Tories have had good locals - so in places like Swindon where part of the council is up, Tories took such a good grip last year no sort of good night there for Labour can much dent Tory control, and it’s same like that a lot of places where part of council is up. There aren’t many “council gained” headlines available for Labour. In terms of media narrative it’s easy to see it portrayed as flat night for Starmer more than bad night for Boris. I think this is what serious psephologicals are trying to get us to realise. It’s not going to be a night of spectacular headlines that’s somblack and white to call whose doing well and bad. Like “Labour have flipped Swindon, key target in general election” “Tory’s remain in control of Swindon, a Key marginal Labour must gain if they are to oust Boris.”
You see what I mean. We need to prepare ourselves for devil being in the detail. We probably can’t argue over till Saturday.
And of course Libdem and Greens havn’t had the hoped for good night against Stay at home Tories yet either. It’s the hoping and anticipation that is so stressful. Another week to go! 🫣
The person who runs this account claims to be an ex-spook who’s now an ‘ethical leaker’. Certainly very anti the current government. Also claims to have contacts in No. 10.
How true all that is, I don’t know. But I have my doubts.
But, if this turns out to be accurate, maybe I’ll have to accept they are who they say they are:
The idea that Raab, or indeed anyone, would deliberately watch pornography in the Commons chamber simply doesn't pass the sniff test. Why would anyone do that?
What might have happened is someone texted/WhatsApped something NSFW and they opened the message before realising what it was.
I was on a plane once, and a gentleman a few rows ahead of me got his laptop out.
As he opened it, it came out of sleep mode, and continued playing the video be had been watching in his hotel room the previous evening. Unfortunately for him, the volume was loud, and the panting and moaning was heard by the entire plane.
He slammed the laptop shut and went a very bright red.
How sure are we the "porn" in the chamber wasn't a NSFW WhatsApp message that flashed up when the MP checked his phone and scrolled through?
I got (an unexpected) one of those today without any warning.
Presumably if that were the case the MP concerned will go straight to the appropriate standards authority and explain the situation, then we can all move on. Assuming the sender wasn't another MP, of course.
Indeed but even if another MP sent it, it’s not the fault of the receiver.
Didn't Jack Dromey get caught up in a similar issue where he favourited a gay porn twitter account, which he claims came up when he was searching twitter to get some info, it came up and he accidentally hit favourite it.
If the story was they caught the MP having a wank in their office or something seems more likely series of events than casually watching a load of humping in the middle of a debate.
Ukraine 1.93 Italy 6 Sweden 9.4 England and satellite states 13.5 Castile and satellite states 22 50 bar
I’ve heard the U.K. entry and I’d give it 100. It’s another shocker.
The quality of the song is irrelevant when it comes to the Yookay. They could put up a timeless classic, performed by musical geniuses, and it would still end up in the bottom quartile. It’s not the song that’s duff, it’s the brand.
Why do you call it Yookay?
It’s up there with EUSSR, “Keith”, and “Little ‘Un” in the PB cringe stakes.
But slightly behind
“It’s a view”
“feature not a bug”
and
“It’s one of those irregular verbs”
These have mostly died out.
I feel like it’s time to bring “unspoofable” back, though.
“Colour me x” is another one that has gently faded away. Although I did witness the irregular verbs make a cameo today.
Agreed that “unspoofable” and “beyond parody” are ripe for revival.
"Little 'Un?"
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
Was it not applied to Mr Sunak? Or was that a rather more, erm, Disney-related term?
Disney-related? You have me at a disadvantage on that one.
Disney's original movie was Snow White and the Seven ...
I learn from the Telegraph that 'Dean Acheson told Roosevelt in August 1941, four months prior to Pearl Harbor, that “no rational Japanese could believe an attack on us could result in anything but disaster for his country”. '
Reassuring similar to your position on rational Russians.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to state schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
I'm not a leftie, but of course you think that Genghis Khan was a parlour pinko anyway.
Have you not considered that
(a) it is an outrage for public money to be spent on your pet sectarian stuff (b) it is people like your spending public resources on your pet sectarian schools that cause major efficiency and fairness issues? (c) it is people like you taking no interest in the non-faith or non-posh schools that causes a major part of the problem with state education>
Yes you are, you are a died in the wool pinko socialist, near Communist Scottish nationalist.
No, it is not an outrage for public money to be spent on outstanding faith schools producing highly educated pupils to benefit all of us. I am a conservative with an ideological commitment to choice in education as much as the economy, so no I actually think it improves efficiency.
I don't believe in lowest common denominator education, the more private schools, grammar schools and free and faith schools the better as far as I am concerned
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to state schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
I'm not a leftie, but of course you think that Genghis Khan was a parlour pinko anyway.
Have you not considered that
(a) it is an outrage for public money to be spent on your pet sectarian stuff (b) it is people like your spending public resources on your pet sectarian schools that cause major efficiency and fairness issues? (c) it is people like you taking no interest in the non-faith or non-posh schools that causes a major part of the problem with state education>
I like the idea of the CoE as sectarian.
Mind you. I've been considering founding an extremist, fundamentalist offshoot of the Unitarians.
Well, the Unitarians were literally guilty of treason under the sectarian C of E until 1813 in England. That's why so many Unitarian meetings were called Presbyterian, to cover it up. Really confusing to find some chap born c 1810 in two apparently different churches.
Who the heck sends anyone porn? I have never felt the urge to send any. Nor have I ever received any. Maybe that's just me.
And of course, define porn.
“Porn? I was catching up on last episode of bridgeton!”
Phones should be banned from the chamber. Or just put a Faraday cage around it during the rebuild.
I agree. None of them are listening to the debate. They are all on their phones. I had assumed updating and checking twitter to make it look like they relevant, but seems just watching porn.
Yes, there was an incident a few years back of someone playing candy crush. Which is leß embarrassing than porn but still not really what I would expect of an MP.
