Still in shock from last night's premier league darts and Phil Taylor getting beat 7-0 by MVG!!
Sad really , Taylor looked like he had no confidence and what has always impressed me about him in the past was his (justified) swagger. Hopefully its not the inevitable age decline happening- As a middle aged man he used to give me hope that we can compete with the younger ones in life's various competitions!!
Mind you , darts must be the only sport you get criticised for losing weight as Mardle did in his post match analysis on Taylor -said it affected his game!!
MVG is a bit like to darts as Ronnie O Sullivan is to snooker. Incredibly fast paced and supremely talented but prone to blowing hot and cold. His scoring when he gets going is incredible though, and he almost hit 18 perfect darts in a row (In the final he lost against the more (previously) consistent Taylor), a feat which would surely have been THE darts feat of all time.
Good points, I love watching Ronnie play snooker at his best . Not sure there is a finer sporting 5 minutes of action than when he did his world record 147 (maybe Bolero and Torvill and Dean!) Everybody likes an underdog and an upset but I like best when hype is anticipated and then not only lived up to but exceeded!- eg Usain Bolt, T& D , Phil Taylor and O Sullivan
To reply to dugandbardier and fitalass on the last thread - people seem less anti-Crow this time round than in the past, perhaps because it's about jobs rather than £££, and people aren't too keen on losing ticket offices. Letters in the Standard are pretty evenly divided and people on the buses are being British and phlegmatic. It's a nuisance - I had an extra hour the other day swapping buses - but largely seems seen as just one of those things. Opinion could switch if there are lots more strikes, of course, but at the moment it's not producing a roar of rage. (Doubt if Crow would care if it did.)
The strikes have been happening for years. Before Boris was elected he was highly critical of Ken for not sitting down and engaging with the RMT. I guess Londoners may also realise that this strike is not about pay, but about Boris breaking explicit promises that he had previously made.
I do find it a little hard to stomach when people are demanding that employees should be banned from striking, it makes me want to, well, go on strike!
Another quandry for Carlotta. Keep spinning for her new economic guru Ed Balls or u-turn and decide he's a liability again today?
Turnover tax?
Of all the most idiotic stupid ideas possible...that one is up there. Effectively VAT but without the neutral-ness of it to businesses.
Ken Livingstone proposed the turnover tax at the NEC summit as a way of stopping "tax evasion and avoidance"
Lunatic idea from commie Ken.
It does nothing to stop either tax evasion or avoidance, unless of course they are proposing cutting corporation tax. But then that hits struggling businesses more than successful ones which have profits.
What it does do is make stuff more expensive, as the cost will be passed directly on to consumers if at all possible... nice one.
Balls has ruled it out, he definitely seems a bit to the economic right of Miliband at any rate. I don't think they'd be stupid enough to introduce it
We have a tax on turnover: it's called Value Added Tax
Still in shock from last night's premier league darts and Phil Taylor getting beat 7-0 by MVG!!
Sad really , Taylor looked like he had no confidence and what has always impressed me about him in the past was his (justified) swagger. Hopefully its not the inevitable age decline happening- As a middle aged man he used to give me hope that we can compete with the younger ones in life's various competitions!!
Mind you , darts must be the only sport you get criticised for losing weight as Mardle did in his post match analysis on Taylor -said it affected his game!!
MVG is a bit like to darts as Ronnie O Sullivan is to snooker. Incredibly fast paced and supremely talented but prone to blowing hot and cold. His scoring when he gets going is incredible though, and he almost hit 18 perfect darts in a row (In the final he lost against the more (previously) consistent Taylor), a feat which would surely have been THE darts feat of all time.
Good points, I love watching Ronnie play snooker at his best . Not sure there is a finer sporting 5 minutes of action than when he did his world record 147 (maybe Bolero and Torvill and Dean!) Everybody likes an underdog and an upset but I like best when hype is anticipated and then not only lived up to but exceeded!- eg Usain Bolt, T& D , Phil Taylor and O Sullivan
Ive heard that MVG is a bit of a lothario to boot!
Such an approach is not a helpful contribution to the indy debate, it must be said. not least because there is still one Scottish Tory MP (and rather more MSPs, remember) and a few Welsh ones. And because it raises the question of what the Tories managed to do to get us to where we are now, from the 1950s when the Tories were doing so well. We wouldn't HAVE a chronic democratic deficit if the Tories hadn't managed somehow to lose almost all of Scotland.
Tobe fair actual scottish tory MSPs do understand the danger with far more clarity than the amusingly out of touch scottish tories on PB. Those MSPs know how to keep their heads down and let the lib dem buffoon Carmichael and Rennie take all the flak for the coalition and the No campaign. Shame they won't be able to do that forever.
Ruth Davidson did (admittedly after some prompting) disavow Lord Lang's attempt to conscript the Great War dead onto the Unionist side in the indy referendum - even if he was supported by Lady Liddell of Maxwell and the Labour Party.
I don't think Ed Balls amusingly inept SCON spinners grasped that did they?
All those anti-English lib dems??
