Just back from Germany. It was a fascinating trip and a real privilege to get to talk to senior IP folk in so many world class R&D-based companies. If only we had a few more of these. But we don't and won't until the way things work here changes dramatically, inside both boardrooms and banks.
SO, you are looking in the wrong place. The lifesciences industry is progressing at great pace - I spent my life with IP driven companies and the consistent view is that the patent box has been extremely helpful.
The patent box works well for life sciences companies because they already know IP and invest in creating it via R&D. I am not sure it has really incentivised all those companies that don't do it to change their ways. But it is potentially a great scheme.
We do have some great life sciences companies, I agree. So do the Germans. Where they beat us hands down is that they also have them in loads of other areas too. It was a real eye opener going into companies and seeing how they work close up.
Then why don't you educate Miliband. Because he's got f'all idea about business or investment.
I find your position on this odd, to say the least.
One can reverse that - why does Mr Cameron desperately want to avoid debate and send his LD penal battalions instead? Obviously it's a bit of a Mexican standoff.
And, incidentally, it was Cameron who promised a Respect agenda in the first place.
It might be more interesting to consider that Mr C's decision is not risk-free, given that (if I recall rightly) polling on both sides of the border and both sides of the question in Scotland shows a majority desire to see such a debate. I suppose his calculation is that if there is a Yes, he's got much bigger worries than being seen not to have strained "every fibre of his being" as I recall him promising a year ago in Edinburgh (appropriately enough, just before the porridge factory photo-op). If there is a No, then he's got nothing to worry about.
At the risk of being controverisal, Salmond and Cameron are not peers. Cameron is the PM of the UK, Salmond the FM of a region within the UK and a prospective (I presume) leader of an independent Scotland.
While Scotland remains part of the UK, he is a peer to the leaders of the regional governments in Wales and Northern Ireland and - arguably, de facto, if not de jure - the Mayor of London. They all should be viewed as having equivalent rank to senior Cabinet Ministers.
If he was insisting on debating Carmichael rather than Alexander he might have a point. To insist on debating Cameron is mere self-aggrandisement.
Well, those are at least reasonable (if slightly mischievous) suggestions. Mind you, the precedence can't work like that, or the Unionists don't take it too seriously, because Mr Carmichael was happy to debate with Ms Sturgeon (till it actually happened and she got her teeth into him, but that is another matter).
I suppose, also, the Scots have as much right to Cameron as the English do, we all being in the UK, of which he is PM, so his refusal to speak is to say the least a bit hurt-making ...
Johnson would certainly be interesting in debate - but his liking for Highland cows and see-you-Jimmy hats won't necessarily cut it. He is vulnerable to such things as his complaints about the negativity of the No campaign last year (except insofar as his coming up would reflect well on him), and the increasing de-Barnettization of infrastructure costs and the analogous diversion of Lottery funds to the Olympics. And his own efforts to make himself Mr London do not make himself more popular with those who feel that London IS part of the problem. I have a gut feeling he might find a Scottish audience difficult to handle, even if he could hold his own with Salmond.
Just back from Germany. It was a fascinating trip and a real privilege to get to talk to senior IP folk in so many world class R&D-based companies. If only we had a few more of these. But we don't and won't until the way things work here changes dramatically, inside both boardrooms and banks.
SO, you are looking in the wrong place. The lifesciences industry is progressing at great pace - I spent my life with IP driven companies and the consistent view is that the patent box has been extremely helpful.
The patent box works well for life sciences companies because they already know IP and invest in creating it via R&D. I am not sure it has really incentivised all those companies that don't do it to change their ways. But it is potentially a great scheme.
We do have some great life sciences companies, I agree. So do the Germans. Where they beat us hands down is that they also have them in loads of other areas too. It was a real eye opener going into companies and seeing how they work close up.
Then why don't you educate Miliband. Because he's got f'all idea about business or investment.
I find your position on this odd, to say the least.
All our politicians need educating, as do our banks and businesses.
On race tips I was behind. Oddly, I finished ahead in reality because the untipped bets I made (usually losers) generally won. Annoyingly, I almost always lost on Betfair and won on Ladbrokes, so the former account is rather depleted and the latter fairly healthy.
Two accounts sounds dangerous - Does Ladbrokes have better odds sometimes I take it? I like to think that because my Betfair history is in profit I'm not an idiot gambler who's lost thousands and thousands over the years.
"London has three or four times the GDP of Scotland"
Really? Yet they're roughly the same population size. Clearly London is doing something right and Scotland is doing something wrong. Scots are clearly missing a trick here. If I was in charge of Scotland I'd copy whatever London is doing and triple GDP.
On no measure do London and Scotland have roughly the same population size. Greater London has about three times Scotland's population.
Greater London has a population of 8.2m, Scotland 5.3m. You can construe greater London bigger than Greater London, though.
"London has three or four times the GDP of Scotland"
Really? Yet they're roughly the same population size. Clearly London is doing something right and Scotland is doing something wrong. Scots are clearly missing a trick here. If I was in charge of Scotland I'd copy whatever London is doing and triple GDP.