It's ridiculous. Kids aren't allowed to use phones during lessons because, erm, they are supposed to be concentrating on what the teacher is saying. MPs should be listening to the debate in the same way.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
The trouble is he can't sell it to his own people in its own terms. It was a special operation in the Donbass. He has not tried to make the case for invasion in terms of imperial grandeur or Russians and Ukrainians being the same people. As disturbing as the fascistic event in the football stadium was it appears many of the audience were goaded into attending as public employees or offered a day off work. The trouble is that most Russians appear to accept that what Ukrainians do is up to them. Hence the wild rumours needed about biolabs, Nazis, nuclear weapons and genocide suggesting Russia is in imminent danger. Don't forget that the 'disputed' territories would not be incorporated into Russia but become new independent people's republics.
No - the Greater Russian Nationalist line is that Ukrainians are just a perverted form of Russian who need properly educating (with lots of high explosive) until they learn to behave properly again.
The "independent people's republics" will be Russian in character and listen to Mother Russia in all things. Think obedient children. Look at what Putin achieved in Chechnya....
Ukraine 1.93 Italy 6 Sweden 9.4 England and satellite states 13.5 Castile and satellite states 22 50 bar
I’ve heard the U.K. entry and I’d give it 100. It’s another shocker.
The quality of the song is irrelevant when it comes to the Yookay. They could put up a timeless classic, performed by musical geniuses, and it would still end up in the bottom quartile. It’s not the song that’s duff, it’s the brand.
Why do you call it Yookay?
It’s up there with EUSSR, “Keith”, and “Little ‘Un” in the PB cringe stakes.
But slightly behind
“It’s a view”
“feature not a bug”
and
“It’s one of those irregular verbs”
These have mostly died out.
I feel like it’s time to bring “unspoofable” back, though.
“Colour me x” is another one that has gently faded away. Although I did witness the irregular verbs make a cameo today.
Agreed that “unspoofable” and “beyond parody” are ripe for revival.
"Little 'Un?"
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
Was it not applied to Mr Sunak? Or was that a rather more, erm, Disney-related term?
Disney-related? You have me at a disadvantage on that one.
Disney's original movie was Snow White and the Seven ...
I learn from the Telegraph that 'Dean Acheson told Roosevelt in August 1941, four months prior to Pearl Harbor, that “no rational Japanese could believe an attack on us could result in anything but disaster for his country”. '
Reassuring similar to your position on rational Russians.
As I said, the Russians may not end up being rational, but if so that's their choice not ours.
We shouldn't back down and let them get away with shit due to the fear of their irrationality - and its good that we're not doing so.
Did any of the “God’s” say “I always read your pieces on PB for entertainment Stodge - but I read MoonRabbit for racing tips and to better understand what is happening in politics.”
Nb. 600-800, not happening apparently, Rawling and Thrasher have -400 a disaster for Tories in mail today, on basis so many of these seats that are up are held by Labour on a high mark for them in 2018, so just Labour holds is actually not a bad Labour performance. The NS said a similar thing. In a way it means Boris is lucky, again, as losing 300 the media narrative will be better than expected for Tories, disappointing for Starmer, but the psephological experts won’t be listened to that this isn’t fair or true. Like you I have high hopes for good Libdem night. And it will be interesting watching greens, as con to green the Tory’s will shrug off as mid term government, but Labour to green will be horrible for Labour to explain.
One of the problems this time is boundary changes mean a considerable number of "new" Wards have been created so using the Councillor numbers from last time as a basis to calculate the seat changes this time is misleading and inaccurate, one might argue, up there with some people's racing tips and understanding of politics.
Don't forget we have a big round of all-up elections in Wales and Scotland as well as many English urban centres such as London and Birmingham along with the usual third-up councils.
As an example, Labour will probably gain 6 seats in Newham without doing very much at all because the 20 3-member Wards are now 22 thanks to population growth. Some Councils have more seats, some fewer.
For the Conservatives to lose 40-50% of the council seats being defended is melt down territory so I agree 800 looks overblown. Losing a quarter would mean 400-450 and that feels more sensible but again looking at the figures the scope for losses is outside London where the Conservatives made gains last time (as did Labour and the LDs as the UKIP local Government base was annihilated) rather than in London where the Conservatives lost 92 last time.
The prediction in London is 71 more Conservative losses which would be 14% of the total. 30% outside London would be 250 on the old boundaries - add a few for the new boundaries and you get close to 400.
Gary Burton in reply to HY made a solid point which caught my eye.
Since Boris been leader the Tories have had good locals - so in places like Swindon where part of the council is up, Tories took such a good grip last year no sort of good night there for Labour can much dent Tory control, and it’s same like that a lot of places where part of council is up. There aren’t many “council gained” headlines available for Labour. In terms of media narrative it’s easy to see it portrayed as flat night for Starmer more than bad night for Boris. I think this is what serious psephologicals are trying to get us to realise. It’s not going to be a night of spectacular headlines that’s somblack and white to call whose doing well and bad. Like “Labour have flipped Swindon, key target in general election” “Tory’s remain in control of Swindon, a Key marginal Labour must gain if they are to oust Boris.”
You see what I mean. We need to prepare ourselves for devil being in the detail. We probably can’t argue over till Saturday.
And of course Libdem and Greens havn’t had the hoped for good night against Stay at home Tories yet either. It’s the hoping and anticipation that is so stressful. Another week to go! 🫣
Swindon is 36 Conservative councillors and 20 Labour councillors. 9 Tory council seats in Swindon are up in May so if Labour won all of them they would take control of Swindon council
Ukraine 1.93 Italy 6 Sweden 9.4 England and satellite states 13.5 Castile and satellite states 22 50 bar
I’ve heard the U.K. entry and I’d give it 100. It’s another shocker.
The quality of the song is irrelevant when it comes to the Yookay. They could put up a timeless classic, performed by musical geniuses, and it would still end up in the bottom quartile. It’s not the song that’s duff, it’s the brand.
Why do you call it Yookay?
It’s up there with EUSSR, “Keith”, and “Little ‘Un” in the PB cringe stakes.
But slightly behind
“It’s a view”
“feature not a bug”
and
“It’s one of those irregular verbs”
These have mostly died out.
I feel like it’s time to bring “unspoofable” back, though.