*chortle*
Mick could you pls let me know your phone number.
I might have to make an important call to you later on.
with thanks.
Careful Mick, it's one of those 'have you been mis-sold independence' callers.
You'd think these idiots might have learned something since last time. Apparently not. Let them keep digging I say. They reveal far more of themselves with every failed attempt.
I have vague memories of the days when the BoT figures were much more newsworthy than they are now, and the timing of a BOAC 747 import having political consequences.......
Which is a pity for many reasons. But one reason that they might not want to talk about it just now is the implications for the independence debate and the issue of the proposed sterling union post-indy, given Scotland's relatively strong export performance and its contribution to the sterling balance of payments.
Another quandry for Carlotta. Keep spinning for her new economic guru Ed Balls or u-turn and decide he's a liability again today?
Turnover tax?
Of all the most idiotic stupid ideas possible...that one is up there. Effectively VAT but without the neutral-ness of it to businesses.
Ken Livingstone proposed the turnover tax at the NEC summit as a way of stopping "tax evasion and avoidance"
Lunatic idea from commie Ken.
It does nothing to stop either tax evasion or avoidance, unless of course they are proposing cutting corporation tax. But then that hits struggling businesses more than successful ones which have profits.
What it does do is make stuff more expensive, as the cost will be passed directly on to consumers if at all possible... nice one.
Balls has ruled it out, he definitely seems a bit to the economic right of Miliband at any rate. I don't think they'd be stupid enough to introduce it
We have a tax on turnover: it's called Value Added Tax
Not exactly. The difference is that VAT-registered business can claim VAT back on Purchases, which I assume would not be case in a 'turnover' tax. So for business, VAT doesn't really exist in the majority of areas, apart from a cash-flow issue.
To reply to dugandbardier and fitalass on the last thread - people seem less anti-Crow this time round than in the past, perhaps because it's about jobs rather than £££, and people aren't too keen on losing ticket offices. Letters in the Standard are pretty evenly divided and people on the buses are being British and phlegmatic. It's a nuisance - I had an extra hour the other day swapping buses - but largely seems seen as just one of those things. Opinion could switch if there are lots more strikes, of course, but at the moment it's not producing a roar of rage. (Doubt if Crow would care if it did.)
The strikes have been happening for years. Before Boris was elected he was highly critical of Ken for not sitting down and engaging with the RMT. I guess Londoners may also realise that this strike is not about pay, but about Boris breaking explicit promises that he had previously made.
I do find it a little hard to stomach when people are demanding that employees should be banned from striking, it makes me want to, well, go on strike!
Many people are all in favour of rights ... until they are extended to workers.
Mr. Carnyx, that's assuming the sun revolves around the Earth as an argument. Balance of trade has never been a major economic headline as long as I can remember. One can certainly make the case it should be, but the referendum is entirely incidental.
I don't think Ed Balls amusingly inept SCON spinners grasped that did they?
All those anti-English lib dems??
*chortle*
Mick could you pls let me know your phone number.
I might have to make an important call to you later on.
with thanks.
Careful Mick, it's one of those 'have you been mis-sold independence' callers.
You'd think these idiots might have learned something since last time. Apparently not. Let them keep digging I say. They reveal far more of themselves with every failed attempt.
Last time? Did I miss the last independence vote?
You clearly missed a great deal if you seriously think I'm referring to the Independence vote. No matter. Your outburst was incredibly revealing though you likely didn't intended it to be.
A sales tax is exactly the same as a tax on turnover. The only difference is whether it is obvious to the consumer. Just as employer's NI is a tax on employees' wages. Just 'cause it's not visible, doesn't mean it's not being paid by the end consumer.
I trust everyone has enjoyed Google's sly dig today at Russia?
Did you watch This Week last night?
John Amaechi made a video about Russia's attitude,e and what he thought the atheletes should do in response, that Portillo called "one of the best films we have ever had on the programme"
Not exactly. The difference is that VAT-registered business can claim VAT back on Purchases, which I assume would not be case in a 'turnover' tax. So for business, VAT doesn't really exist in the majority of areas, apart from a cash-flow issue.
You are absolutely right. A tax on turnover is much more like the American 'sales taxes'.
Of course, a tax on turnover in the UK would be a boon for Amazon Luxembourg. Companies would just shut down their UK operations, and ship everything from low tax jurisdictions.
Mr. Carnyx, that's assuming the sun revolves around the Earth as an argument. Balance of trade has never been a major economic headline as long as I can remember. One can certainly make the case it should be, but the referendum is entirely incidental.
Thank you. I am genuinely surprised - I had thought I remembered lots of doleful headlines in the newspapers of my younger days!
Another quandry for Carlotta. Keep spinning for her new economic guru Ed Balls or u-turn and decide he's a liability again today?
Turnover tax?
Of all the most idiotic stupid ideas possible...that one is up there. Effectively VAT but without the neutral-ness of it to businesses.
Ken Livingstone proposed the turnover tax at the NEC summit as a way of stopping "tax evasion and avoidance"
Lunatic idea from commie Ken.