On no measure do London and Scotland have roughly the same population size. Greater London has about three times Scotland's population.
Greater London has a population of 8.2m, Scotland 5.3m. You can construe greater London bigger than Greater London, though.
The West Midlands region has about a quarter of million more people than Scotland, although they both have the same number of Westminster constituencies, 59.
Thanks for responses re south Korea. I had no idea there was a significant Christian community. Drink, can't be worse than Poland, can it? Just have to make sure I'm not screwed, I often manage that. A friendly race with a rampant dislike of close neighbours.
If I go down this route I will either ask more questions, or report progress.
I live in Stockton South. My Tory MP has a 332 majority and understands what really concerns local voters. 1. Sri Lanka - Tory HQ had to ban him from going on yet another junket on the shilling of the Columbo junta. 2. Europe - he voted with government pro-Europe positions until he won the draft and was given the anti-UKIP Bill to push through. 3. Xenophobia. He's campaigning against pokey campsites and for the south of the seat to assert it's Yorkshire identity in conflict to Stockton which is Durham.
I would have thought you'd have left off, given the way you've just embarrassed yourself.
Stick to electoral reform and PR^2, rather than insulting women.
I don't insult women. I insult Fools, malicious obsessives and moral cowards. And if they happen to be women, so be it. And I think the next few turns of events will demonstrate I am about the only one here with nothing to be embarrassed about.
I live in Stockton South. My Tory MP has a 332 majority and understands what really concerns local voters. 1. Sri Lanka - Tory HQ had to ban him from going on yet another junket on the shilling of the Columbo junta. 2. Europe - he voted with government pro-Europe positions until he won the draft and was given the anti-UKIP Bill to push through. 3. Xenophobia. He's campaigning against pokey campsites and for the south of the seat to assert it's Yorkshire identity in conflict to Stockton which is Durham.
What a ridiculous post, as a cursory glance at the excellent James Wharton's website shows. This is what he's actually been doing:
Mr. Ronald, I've had them both since 2009, when I first started offering regular tips. My original plan was to open several more, but I've never really seen the need. Ladbrokes sometimes offer better odds, and often have some good markets Betfair lacks.
I live in Stockton South. My Tory MP has a 332 majority and understands what really concerns local voters. 1. Sri Lanka - Tory HQ had to ban him from going on yet another junket on the shilling of the Columbo junta. 2. Europe - he voted with government pro-Europe positions until he won the draft and was given the anti-UKIP Bill to push through. 3. Xenophobia. He's campaigning against pokey campsites and for the south of the seat to assert it's Yorkshire identity in conflict to Stockton which is Durham.
What a ridiculous post, as a cursory glance at the excellent James Wharton's website shows. This is what he's actually been doing:
"London has three or four times the GDP of Scotland"
Really? Yet they're roughly the same population size. Clearly London is doing something right and Scotland is doing something wrong. Scots are clearly missing a trick here. If I was in charge of Scotland I'd copy whatever London is doing and triple GDP.
On no measure do London and Scotland have roughly the same population size. Greater London has about three times Scotland's population.
Greater London has a population of 8.2m, Scotland 5.3m. You can construe greater London bigger than Greater London, though.
Thanks. I'm meant the London metropolitan area, which has a population of slightly over 15m.
I live in Stockton South. My Tory MP has a 332 majority and understands what really concerns local voters. 1. Sri Lanka - Tory HQ had to ban him from going on yet another junket on the shilling of the Columbo junta. 2. Europe - he voted with government pro-Europe positions until he won the draft and was given the anti-UKIP Bill to push through. 3. Xenophobia. He's campaigning against pokey campsites and for the south of the seat to assert it's Yorkshire identity in conflict to Stockton which is Durham.
What a ridiculous post, as a cursory glance at the excellent James Wharton's website shows. This is what he's actually been doing:
I would have thought you'd have left off, given the way you've just embarrassed yourself.
Stick to electoral reform and PR^2, rather than insulting women.
I don't insult women. I insult Fools, malicious obsessives and moral cowards. And if they happen to be women, so be it. And I think the next few turns of events will demonstrate I am about the only one here with nothing to be embarrassed about.
What this forum needs is a contest for Most Arrogant Post of the Year. I nominate this for January's contender...
I would have thought you'd have left off, given the way you've just embarrassed yourself.
Stick to electoral reform and PR^2, rather than insulting women.
I don't insult women. I insult Fools, malicious obsessives and moral cowards. And if they happen to be women, so be it. And I think the next few turns of events will demonstrate I am about the only one here with nothing to be embarrassed about.
What this forum needs is a contest for Most Arrogant Post of the Year. I nominate this for January's contender...
I would have thought you'd have left off, given the way you've just embarrassed yourself.
Stick to electoral reform and PR^2, rather than insulting women.
I don't insult women. I insult Fools, malicious obsessives and moral cowards. And if they happen to be women, so be it. And I think the next few turns of events will demonstrate I am about the only one here with nothing to be embarrassed about.
What this forum needs is a contest for Most Arrogant Post of the Year. I nominate this for January's contender...
OK, I blame it on the football on the side of my face where a tooth used to be. I'm going out for dinner now. Wish me luck...