“Colour me x” is another one that has gently faded away. Although I did witness the irregular verbs make a cameo today.
Agreed that “unspoofable” and “beyond parody” are ripe for revival.
"Little 'Un?"
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
Was it not applied to Mr Sunak? Or was that a rather more, erm, Disney-related term?
Disney-related? You have me at a disadvantage on that one.
Disney's original movie was Snow White and the Seven ...
It’s why Snow White loved lemonade. 7up in particular.
(Has TSE already done this joke, about 7 years before I joined?)
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to state schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
I'm not a leftie, but of course you think that Genghis Khan was a parlour pinko anyway.
Have you not considered that
(a) it is an outrage for public money to be spent on your pet sectarian stuff (b) it is people like your spending public resources on your pet sectarian schools that cause major efficiency and fairness issues? (c) it is people like you taking no interest in the non-faith or non-posh schools that causes a major part of the problem with state education>
Yes you are, you are a died in the wool pinko socialist, near Communist Scottish nationalist.
No, it is not an outrage for public money to be spent on outstanding faith schools producing highly educated pupils to benefit all of us. I am a conservative with an ideological commitment to choice in education as much as the economy, so no I actually think it improves efficiency.
I don't believe in lowest common denominator education, the more private schools, grammar schools and free and faith schools the better as far as I am concerned
Hoy, I'm not a near-communist or a pinko - so you had better rethink your proselytising skills. Not to mention your analytical ones.
And "faith schools" producing highly educated pupils? What are you on? Incense?
On mobileporngate, it seems to me relevant that the accused is a Tory MP, and the complainant and her corroborator are also both Tory MPs. Surely they must be pretty sure of their ground to go public (within their own party) against one of their own? It's obvious that it's not party politics being played out here.
Read the room. The good men of PB have decided this poor Tory MP caught watching porn was the innocent victim of a harmless bit of banter from one of his many friends, who sent him a sexually explicit meme that's easy for the simple-minded women now allowed into the chamber to confuse with real porn. And that's okay!
Well I just suggested the possibility that it was a WhatsApp group text - purely because I find it completely outlandish/bonkers/barmy that anyone would think of deliberately watching porn in the Commons chamber.
Did any of the “God’s” say “I always read your pieces on PB for entertainment Stodge - but I read MoonRabbit for racing tips and to better understand what is happening in politics.”
Nb. 600-800, not happening apparently, Rawling and Thrasher have -400 a disaster for Tories in mail today, on basis so many of these seats that are up are held by Labour on a high mark for them in 2018, so just Labour holds is actually not a bad Labour performance. The NS said a similar thing. In a way it means Boris is lucky, again, as losing 300 the media narrative will be better than expected for Tories, disappointing for Starmer, but the psephological experts won’t be listened to that this isn’t fair or true. Like you I have high hopes for good Libdem night. And it will be interesting watching greens, as con to green the Tory’s will shrug off as mid term government, but Labour to green will be horrible for Labour to explain.
One of the problems this time is boundary changes mean a considerable number of "new" Wards have been created so using the Councillor numbers from last time as a basis to calculate the seat changes this time is misleading and inaccurate, one might argue, up there with some people's racing tips and understanding of politics.
Don't forget we have a big round of all-up elections in Wales and Scotland as well as many English urban centres such as London and Birmingham along with the usual third-up councils.
As an example, Labour will probably gain 6 seats in Newham without doing very much at all because the 20 3-member Wards are now 22 thanks to population growth. Some Councils have more seats, some fewer.
For the Conservatives to lose 40-50% of the council seats being defended is melt down territory so I agree 800 looks overblown. Losing a quarter would mean 400-450 and that feels more sensible but again looking at the figures the scope for losses is outside London where the Conservatives made gains last time (as did Labour and the LDs as the UKIP local Government base was annihilated) rather than in London where the Conservatives lost 92 last time.
The prediction in London is 71 more Conservative losses which would be 14% of the total. 30% outside London would be 250 on the old boundaries - add a few for the new boundaries and you get close to 400.
Gary Burton in reply to HY made a solid point which caught my eye.
Since Boris been leader the Tories have had good locals - so in places like Swindon where part of the council is up, Tories took such a good grip last year no sort of good night there for Labour can much dent Tory control, and it’s same like that a lot of places where part of council is up. There aren’t many “council gained” headlines available for Labour. In terms of media narrative it’s easy to see it portrayed as flat night for Starmer more than bad night for Boris. I think this is what serious psephologicals are trying to get us to realise. It’s not going to be a night of spectacular headlines that’s somblack and white to call whose doing well and bad. Like “Labour have flipped Swindon, key target in general election” “Tory’s remain in control of Swindon, a Key marginal Labour must gain if they are to oust Boris.”
You see what I mean. We need to prepare ourselves for devil being in the detail. We probably can’t argue over till Saturday.
And of course Libdem and Greens havn’t had the hoped for good night against Stay at home Tories yet either. It’s the hoping and anticipation that is so stressful. Another week to go! 🫣
I think vote share is most important in those places TBH. But Starmer will be probably be able to spin a reasonable result in the South if Labour gains majorities in Worthing, Crawley and Southampton (possibly). Also I can see Labour gaining seats in Portsmouth from both LDs and Conservatives.
For Labour to regain Plymouth they'd probably need to make massive inroads in Jonny Mercer's seat which seems implausible.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
On my only drive through Carter Bar, it literally started snowing just as we crossed into Scotland at the top of the hill. Very memorable welcome!
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
Looking forward to Rory the spook extolling all the things that folk in the Donetsk have in common with those in Luhansk.
They actually have a great deal in common - it is a theme in Zelensky's speeches.
Having polite discussions about where borders should go, given the fact that the people down the road don't suddenly have two heads and three arms because of a magical line on a map... That's the whole bit that Putin doesn't get. But Zelensky does.
No, they don't. I was at the event - one person expressed it as a "slight possibility" but more to suggest it was more likely than the Conservatives taking control.
Tony Travers pointed out the LDs had run the Borough for a long time but made no other inference.