It does nothing to stop either tax evasion or avoidance, unless of course they are proposing cutting corporation tax. But then that hits struggling businesses more than successful ones which have profits.
What it does do is make stuff more expensive, as the cost will be passed directly on to consumers if at all possible... nice one.
Balls has ruled it out, he definitely seems a bit to the economic right of Miliband at any rate. I don't think they'd be stupid enough to introduce it
We have a tax on turnover: it's called Value Added Tax
Err...not really. The clue is in the name. Value Added Tax. Companies only pay tax on the net (output VAT minus input VAT). That'd be the net. It is a very different beast from eg sales tax as you have in the USA.
Mr. Carnyx, one suspects I'm a bit younger than you
It's not the only area where journalists are a bit rubbish. The lack of understanding about debt and deficit is due not only to obfuscating politicians but complicit, inept and occasionally stupid media reports.
To reply to dugandbardier and fitalass on the last thread - people seem less anti-Crow this time round than in the past, perhaps because it's about jobs rather than £££, and people aren't too keen on losing ticket offices. Letters in the Standard are pretty evenly divided and people on the buses are being British and phlegmatic. It's a nuisance - I had an extra hour the other day swapping buses - but largely seems seen as just one of those things. Opinion could switch if there are lots more strikes, of course, but at the moment it's not producing a roar of rage. (Doubt if Crow would care if it did.)
The strikes have been happening for years. Before Boris was elected he was highly critical of Ken for not sitting down and engaging with the RMT. I guess Londoners may also realise that this strike is not about pay, but about Boris breaking explicit promises that he had previously made.
I do find it a little hard to stomach when people are demanding that employees should be banned from striking, it makes me want to, well, go on strike!
Especially as Boris guaranteed not to close down the ticket offices in his Electoral campaign.
I wont say that it will cause carnage, but having unmanned stations would not make them safer or nice places, and if I were working at a station late at night, I wouldn't want to be in uniform on the forecourt dealing with customer complaints
Err...not really. The clue is in the name. Value Added Tax. Companies only pay tax on the net (output VAT minus input VAT). That'd be the net. It is a very different beast from eg sales tax as you have in the USA.
I have vague memories of the days when the BoT figures were much more newsworthy than they are now, and the timing of a BOAC 747 import having political consequences.......
Which is a pity for many reasons. But one reason that they might not want to talk about it just now is the implications for the independence debate and the issue of the proposed sterling union post-indy, given Scotland's relatively strong export performance and its contribution to the sterling balance of payments.
No, the BoT figures stopped being newsworthy decades before the current Indy debate....
Mr. Carnyx, that's assuming the sun revolves around the Earth as an argument. Balance of trade has never been a major economic headline as long as I can remember. One can certainly make the case it should be, but the referendum is entirely incidental.
Thank you. I am genuinely surprised - I had thought I remembered lots of doleful headlines in the newspapers of my younger days!
Those were the days when people just accepted they had to pay their way , nowadays the entitlement culture is 'in' and the small matter of not giving back what we take out as a nation is not considered important
Another quandry for Carlotta. Keep spinning for her new economic guru Ed Balls or u-turn and decide he's a liability again today?
Turnover tax?
Of all the most idiotic stupid ideas possible...that one is up there. Effectively VAT but without the neutral-ness of it to businesses.
Ken Livingstone proposed the turnover tax at the NEC summit as a way of stopping "tax evasion and avoidance"
Lunatic idea from commie Ken.
It does nothing to stop either tax evasion or avoidance, unless of course they are proposing cutting corporation tax. But then that hits struggling businesses more than successful ones which have profits.
What it does do is make stuff more expensive, as the cost will be passed directly on to consumers if at all possible... nice one.
Balls has ruled it out, he definitely seems a bit to the economic right of Miliband at any rate. I don't think they'd be stupid enough to introduce it
We have a tax on turnover: it's called Value Added Tax
I trust everyone has enjoyed Google's sly dig today at Russia?
Did you watch This Week last night?
John Amaechi made a video about Russia's attitude,e and what he thought the atheletes should do in response, that Portillo called "one of the best films we have ever had on the programme"
I watch very little TV so I didn't catch this, unfortunately. I shall try to track it down.
DavidL (7.19am] Most Lib Dem triumphs were against unpopular governments that people wanted to give a bloody nose to, not oppositions with poll leads. Name one that wasn't!
The Principal opposition party have lost a number of seats to the government and other opposition parties over the years. From 1950 :
Sunderland South .. 1953 .. Lab to Con Brighouse .. 1960 .. Lab to Con Glasgow Govan .. 1973 .. Lab to SNP Bermondsey .. 1983 .. Lab to Lib Greenwich .. 1987 .. Lab to SDP Glasgow Govan .. 1988 .. Lab to SNP Romsey .. 2000 .. Con to LibDem
Mr. Carnyx, one suspects I'm a bit younger than you
It's not the only area where journalists are a bit rubbish. The lack of understanding about debt and deficit is due not only to obfuscating politicians but complicit, inept and occasionally stupid media reports.