And not a member on his website if his excellent work in Sri Lanka or lobbying for public cash from a body he campaigned to axe for his friend's cock statue business. Or his response to the swathes of job losses in his seat. When you have a massive majority like 332 you can afford to spend so much energy on issue of local import like referenda and sub-continental juntas.
Entertainingly having just been banned by his own party from going on yet another trip to Ceylon he complained that his newly chosen Labour opponent wasn't spending enough time on local issues. But as it's not on his website it didn't happen or something
I would have thought you'd have left off, given the way you've just embarrassed yourself.
Stick to electoral reform and PR^2, rather than insulting women.
I don't insult women. I insult Fools, malicious obsessives and moral cowards. And if they happen to be women, so be it. And I think the next few turns of events will demonstrate I am about the only one here with nothing to be embarrassed about.
What this forum needs is a contest for Most Arrogant Post of the Year. I nominate this for January's contender...
What made you decide to come back here and troll in such an obvious way>????.
Grrr bloody spellchecker on my phone! Not a MENTION on his website. Not member. The member was of course his friend's giant cock statues that he wanted One North East to fund before as he had campaigned successfully for they were wound up as a waste of money....
Mrs Lamont continued to press him how the money was spent and a stay for him and his wife in the luxury Peninsula Hotel, which is popular with stars such as Brad Pitt and Justin Bieber and charges more than £1,200 per night for a suite.
Perhaps Eck will be adopting Justin Bieber's most recent form of accommodation.
Rod, just to say I've very much enjoyed your recent posts re the Rennard affair.
BTW, I have toothache as well, so my sympathy!
Thanks. I'm actually enjoying my meal in a 200 year old restaurant. Incredibly good and impossibly cheap. It's almost a pleasure to have my teeth out here....
Not sure we should be so quick to critisice Rod here. He was right over the Mitchell affair.
Time will tell...
Sir Roderick is often right, invariably for the wrong reasons.
Whereas your out of touch spin is invariably wrong, and completely immune to reason as we saw when you and stuarttruth were cheerleading Romney to such hilarious effect.
Your prediction of a kipper wipeout at the EU elections is going to be yet another of your finest comedy spinning moments, Seth O Logue.
PB tories fall over themselves to believe the same old labour spin on a story that nobody took seriously months ago and aren't about to just because Lamont and the torygraph are shrieking about it yet again.
The PB tory gullibility and ignorance is staggering.
Comments
I find your position on this odd, to say the least.
I suppose, also, the Scots have as much right to Cameron as the English do, we all being in the UK, of which he is PM, so his refusal to speak is to say the least a bit hurt-making ...
Johnson would certainly be interesting in debate - but his liking for Highland cows and see-you-Jimmy hats won't necessarily cut it. He is vulnerable to such things as his complaints about the negativity of the No campaign last year (except insofar as his coming up would reflect well on him), and the increasing de-Barnettization of infrastructure costs and the analogous diversion of Lottery funds to the Olympics. And his own efforts to make himself Mr London do not make himself more popular with those who feel that London IS part of the problem. I have a gut feeling he might find a Scottish audience difficult to handle, even if he could hold his own with Salmond.
Sorry you find my position odd.
My understanding is that Suzi Perry is trolling F1 wives.
On race tips I was behind. Oddly, I finished ahead in reality because the untipped bets I made (usually losers) generally won. Annoyingly, I almost always lost on Betfair and won on Ladbrokes, so the former account is rather depleted and the latter fairly healthy.
Two accounts sounds dangerous - Does Ladbrokes have better odds sometimes I take it? I like to think that because my Betfair history is in profit I'm not an idiot gambler who's lost thousands and thousands over the years.
If I go down this route I will either ask more questions, or report progress.
And I think the next few turns of events will demonstrate I am about the only one here with nothing to be embarrassed about.
http://www.jameswharton.co.uk/intouch/
A campaign against a pokey campsite would evidence claustrophobia not xenophobia.
As any fule kno.
I'd rather you lie about me, than just belch nonsense!
Don't tell me, it says he is doing a fantastic job.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10593197/Alex-Salmond-rejects-luxury-hotel-spending-criticism-as-ridiculous-frippery.html
I'm going out for dinner now. Wish me luck...
Entertainingly having just been banned by his own party from going on yet another trip to Ceylon he complained that his newly chosen Labour opponent wasn't spending enough time on local issues. But as it's not on his website it didn't happen or something
Perhaps Eck will be adopting Justin Bieber's most recent form of accommodation.
'The madness of Alex Salmond;'
The greed & arrogance is staggering.
BTW, I have toothache as well, so my sympathy!
He is in Bratislava to have his molars replaced by incisors extracted from local wolves.
Time will tell...
Your prediction of a kipper wipeout at the EU elections is going to be yet another of your finest comedy spinning moments, Seth O Logue.
PB tories fall over themselves to believe the same old labour spin on a story that nobody took seriously months ago and aren't about to just because Lamont and the torygraph are shrieking about it yet again.
The PB tory gullibility and ignorance is staggering.
The scottish tory surgers really are the most comical and ignorant posters on PB.