It's a fairly tricky Lib Dem defence in that it's fairly Brexit-y and they've run it for so long that they cannot avoid responsibility (no "of course, when you consider the terrible position the last lot left it in...")
On the other hand, the very fact they've held it so long illustrates their campaigning strength, and it's not likely to be a vintage Tory year.
"Spoke to someone v close to govt last week and they were super worried about govt finances. Forget about lower spending they were seeing a likelihood of cuts. The debt servicing bill is eye watering and unsustainable. That puts the Cons in a difficult place in the run up to any election."
My first instinct was (and still is) that this is Treasury bollocks to scare backbench MPs and excuse the current tax regime.
They were very worried. And not sure what would happen when the penny drops amongst the public at large.
This sounds like probable baloney.
The traditional point of concern is when Govt Debt Interest is getting towards 4% of GDP.
(Open to correction if anyone has any startling recent or alternate data.)
And as mentioned to @rcs1000 very sensitive to inflation in itself, on account of its index-linked borrowing, and also the concomitant rate rises.
That depends what % of borrowing is index linked. Two reasons we were comparatively insulated from the impacts in 2010 and following was that most of our borrowing was a) our high percentage of fixed rate public debt and b) our longer term public debt compared to most other countries (10-15 years vs 5 years) so we did not have to go into the market to roll it over as soon.
So there was headroom to spread out public finance recovery.
The % of index-linked is higher now - not sure how much higher.
If there is an analysis that demonstrates this is a real problem in terms of borrowing costs going to an unacceptable level of GDP *now* I'd like to see it - rather than speculation on possibilities.
Aha - see max supplied some numbers.
From your document:
"Relative to March 2021, interest costs have been revised up by £15.0 billion in 2021- 22, £15.5 billion in 2022-23 and an average of nearly £6 billion a year across the rest of the forecast. Again, this is predominantly due to higher than expected RPI inflation, with the increase in interest costs associated with index-linked gilts accounting for £13.8 billion and £10.3 billion of the increase in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively. Higher interest rates also increase debt interest spending across the forecast, while a higher path for Bank Rate reduces the impact of the APF in bringing down interest costs from 2022-23 onwards. "
That was an October 2021 document. Six months ago. Oh how the world has changed since then.
Meanwhile 25% of our debt is index linked.
Without undermining the seriousness of balancing the budget (which I do believe in) index linked isn't really that major of an issue.
Sure a quarter to a third may be index linked, but if the country is growing in real terms then that should really be read as two thirds to three quarters is not index linked.
Debt to GDP is the relevant figure, and debt servicing to GDP. Inflation may cost cash, but if the GDP is growing then that should relatively cancel each other out.
A few decades of inflation is probably what we need now to deflate away the debts we have borrowed. That is basically what succeeded from 45 to 74 approximately.
£46 billion is the amount spent this year in debt interest payments. It is easy to hide this as 3% of something or other. It is £1000 per year for 40 million people. That's a lot of extra tax to pay, or a lot of universal credit increase that didn't happen. And we have borrowed much more than this figure this year anyway, so we haven't even paid anything, we have just increased the debt.
That 46bn is before the return of interest from the BoE. Don't forget that a not insubstantial proportion of our debt is held by the BoE.
People as dim as me need to know where the BoE gets all that money from to return the interest, where they got the money from to fund the government debt in the first place; and I am so dim that I think that if the BoE conjures up the stuff from the air that they are stealing value from someone who does the actual paying. Could that be us by any chance?
Eh?
The point is that HMG doesn't really pay interest on bonds held by the Bank of England, as the money is returned to the Treasury. The real debt service load is therefore less than the headline number.
Just pop that into the language of dim people like me.....
The Bank of England has printed money and bought the debt. Since we owe money to the Bank, but we own the Bank, we owe money to ourselves so its cancelled out.
We still report the headline figure of how much we owe as the full debt total, including to the Bank, as it is a polite conceit to pretend that the Bank didn't print money in order to finance the debt.
The only real danger from printing money like that is inflation. So it looks like we got away with it.
"Ex-Fed chief Ben Bernanke famously said that QE does not work in theory, but does work in practice. Monetarists retort that QE has worked exactly as you would expect under the quantity theory of money.
If they are right – and they have been right over the last two years – it implies that the abrupt switch from QE to QT is going to lead to a drastic slowdown in the broad money supply. This will set off an asset crash this year followed by economic mayhem next year if central banks do not back off in time."
Yes I was going to put in my previous post that it’s a question of getting timing right.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to state schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
I'm not a leftie, but of course you think that Genghis Khan was a parlour pinko anyway.
Have you not considered that
(a) it is an outrage for public money to be spent on your pet sectarian stuff (b) it is people like your spending public resources on your pet sectarian schools that cause major efficiency and fairness issues? (c) it is people like you taking no interest in the non-faith or non-posh schools that causes a major part of the problem with state education>
Yes you are, you are a died in the wool pinko socialist, near Communist Scottish nationalist.
No, it is not an outrage for public money to be spent on outstanding faith schools producing highly educated pupils to benefit all of us. I am a conservative with an ideological commitment to choice in education as much as the economy, so no I actually think it improves efficiency.
I don't believe in lowest common denominator education, the more private schools, grammar schools and free and faith schools the better as far as I am concerned
Hoy, I'm not a near-communist or a pinko - so you had better rethink your proselytising skills. Not to mention your analytical ones.
And "faith schools" producing highly educated pupils? What are you on? Incense?
Some do achieve remarkable results - there's a reason that the back pews in certain churches are stuffed with bored people on their mobiles...
Who the heck sends anyone porn? I have never felt the urge to send any. Nor have I ever received any. Maybe that's just me.
And of course, define porn.
“Porn? I was catching up on last episode of bridgeton!”
Phones should be banned from the chamber. Or just put a Faraday cage around it during the rebuild.
I agree. None of them are listening to the debate. They are all on their phones. I had assumed updating and checking twitter to make it look like they relevant, but seems just watching porn.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to state schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
I'm not a leftie, but of course you think that Genghis Khan was a parlour pinko anyway.