To reply to dugandbardier and fitalass on the last thread - people seem less anti-Crow this time round than in the past, perhaps because it's about jobs rather than £££, and people aren't too keen on losing ticket offices. Letters in the Standard are pretty evenly divided and people on the buses are being British and phlegmatic. It's a nuisance - I had an extra hour the other day swapping buses - but largely seems seen as just one of those things. Opinion could switch if there are lots more strikes, of course, but at the moment it's not producing a roar of rage. (Doubt if Crow would care if it did.)
The strikes have been happening for years. Before Boris was elected he was highly critical of Ken for not sitting down and engaging with the RMT. I guess Londoners may also realise that this strike is not about pay, but about Boris breaking explicit promises that he had previously made.
I do find it a little hard to stomach when people are demanding that employees should be banned from striking, it makes me want to, well, go on strike!
Especially as Boris guaranteed not to close down the ticket offices in his Electoral campaign.
I wont say that it will cause carnage, but having unmanned stations would not make them safer or nice places, and if I were working at a station late at night, I wouldn't want to be in uniform on the forecourt dealing with customer complaints
Sums up the attitude perfectly of LU staff. We cannot possibly put ourselves in the same position as the public and actually come out from behind closed doors onto the nasty platform
My biggest problem with VAT is that as a successful British exporter we've reclaimed around a mill I reckon over the last few years. Instead of sending a thankyou letter, card and flowers for contributing to Britain's balance of payments, the shits at HMCE are sending an inspector... in March - right after the audit >.<
"His [the Lib Dems’ South African strategist, Ryan Coetzee] research shows that Clegg’s best chance lies in wooing the people he had given up on: the Left-wingers, who are now called the “switch-backers”. They dislike Conservatives in general, and Michael Gove in particular – so, runs his logic, Clegg’s best chance of holding on to his 55 MPs is to attack his partners."
"But Tories are being “militarily sanguine” because Cameron does not want to retaliate. In part, this is because the Coalition is his creation, and he doesn’t want it to degenerate in the way that critics predicted. But more important, this Lib Dem intifada rather suits his purposes. If Clegg’s new aim is to win back voters from Labour, then every Tory should wish him well. If the Lib Dems hold on to their seats at the next election, it’s far more likely that Cameron will return as prime minister – perhaps with a small majority. Some Tories suspect he has secretly agreed a sadomasochism strategy: that he’s not just tolerating the attacks but enjoying them, thinking they’ll weaken Labour."
Oddly, Fraser Nelson then suggests that the coalition should now break up. Since this would defeat the entire purpose of such a strategy on both sides, that seems bizarre.
I don't think Ed Balls amusingly inept SCON spinners grasped that did they?
All those anti-English lib dems??
*chortle*
Mick could you pls let me know your phone number.
I might have to make an important call to you later on.
with thanks.
Careful Mick, it's one of those 'have you been mis-sold independence' callers.
You'd think these idiots might have learned something since last time. Apparently not. Let them keep digging I say. They reveal far more of themselves with every failed attempt.
Last time? Did I miss the last independence vote?
You clearly missed a great deal if you seriously think I'm referring to the Independence vote. No matter. Your outburst was incredibly revealing though you likely didn't intended it to be.
Ah. Dammit. Exposed.
Please please don't let anyone else know. Can it be our secret? Can it?
plus, apologies if that for you constituted an "outburst". I will try to find a gentler way of getting my points across in future.
Mr. Carnyx, that's assuming the sun revolves around the Earth as an argument. Balance of trade has never been a major economic headline as long as I can remember. One can certainly make the case it should be, but the referendum is entirely incidental.
Thank you. I am genuinely surprised - I had thought I remembered lots of doleful headlines in the newspapers of my younger days!
What do these youngsters know?
1970 General Election:
The public's mood changed when trade figures released three days before polling showed that after a nine-month run of good returns, there had been a £31 million trade deficit for May. The Tory claim that Labour was unable to manage the economy carried new force. Edward Heath voiced the concern that if Labour were re-elected, sterling may face a second devaluation.
Incidentally, what's the reasoning behind closing ticket offices?
Nobody uses them anymore, pretty much. Times have moved on. Part of the whole point of something like the Oyster card is that it makes the ticket-buying process easier for the traveller and more efficient for LU. More efficient means they don't need ticket offices.
As any fule no, a sales tax or turnover tax can't be applied if we remain in the EU (and probably EEA). It's VAT and that is it: you're not allowed to add a second tax based on total sales.
To reply to dugandbardier and fitalass on the last thread - people seem less anti-Crow this time round than in the past, perhaps because it's about jobs rather than £££, and people aren't too keen on losing ticket offices. Letters in the Standard are pretty evenly divided and people on the buses are being British and phlegmatic. It's a nuisance - I had an extra hour the other day swapping buses - but largely seems seen as just one of those things. Opinion could switch if there are lots more strikes, of course, but at the moment it's not producing a roar of rage. (Doubt if Crow would care if it did.)