Have you not considered that
(a) it is an outrage for public money to be spent on your pet sectarian stuff (b) it is people like your spending public resources on your pet sectarian schools that cause major efficiency and fairness issues? (c) it is people like you taking no interest in the non-faith or non-posh schools that causes a major part of the problem with state education>
Yes you are, you are a died in the wool pinko socialist, near Communist Scottish nationalist.
No, it is not an outrage for public money to be spent on outstanding faith schools producing highly educated pupils to benefit all of us. I am a conservative with an ideological commitment to choice in education as much as the economy, so no I actually think it improves efficiency.
I don't believe in lowest common denominator education, the more private schools, grammar schools and free and faith schools the better as far as I am concerned
Hoy, I'm not a near-communist or a pinko - so you had better rethink your proselytising skills. Not to mention your analytical ones.
And "faith schools" producing highly educated pupils? What are you on? Incense?
'83 per cent of pupils in Church of England schools, and 85 per cent of pupils in Roman Catholic schools achieved level 4+ in reading writing and mathematics, compared to 81 percent in non-faith schools.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
And you are not supposed to walk on Hadrians Wall. I was told to get down. 🫢
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to state schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
I'm not a leftie, but of course you think that Genghis Khan was a parlour pinko anyway.
Have you not considered that
(a) it is an outrage for public money to be spent on your pet sectarian stuff (b) it is people like your spending public resources on your pet sectarian schools that cause major efficiency and fairness issues? (c) it is people like you taking no interest in the non-faith or non-posh schools that causes a major part of the problem with state education>
Yes you are, you are a died in the wool pinko socialist, near Communist Scottish nationalist.
No, it is not an outrage for public money to be spent on outstanding faith schools producing highly educated pupils to benefit all of us. I am a conservative with an ideological commitment to choice in education as much as the economy, so no I actually think it improves efficiency.
I don't believe in lowest common denominator education, the more private schools, grammar schools and free and faith schools the better as far as I am concerned
Hoy, I'm not a near-communist or a pinko - so you had better rethink your proselytising skills. Not to mention your analytical ones.
And "faith schools" producing highly educated pupils? What are you on? Incense?
'83 per cent of pupils in Church of England schools, and 85 per cent of pupils in Roman Catholic schools achieved level 4+ in reading writing and mathematics, compared to 81 percent in non-faith schools.
On mobileporngate, it seems to me relevant that the accused is a Tory MP, and the complainant and her corroborator are also both Tory MPs. Surely they must be pretty sure of their ground to go public (within their own party) against one of their own? It's obvious that it's not party politics being played out here.
Read the room. The good men of PB have decided this poor Tory MP caught watching porn was the innocent victim of a harmless bit of banter from one of his many friends, who sent him a sexually explicit meme that's easy for the simple-minded women now allowed into the chamber to confuse with real porn. And that's okay!
Well I just suggested the possibility that it was a WhatsApp group text - purely because I find it completely outlandish/bonkers/barmy that anyone would think of deliberately watching porn in the Commons chamber.
Maybe I am just naive!!
The psychology is power and risk. There are people who do things to assert dominance, and because they can, but also get a thrill from the danger.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
On my only drive through Carter Bar, it literally started snowing just as we crossed into Scotland at the top of the hill. Very memorable welcome!
According to these guys, the border between England and Scotland is several million years old. https://youtu.be/9DqZYsckBwI
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own, and are willing to pay for that, then that should be their choice.
The taxpayer shouldn't be paying for sectarian discrimination.
My main beef with faith schools is that I don't get the option of an atheist school for my kids. As far as I can see, most nominally secular schools also teach God. I think there is still a requirement for a collective act of worship. And if you live in the countryside, from what I can see pretty much all schools are CofE. Country dwellers don't appear to get a choice. If we're to allow faith schools, we should also allow faithless schools.
You do, you could now set up an atheist free school if you wanted to.
Plus parents can withdraw their children from faith assemblies if they wish
Would it be possible to establish a satanist free school?
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
And you are not supposed to walk on Hadrians Wall. I was told to get down. 🫢
Exactly; En glish Heritage pointed that out - and rubbed it in by pointing out he needed to payt for a Portaloo every x hundred metres of event.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
On my only drive through Carter Bar, it literally started snowing just as we crossed into Scotland at the top of the hill. Very memorable welcome!
According to these guys, the border between England and Scotland is several million years old. https://youtu.be/9DqZYsckBwI
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Typical attitude of you and the useless left, close down anything doing well so everything ends up crap. The end result would be 3 inadequate or requires improvement schools with no parental choice.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
If parents want to send their children to schools with those of the same faith as their own, and are willing to pay for that, then that should be their choice.
The taxpayer shouldn't be paying for sectarian discrimination.
My main beef with faith schools is that I don't get the option of an atheist school for my kids. As far as I can see, most nominally secular schools also teach God. I think there is still a requirement for a collective act of worship. And if you live in the countryside, from what I can see pretty much all schools are CofE. Country dwellers don't appear to get a choice. If we're to allow faith schools, we should also allow faithless schools.
You do, you could now set up an atheist free school if you wanted to.
Plus parents can withdraw their children from faith assemblies if they wish
Would it be possible to establish a satanist free school?
Yes, provided it was not doing anything illegal and got good results
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
And you are not supposed to walk on Hadrians Wall. I was told to get down. 🫢
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
So a single carer can look after zero children?
How does that scale?
You're misreading; there are no limits rather than a limit of zero. I.e. a single carer can have infinite children to look after.
I don't know about Denmark, but in Germany there are certainly strict limits on how many children can be looked after per carer. It's regulated by the Bundesländer, but so far as I know all Bundesländer have limits.
DJ Tim Westwood steps down from his show until further notice
Why has this broken now. There have been rumours about Westwood for YEARS.
Strange to think that his father was a Bishop.
The one thing which surprised me about this story, was that he's 64! Only 14 years younger than @Big_G_NorthWales.
Why connect me to this DJ ?
No offence intended. Sorry if taken.
Thanks but the accusations against him are appalling and everything I stand against
I pride myself that I have always treated women with respect, and not least those who worked for me during the 40 years I ran my business and even today are personal friends
I am disgusted with the behaviour of some mps and it seems, according to todays report, it is cross party with 3 cabinet ministers and 2 shadow cabinet ministers under investigation
What is wrong with these people ?
Simple answer, those that seek to be mp's should rarely be allowed to run a charity shop
Health Minister Eluned Morgan broke Senedd rules over speeding, watchdog says
The Welsh government said it did not comment on leaked reports. The Welsh Conservatives said the Labour minister "has said that politicians should lead by example but has failed to do that herself".
Andrew RT Davies is truly f***ing cretinous.
I concur but speeding is far more dangerous than eating a cake !!!!!!!
That is a very disingenuous post. You know full well it is not about cake it is about one rule for us, one rule for them and misleading Parliament.
Morgan has been punished in the same way any of the rest of us have and would be when we have been caught speeding.
Besides which isn't Johnson's defence, one of his FPN is no worse than a speeding ticket.
Shame on you BigG.
This wasn't a single speeding offence and she has been found to have broken the Senedd code of conduct
'Wales' health minister has been found by a politicians' watchdog to have broken the Senedd code of conduct after being convicted for speeding four times.
Eluned Morgan was banned from driving in Mold Magistrates Court on 17 March.
In a report, yet to be published but seen by BBC Wales, Senedd Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain said the offences set a "very poor example" and demonstrated a disregard for the law.
My point stands.
If she has accumulated 12 points she gets a ban and uses the bus- like the rest of us would. If the rules are she is also censured by the Senedd, so be it.
I am not condoning the offences, particularly if a member of my family was crossing the road in front of her, but it is wholly different to Johnson's partying misdeeds, for so many reasons.
Talking of motoring offences, Johnson's bonfire of 'elf and safety in the form of two year MOTs is insane. Walk up any street and look at car tyres on vehicles. Some look like racing slicks. At least they require checking and changing once a year now- and think of all the little independent garages that will go to the wall on the back of this nonsense,
Ironically, it has been claimed that saving money on MOT tests will lead to paying more in insurance premiums.
It seems daft.
I’m all in favour of the easing of rules around childcare, though.
Several countries in Europe have ZERO limits on the child to carer ratio including such right-wing hell-holes as Germany and Denmark.
The UK has regulated childcare into one of the most expensive industries in the country.
Indeed.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the bank.
When the current regulations on ratios of children to careers were introduced, New lAbour were warned what would happen, in some detail. They went ahead and the prophecies were exactly fulfilled.
1) "Proper' childcare became very expensive - in London, it's not far off fees for private school. So more and more middle class people have their budgets "stretched" ready to go straight through to the private sector. 2) If you are rich enough to have a house with a spare room, AuPairs are just as unregulated as before. And just as cheap. 3) If you aren't in the first 2 categories, you use unregulated child minding. Which is cheap and a bit like mini cabs used to be in London, before they made them legal....
Dunno about 1.
I am in that category and the second I could get him out of paid childcare I resolved to piss the money up the wall on good wining and dining instead.
Ha. What did the wife say?
She joined me. State schools round here are good so why pay more? 🙂
Depends on your location - some are very good. Some are shocking. The behaviour of parents in choosing which state school to go to (when they have choice) is another interesting story....
I’d never pretend to believe in a spaghetti monster just to get into a ‘good’ school if that’s what you mean (although how it could be a good school if it teaches that a spaghetti monster rules our lives is another question…)
If the choice in your area was 2 inadequate or requires improvement state schools and an outstanding faith school which needed a vicar's reference to get in I bet you would, especially if you could not afford to go private and there were no grammar schools in the area either.
Hence churches in catchment areas of outstanding faith schools are often full when admissions for the new intake are coming round
Easy. Close down the subsidised sectarian school and improve the two comprehensives with the resources.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Judging by the Glasgow Rangers supporting pupils, we have plenty of sectarian schools in Ayrshire, funded by the state.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
Looking forward to Rory the spook extolling all the things that folk in the Donetsk have in common with those in Luhansk.
They actually have a great deal in common - it is a theme in Zelensky's speeches.
Having polite discussions about where borders should go, given the fact that the people down the road don't suddenly have two heads and three arms because of a magical line on a map... That's the whole bit that Putin doesn't get. But Zelensky does.
To adapt your favoured term, a greater British nationalist describing the possibilty of 2 areas on either side of a border as belonging to 2 different countries as 'insane' is hardly a polite discussion, but chácun a son goût.
Putin has apparently warned against 'outside intervention' in Ukraine. The main outside intervention coming so far from er... Russia, with it raising towns and cities to the ground and committing mass war crimes.
I know this is all obvious but such comments are liable to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In PutinWorld, Ukraine doesn't exist. There's a province of West Russia where they talk a bit funny, that's all. So Russia is just doing an Internal Special Operation.
It's a fairly good "tell" of Russians who support this stuff - they will tell you there is no such thing as a Ukrainian language, culture etc..
Rory Stewart says it is “insane” to think of England and Scotland as different countries
Errrr saying that the border areas have quite a lot in common is some way from saying that Scotland doesn't have a distinct culture.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
The Debatable Lands were a relatively small part of the border, where the locals positively and knowingly exploited the different legal systems to create havoc - quite the opposite of a continuous spectrum.
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
And you are not supposed to walk on Hadrians Wall. I was told to get down. 🫢
On mobileporngate, it seems to me relevant that the accused is a Tory MP, and the complainant and her corroborator are also both Tory MPs. Surely they must be pretty sure of their ground to go public (within their own party) against one of their own? It's obvious that it's not party politics being played out here.
Read the room. The good men of PB have decided this poor Tory MP caught watching porn was the innocent victim of a harmless bit of banter from one of his many friends, who sent him a sexually explicit meme that's easy for the simple-minded women now allowed into the chamber to confuse with real porn. And that's okay!
Well I just suggested the possibility that it was a WhatsApp group text - purely because I find it completely outlandish/bonkers/barmy that anyone would think of deliberately watching porn in the Commons chamber.