The strikes have been happening for years. Before Boris was elected he was highly critical of Ken for not sitting down and engaging with the RMT. I guess Londoners may also realise that this strike is not about pay, but about Boris breaking explicit promises that he had previously made.
I do find it a little hard to stomach when people are demanding that employees should be banned from striking, it makes me want to, well, go on strike!
Especially as Boris guaranteed not to close down the ticket offices in his Electoral campaign.
Wasnt that in his 2008 campaign? AFAIK he did not campaign on it this time.....and Oyster usage has increased substantially......
A little unfair - he predicted all 12 of the last 2 recessions......
Nick Clegg also seems to have forgotten that as a financial analyst with Shell, Uncle Vince is probably better qualified as a "sort of share price expert" than almost anyone in the Government, and probably in the House.
I think in fairness to St. Vince of the Cable and the Coalition two factors should be reflected upon.
Firstly there is a distinct difference between placing over half a billion shares to the market at a price that analysts would recommend and the very limited sale of a million or so shares that come up daily.
Secondly the Coalition has managed to successfully place the Post Office in the private sector, a feat thought unattainable by Thatcher and considered but binned by the Labour government as being both politically and financially far too difficult.
To reply to dugandbardier and fitalass on the last thread - people seem less anti-Crow this time round than in the past, perhaps because it's about jobs rather than £££, and people aren't too keen on losing ticket offices. Letters in the Standard are pretty evenly divided and people on the buses are being British and phlegmatic. It's a nuisance - I had an extra hour the other day swapping buses - but largely seems seen as just one of those things. Opinion could switch if there are lots more strikes, of course, but at the moment it's not producing a roar of rage. (Doubt if Crow would care if it did.)
The strikes have been happening for years. Before Boris was elected he was highly critical of Ken for not sitting down and engaging with the RMT. I guess Londoners may also realise that this strike is not about pay, but about Boris breaking explicit promises that he had previously made.
I do find it a little hard to stomach when people are demanding that employees should be banned from striking, it makes me want to, well, go on strike!
Especially as Boris guaranteed not to close down the ticket offices in his Electoral campaign.
I wont say that it will cause carnage, but having unmanned stations would not make them safer or nice places, and if I were working at a station late at night, I wouldn't want to be in uniform on the forecourt dealing with customer complaints
Staff in an office behind a closed door and a glass window don't really do much to make a station safer late at night. You want the staff to be out and about.
The one thing I don't understand about this is why the staff currently working in the ticket offices would have to take a £6k pay cut to work on their feet amongst the public. I would have thought the latter was a more demanding job and deserving of a pay rise.
Hard to believe the shrieking victim mentality of the scottish tories could get any worse but they really do think being anti-tory is being anti-English
Not my fault you don't understand the polls.......
If you quoted the polling question accurately, then you might want to reconsider your own view of the polls. The poll did not ask if one was anti-EnglISH - but what people thought about EngLAND - and as that comprises the polity which dominates and is almost/often synonymous with the UK, and in particular includes London, Whitehall, Westminster, and so on, the results are not surprising. It's entirely rational to feel unhappy about the setup of the UK and sorry for the folk who live south of the border (such as my friends' children of university age).
Plus any racist slur has to confront the fact that the SNP have a high proportion of English-born members, MSPs and frontbenchers.
I was trying, but unable, to find an excellent article by the likes of Ian Macwhirter or Ian Bell which looked at the the way they were trying to claim that any anti-Tory criticism was perforce anti-English racism full stop. Such an approach is not a helpful contribution to the indy debate, it must be said. not least because there is still one Scottish Tory MP (and rather more MSPs, remember) and a few Welsh ones. And because it raises the question of what the Tories managed to do to get us to where we are now, from the 1950s when the Tories were doing so well. We wouldn't HAVE a chronic democratic deficit if the Tories hadn't managed somehow to lose almost all of Scotland.
Carnyx, Do not expect Carlotta to drop her hatred of Scotland and SNP and actually tell the truth about anything Sottish or SNP related.
The police and government bodies will have access to the central health database, even if you've asked for an opt-out. So the nosier civil servants will be able to see if you've ever suffered from depression or had an abortion. It's worth bearing in mind that the NSA has had several cases of employees looking into sexual interests, ex-girlfriends etc. And that's just the ones they caught. Considering they still don't know for sure what Edward Snowden did and didn't look at, there's almost certainly going to be a large bunch of highly computer literate people who can cover their tracks when snooping about.
Incidentally, what's the reasoning behind closing ticket offices?
With the introduction of Oyster and other systems, they are being used less - less than 3% of all tickets atm. LU says it makes sense for those staff to be more mobile, helping people around the station (most times I (Infrequently) go on the LU, I see people being confused by the ticket machines). On the face if it this makes sense: I can see how staff can be more efficient helping people help themselves.
It is part of a package that will see some tube lines running 24 hours a day for some days of the week. This would have been lovely when I was a student. ;-)
On the other hand, LU have promised no compulsory redundancies despite 950 job cuts. But anyone in this move will have to reapply for their jobs, and may (will?) get lower pay.
That 3% is vital: is it all journeys, all passengers, or transactions? If the latter, then the offices get less usage than it would seem.
Secondly the Coalition has managed to successfully place the Post Office in the private sector, a feat thought unattainable by Thatcher and considered but binned by the Labour government as being both politically and financially far too difficult.
Yes, Vince has hit upon a political strategy which as far as I know is unprecedented: do the right thing, but look incredibly miserable about it. We should be grateful: it has given us fiscal stability, reform of university finances, Royal Mail privatisation.
" Clegg’s best chance of holding on to his 55 MPs is to attack his partners.""
Blimey! What an innovative new approach. If only they could have thought of it before now.
They might have even gave it some kind of strategic title like "differentiation" and then used it to posture before every single set of local elections. If they had already done all that then surely they wouldn't still be flatlining at 10% since late 2010, would they?
Ah well, better late than never. Time to wheel out Laws to posture against Gove as that will definitely start to turn it all around.
My guess is that UKIPare spreading themselves thinly, but the Lib Dems are putting all their efforts into target council wards - and that teams from Cheadle, Manchester Withington and Hazel Grove are being told not to stop activity there. So even a poor LD result might be more useful for future contests than it seems - and would explain the poor numbers - but does anyone think UKIP will be working there in a month's time?
It would be interesting to know if UKIP is favouring target wards too.
I hope this government do try and bring in laws curbing an employees right to strike. It'll be the last Tory government for quite some time. I'm not that militant, and was genuinely in two minds about striking this time, I even actually voted NO in the ballot, but I'd walk out the doors the moment any government tries to curb my rights, hard won rights at that. The country would come to a standstill, overnight.
I have vague memories of the days when the BoT figures were much more newsworthy than they are now, and the timing of a BOAC 747 import having political consequences.......
Which is a pity for many reasons. But one reason that they might not want to talk about it just now is the implications for the independence debate and the issue of the proposed sterling union post-indy, given Scotland's relatively strong export performance and its contribution to the sterling balance of payments.
No, the BoT figures stopped being newsworthy decades before the current Indy debate....
Yes bit like Better Together , you can only print negativity for so long before people are bored witless. They gave up as the balance was always crap.
Secondly the Coalition has managed to successfully place the Post Office in the private sector, a feat thought unattainable by Thatcher and considered but binned by the Labour government as being both politically and financially far too difficult.
Yes, Vince has hit upon a political strategy which as far as I know is unprecedented: do the right thing, but look incredibly miserable about it. We should be grateful: it has given us fiscal stability, reform of university finances, Royal Mail privatisation.
The latter has managed to achieve agreement with it's workers over pay, and avoided the usual strike action that plagued it under public ownership.
If only London Underground were able to do the same.
Mr. Stopper, are you referring to the suggestion that 50% of all members must vote for a strike, or the proposal that certain workers not presently prevented from striking (ie Tube workers) should be?
"His [the Lib Dems’ South African strategist, Ryan Coetzee] research shows that Clegg’s best chance lies in wooing the people he had given up on: the Left-wingers, who are now called the “switch-backers”. They dislike Conservatives in general, and Michael Gove in particular – so, runs his logic, Clegg’s best chance of holding on to his 55 MPs is to attack his partners."
"But Tories are being “militarily sanguine” because Cameron does not want to retaliate. In part, this is because the Coalition is his creation, and he doesn’t want it to degenerate in the way that critics predicted. But more important, this Lib Dem intifada rather suits his purposes. If Clegg’s new aim is to win back voters from Labour, then every Tory should wish him well. If the Lib Dems hold on to their seats at the next election, it’s far more likely that Cameron will return as prime minister – perhaps with a small majority. Some Tories suspect he has secretly agreed a sadomasochism strategy: that he’s not just tolerating the attacks but enjoying them, thinking they’ll weaken Labour."
Oddly, Fraser Nelson then suggests that the coalition should now break up. Since this would defeat the entire purpose of such a strategy on both sides, that seems bizarre.
Fraser Nelson's article is "well worth reading" for being a prime example of a load of utter bullshit from someone who spends too much time in the Westminster bubble.
At precisely the time when the principal project of the Coalition, that of recovering the economy from the Labour train wreck, is coming to fruition, Nelson wants to replace stable government with a weak minority government that will be subject to all the political storms of an administration in the last year of its term and all that means to our immediate economic future.
DavidL (7.19am] Most Lib Dem triumphs were against unpopular governments that people wanted to give a bloody nose to, not oppositions with poll leads. Name one that wasn't!