Maybe I am just naive!!
Was on a Skype for Business call, back in the day, with someone sharing their screen who had a pornhub tab open on their browser. People tell stories of people watching porn on public transport.
This sort of thing happens by degrees. People get obsessed by it and desensitised, and don't realise what they're doing. It initially sounds shocking, but then it seems kinda inevitable that someone would do it eventually.
That, or the whole point of watching it was to be seen watching it, and thereby intimidate people. That also happens and it is encouraged by an environment of impunity, where people are seen to be doing wrong, and not being held to account for it.
1hr15min train journey from Huddersfield to Sheffield cancelled 5mins before departure.
Next quickest (and more expensive) journey takes 1hr 40mins. It takes half the time to drive.
It's been like this for my entire life and there's no imminent plan to improve it.
Yes, but the Huddersfield to Sheffield line doesn't really serve that market, because the demand is very very small. It's not town-to-nearest-big-city - it'snit kike Huddersfield to Leeds or Rotherham to Sheffield. It's basically a village line serving Penistone and the smaller communities west of Barnsley. It's a line which was very very lucky to survive beeching. If you're one if the few people who makes that journey by public transport, that's bad luck for you - but also good luck that that journey exists at all. Unlike, say, Barnsley to Manchester or Bolton to Liverpool. I'm not saying rail transport in the North is good - but Huddersfield to Sheffield is not representative.
When I commuted Huddersfield-Sheffield the train was very strictly for booze ups only - car beat it hands down. I did once narrowly avoid the 3 hours journey time last bus replacement service, and once we turfed off the broken down train in Stocksmoor, which was a short hike to the village edge to find phone reception and book a shared taxi towards town. If you wanted to cut down on car at all, you would drive to the Supertram park & ride at Middlewood, which was a decent option.
It got worse when we lost the interleaving option to go via Wakefield Westgate, they decided the single carriage Huddersfield- Wakefield service would no longer reverse the corner from Kirkgate, though I don't know if 'not Leeds' is still stipulated on Hud-Shf ticket.
At one point they were plotting tram-trains and higher service frequency, mainly SY focussed, but would have improved that service. Don't know what became of that idea.
Comments
Once upon a time, anti-lock brakes were only fitted on the more expensive and exotic military jets. Now they are a legal requirement for new cars.
Get general tire health monitoring into Bugattis and us Head Count will find it built into our cars within 5 years....
https://www.thenational.wales/news/20092633.rory-stewart-insane-think-borders-cumbria-different-countries/
Still awkward to explain I think in front an investigative panel “it just opened up and I had no choice but to finger my way through it.”
We still report the headline figure of how much we owe as the full debt total, including to the Bank, as it is a polite conceit to pretend that the Bank didn't print money in order to finance the debt.
This person is still predicting the DUP to be the largest party: https://twitter.com/electpoliticsuk/status/1517197019609288705/photo/1 I think Upper Bann, Foyle are wrong and possibly North Belfast as well.
It seems unlikely that the UUP will only gain one seat overall instead of maybe two, I think they could well get a 2nd in Upper Bann for example and Diane Dodds could be a major scalp.
The history of debatable lands rather suggests the locals thought that way :-)
“Porn? I was catching up on last episode of bridgeton!”
I was actually referring to something more interesting. We happen to live in the catchment area for two primaries - one outstanding in every way. The other is the pits.
The middle class people commit fraud to get into the good one. Literally. People have been done in court.
The people who live join the council estates - some of which are literally next to the good school - universally send their children to the bad one. Nearly universally.
A few, who are interested in education, send their kids to the good one. I used to reach out and talk to them - they tended to feel a bit isolated at parents gatherings etc. Listening to their accounts of being told "that place isn't for the likes of us", by their neighbours, was interesting.
*The local RC Reverend liked the term - I explained I'd invented it by analogy to the Rice Christians who would turn up at missionary churches in China.
https://twitter.com/harry_horton/status/1519310302172655616?s=21&t=PxIYDYuffFSdhj6E0nqo7w
1hr15min train journey from Huddersfield to Sheffield cancelled 5mins before departure.
Next quickest (and more expensive) journey takes 1hr 40mins. It takes half the time to drive.
It's been like this for my entire life and there's no imminent plan to improve it.
Great to see OGH and Quincel there as well as Stodge proudly sporting a beard
It's a fantastic venue and evenings there are always really enjoyable.
Hope everyone is keeping well!
Oh that's right, some people hate cars. Personal transportation can't be a good thing.
These are quite common.
What's the Boring company doing these days? Get tunnelling.
On cumulative basis, is this going to give the media a “sleazey politicians” inspired fuckmule coming right on eve of the elections?
If you're one if the few people who makes that journey by public transport, that's bad luck for you - but also good luck that that journey exists at all. Unlike, say, Barnsley to Manchester or Bolton to Liverpool.
I'm not saying rail transport in the North is good - but Huddersfield to Sheffield is not representative.
Don't forget we have a big round of all-up elections in Wales and Scotland as well as many English urban centres such as London and Birmingham along with the usual third-up councils.
As an example, Labour will probably gain 6 seats in Newham without doing very much at all because the 20 3-member Wards are now 22 thanks to population growth. Some Councils have more seats, some fewer.
For the Conservatives to lose 40-50% of the council seats being defended is melt down territory so I agree 800 looks overblown. Losing a quarter would mean 400-450 and that feels more sensible but again looking at the figures the scope for losses is outside London where the Conservatives made gains last time (as did Labour and the LDs as the UKIP local Government base was annihilated) rather than in London where the Conservatives lost 92 last time.
The prediction in London is 71 more Conservative losses which would be 14% of the total. 30% outside London would be 250 on the old boundaries - add a few for the new boundaries and you get close to 400.
You want faith schooling? You pay for it out of your own pocket, not mine and everyone else's. This not very well hidden state subsidy of sectarianism is one of the biggest arguments for eradicating Establishment of a sect in (one of the nations of) the UK.