The Principal opposition party have lost a number of seats to the government and other opposition parties over the years. From 1950 :
Sunderland South .. 1953 .. Lab to Con Brighouse .. 1960 .. Lab to Con Glasgow Govan .. 1973 .. Lab to SNP Bermondsey .. 1983 .. Lab to Lib Greenwich .. 1987 .. Lab to SDP Glasgow Govan .. 1988 .. Lab to SNP Romsey .. 2000 .. Con to LibDem
You forgot
Bradford West .. 2012 .. Lab to Respect Mitcham & Morden .. 1982 .. Lab (SDP) to Con Lincoln .. 1973 .. Lab (Dem Lab) to Democratic Lab Rochdale .. 1972 .. Lab to Lib Mid-Ulster .. 1969 .. Con (UU) to Unity Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles .. 1965 .. Con to Lib
The police and government bodies will have access to the central health database, even if you've asked for an opt-out. So the nosier civil servants will be able to see if you've ever suffered from depression or had an abortion. It's worth bearing in mind that the NSA has had several cases of employees looking into sexual interests, ex-girlfriends etc. And that's just the ones they caught. Considering they still don't know for sure what Edward Snowden did and didn't look at, there's almost certainly going to be a large bunch of highly computer literate people who can cover their tracks when snooping about.
I really, really, hate the way they've nabbed people's medical records.
A marketing email list has to be opt in, but sharing your medical records with third parties is opt-out. Not good.
Surely a man with the name of David William Donald Cameron should make his speech regarding Scotland IN Scotland, "No" might be a long way ahead in the polls but making the speech in London of all places ?!
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
Hard to believe the shrieking victim mentality of the scottish tories could get any worse but they really do think being anti-tory is being anti-English
Not my fault you don't understand the polls.......
If you quoted the polling question accurately, then you might want to reconsider your own view of the polls. The poll did not ask if one was anti-EnglISH - but what people thought about EngLAND - and as that comprises the polity which dominates and is almost/often synonymous with the UK, and in particular includes London, Whitehall, Westminster, and so on, the results are not surprising. It's entirely rational to feel unhappy about the setup of the UK and sorry for the folk who live south of the border (such as my friends' children of university age).
Plus any racist slur has to confront the fact that the SNP have a high proportion of English-born members, MSPs and frontbenchers.
I was trying, but unable, to find an excellent article by the likes of Ian Macwhirter or Ian Bell which looked at the the way they were trying to claim that any anti-Tory criticism was perforce anti-English racism full stop. Such an approach is not a helpful contribution to the indy debate, it must be said. not least because there is still one Scottish Tory MP (and rather more MSPs, remember) and a few Welsh ones. And because it raises the question of what the Tories managed to do to get us to where we are now, from the 1950s when the Tories were doing so well. We wouldn't HAVE a chronic democratic deficit if the Tories hadn't managed somehow to lose almost all of Scotland.
Carnyx, Do not expect Carlotta to drop her hatred of Scotland and SNP and actually tell the truth about anything Sottish or SNP related.
Has a negative view of England (Holywood 2011 vote): Con: 13 Lab: 18 LibD: 13 SNP: 27
You were saying?
Typical Nat - if I don't love your vision of Scotland I must "hate Scotland".
It won't be long before thousands and thousands of government employees have access to your health records, travel history, commuting behaviour, financial situation and internet browsing history. And this movement has all been overseen and supported by one party that claims to be liberal and one party that claims to be small state. The reality is that David Cameron, despite going through the motions of studying political theory and philosophy at one of the best universities in the world, hasn't imbibed any of the importance of the democratic theory that slowly evolved to make the English world great. He just wants to be Prime Minister for as long as possible, and will make whatever political choices to maintain that, consequences be damned.
Mr. Stopper, are you referring to the suggestion that 50% of all members must vote for a strike, or the proposal that certain workers not presently prevented from striking (ie Tube workers) should be?
I don't think that 50% should be required, although 51% of a 30% vote turnout is taking the p*ss. There must be a middle ground. Say a simple majority of the vote plus a condition that the majority must be more than 40% of all members.
Boris' solution is a step too far the other way, giving too much weight to the [supposed] views of those who can't even be bothered to cast a vote.
And I say this as a Tory Londoner who's endured a miserable couple of days try to get to and from work!
There's not much evidence to suggest that UKIP is any different to other parties in the way it views the electorate, is there?
Well obviously I feel so yes. OF course I am sure others on here will disagree. But since everyone keeps going on about them being a NOTA party then clearly plenty of other people feel the same.
Tonight's UK opinion poll. The right - Tories/UKIP 44%. Labour 38%. When almost half Tory activists want a UKIP pact. #differentcountries
Though about half of tory activists might welcome it I seem to recall an older poll showing far less enthiusiasm for it on the kipper side. Some kippers would likely quit if there was far too much 'collaboration' with the tories much as some tories would do the same if it was all too obvious. The kippers aren't a very credible protest vote if they are operating hand-in-glove with the main party they are protesting against after all. Hard core kippers are unlikely to let the tories have a free ride anywhere.
Secondly the Coalition has managed to successfully place the Post Office in the private sector, a feat thought unattainable by Thatcher and considered but binned by the Labour government as being both politically and financially far too difficult.
Yes, Vince has hit upon a political strategy which as far as I know is unprecedented: do the right thing, but look incredibly miserable about it. We should be grateful: it has given us fiscal stability, reform of university finances, Royal Mail privatisation.