Isn't that the entirely acceptable term that someone uses to refer to their offspring, that one particular PBer had a rather bizarre fit about?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/04/27/central-banks-risk-crashing-us-recession/
"Ex-Fed chief Ben Bernanke famously said that QE does not work in theory, but does work in practice. Monetarists retort that QE has worked exactly as you would expect under the quantity theory of money.
If they are right – and they have been right over the last two years – it implies that the abrupt switch from QE to QT is going to lead to a drastic slowdown in the broad money supply. This will set off an asset crash this year followed by economic mayhem next year if central banks do not back off in time."
The other areas, I get the impression that the Border was much clearer (Tweed) or in the middle of **** all (high wasteland, with a clear watershed as at Carter Bar).
Edit: In any case Rory the Tory knows **** all about the Border. Anybody whose idea of an indyref stunt was to have a human chain holding hands along Hadrian's Wall ... our colleague Gallowgate would not be impressed to have to relearn all his conveyancing law, for one thing.
We need more faith schools, more grammar schools, more free schools and more choice not less. If parents want to send their children to state schools with those of the same faith as their own they should be allowed to do so. Of course outstanding Roman Catholic schools are just as selective as outstanding Church of England schools
"He stole my cattle in revenge for the cattle I stole from his cousin, who is actually my nephew, who stole cattle from my wife's brothers first cousin. Who is also a cousin of mine. I think I stole some of his cattle..."
@BBCHelena
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13m
Thursday’s Independent: Javid used offshore trust while working at Treasury #tomorrowspaperstoday
The taxpayer shouldn't be paying for sectarian discrimination.
https://smarkets.com/event/42537689/politics/uk/2022-local-elections/sutton
Tony Travers pointed out the LDs had run the Borough for a long time but made no other inference.
(I’m not a fan, there are many things one can reasonably criticise him for, but his height isn’t one of them)
Have you not considered that
(a) it is an outrage for public money to be spent on your pet sectarian stuff
(b) it is people like your spending public resources on your pet sectarian schools that cause major efficiency and fairness issues?
(c) it is people like you taking no interest in the non-faith or non-posh schools that causes a major part of the problem with state education>
Several times, the national government on both sides realised that while they made excellent light cavalry, the err... gentlemen of the borders could not be relied upon to fight each other. Because family/business.
And if you live in the countryside, from what I can see pretty much all schools are CofE. Country dwellers don't appear to get a choice.
If we're to allow faith schools, we should also allow faithless schools.
Plus parents can withdraw their children from faith assemblies if they wish
Mind you. I've been considering founding an extremist, fundamentalist offshoot of the Unitarians.
Since Boris been leader the Tories have had good locals - so in places like Swindon where part of the council is up, Tories took such a good grip last year no sort of good night there for Labour can much dent Tory control, and it’s same like that a lot of places where part of council is up. There aren’t many “council gained” headlines available for Labour. In terms of media narrative it’s easy to see it portrayed as flat night for Starmer more than bad night for Boris. I think this is what serious psephologicals are trying to get us to realise. It’s not going to be a night of spectacular headlines that’s somblack and white to call whose doing well and bad. Like “Labour have flipped Swindon, key target in general election” “Tory’s remain in control of Swindon, a Key marginal Labour must gain if they are to oust Boris.”
You see what I mean. We need to prepare ourselves for devil being in the detail. We probably can’t argue over till Saturday.
And of course Libdem and Greens havn’t had the hoped for good night against Stay at home Tories yet either. It’s the hoping and anticipation that is so stressful. Another week to go! 🫣
If the story was they caught the MP having a wank in their office or something seems more likely series of events than casually watching a load of humping in the middle of a debate.
Reassuring similar to your position on rational Russians.
No, it is not an outrage for public money to be spent on outstanding faith schools producing highly educated pupils to benefit all of us. I am a conservative with an ideological commitment to choice in education as much as the economy, so no I actually think it improves efficiency.
I don't believe in lowest common denominator education, the more private schools, grammar schools and free and faith schools the better as far as I am concerned
I guess I am old fashioned.
Opponents in front of you, enemies behind you.
The "independent people's republics" will be Russian in character and listen to Mother Russia in all things. Think obedient children. Look at what Putin achieved in Chechnya....
We shouldn't back down and let them get away with shit due to the fear of their irrationality - and its good that we're not doing so.
(Has TSE already done this joke, about 7 years before I joined?)
And "faith schools" producing highly educated pupils? What are you on? Incense?
Maybe I am just naive!!
For Labour to regain Plymouth they'd probably need to make massive inroads in Jonny Mercer's seat which seems implausible.
Having polite discussions about where borders should go, given the fact that the people down the road don't suddenly have two heads and three arms because of a magical line on a map... That's the whole bit that Putin doesn't get. But Zelensky does.
On the other hand, the very fact they've held it so long illustrates their campaigning strength, and it's not likely to be a vintage Tory year.
So I'd say low, but not no, chance of an upset.
Asset crash then - do you mean property?
60.6 per cent of pupils in Church of England schools, and 63.2 per cent of pupils in Roman Catholic schools, achieved five good GCSEs, including English and mathematics, compared to 57.4 per cent of pupils in non-faith secondary schools'
https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Pupil_characteristics_and_performance_at_faith_schools.pdf
And because you and your ilk select the pupils, however unconsciously.
They're awful... but that's how it works.
https://youtu.be/9DqZYsckBwI
This sort of thing happens by degrees. People get obsessed by it and desensitised, and don't realise what they're doing. It initially sounds shocking, but then it seems kinda inevitable that someone would do it eventually.
That, or the whole point of watching it was to be seen watching it, and thereby intimidate people. That also happens and it is encouraged by an environment of impunity, where people are seen to be doing wrong, and not being held to account for it.
It got worse when we lost the interleaving option to go via Wakefield Westgate, they decided the single carriage Huddersfield- Wakefield service would no longer reverse the corner from Kirkgate, though I don't know if 'not Leeds' is still stipulated on Hud-Shf ticket.
At one point they were plotting tram-trains and higher service frequency, mainly SY focussed, but would have improved that service. Don't know what became of that idea.