Indeed Nabbers.
Poor Vince does have the countenance of a man with his hair shirt on too tightly whilst sucking half a dozen lemons.
Cheer up Vince, you and the Coalition are doing a decent job.
Interesting interview with Farage on ITV's "The Late Debate" last night at 11.40.. It might have only been on in London, Im not sure.
When talking about possible deals with Tories
"If Douglas Carswell said Id rather you didn't stand against me in Harwich, but I can guarantee their wont be a Tory candidate in Eastleigh, well..."
then hinted that's what Michael Fabricant had suggested.
Would the kippers on the ground obey orders to stand down?
I think someone like Carswell deserves an easy ride, especially if something worthwhile is offered in return. Is there a big Kipper movement in Clacton?
The programme was divided into two halves, the first being an interview with Nigel, and the second analysis of UKIP by Matthew Goodwin and the Director of ComRes.
Anyone interested in UKIPs effect on Politics should try and watch, particularly Kippers as it was almost like a half hour show saying how great we are!
It was only aired in London I believe
The pollsters confirmed that UKIP were taking a huge chunk of "White Working Class Male Voters" (their words not mine, email itv for answers on how to define WWC etc)
Surely a man with the name of David William Donald Cameron should make his speech regarding Scotland IN Scotland, "No" might be a long way ahead in the polls but making the speech in London of all places ?!
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
What makes you think that, deep down, he actually wants to thwart the Nats?
DavidL (7.19am] Most Lib Dem triumphs were against unpopular governments that people wanted to give a bloody nose to, not oppositions with poll leads. Name one that wasn't!
The Principal opposition party have lost a number of seats to the government and other opposition parties over the years. From 1950 :
Sunderland South .. 1953 .. Lab to Con Brighouse .. 1960 .. Lab to Con Glasgow Govan .. 1973 .. Lab to SNP Bermondsey .. 1983 .. Lab to Lib Greenwich .. 1987 .. Lab to SDP Glasgow Govan .. 1988 .. Lab to SNP Romsey .. 2000 .. Con to LibDem
You forgot
Bradford West .. 2012 .. Lab to Respect Mitcham & Morden .. 1982 .. Lab (SDP) to Con Lincoln .. 1973 .. Lab (Dem Lab) to Democratic Lab Rochdale .. 1972 .. Lab to Lib Mid-Ulster .. 1969 .. Con (UU) to Unity Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles .. 1965 .. Con to Lib
It won't be long before thousands and thousands of government employees have access to your health records, travel history, commuting behaviour, financial situation and internet browsing history. And this movement has all been overseen and supported by one party that claims to be liberal and one party that claims to be small state. The reality is that David Cameron, despite going through the motions of studying political theory and philosophy at one of the best universities in the world, hasn't imbibed any of the importance of the democratic theory that slowly evolved to make the English world great. He just wants to be Prime Minister for as long as possible, and will make whatever political choices to maintain that, consequences be damned.
What an utterly ridiculous comment. What in the name of heaven has this to do with wanting to remain PM for as long as possible? If anything, these things are unpopular, at least amongst those who take an interest in them.
I have vague memories of the days when the BoT figures were much more newsworthy than they are now, and the timing of a BOAC 747 import having political consequences.......
Which is a pity for many reasons. But one reason that they might not want to talk about it just now is the implications for the independence debate and the issue of the proposed sterling union post-indy, given Scotland's relatively strong export performance and its contribution to the sterling balance of payments.
No, the BoT figures stopped being newsworthy decades before the current Indy debate....
Yes bit like Better Together , you can only print negativity for so long before people are bored witless. They gave up as the balance was always crap.
Actually I suspect it had much more to do with floating exchange rates and an end to "runs on the pound" - the trade figures simply don't matter as much in the immediate short term as they used to.
And as for negativity, you Malcolm are my role model for cheery optimism, good natured bonhomie and never having a bad word to say about anyone......
Surely a man with the name of David William Donald Cameron should make his speech regarding Scotland IN Scotland, "No" might be a long way ahead in the polls but making the speech in London of all places ?!
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
Not at all.
The Scots are on the verge of being given a vote for independence and those that will vote YES will do so because (presumably) they don't like Westminster interfering. So DC is acknowledging that by saying: fine, here's some Westminster non-interference. Sort it out amongst yourselves and we will respect the outcome.
Mr. Stopper, are you referring to the suggestion that 50% of all members must vote for a strike, or the proposal that certain workers not presently prevented from striking (ie Tube workers) should be?
Both. If a worker can't be arsed to participate in a ballot, which involves making a mark on a piece of paper, and sending it off in a prepaid envelope, then they have to take the majority vote of the people who could be arsed.
As for certain workers not being allowed to strike, that's a slippery slope. After us, and train workers, who's next? Nurses? Teachers? Binmen? If they can't strike, what do they do when any concessions granted as a sweetener to take the no strike pill are eroded by events, inflation, and a different government reneging on a previous government's deal?
Surely a man with the name of David William Donald Cameron should make his speech regarding Scotland IN Scotland, "No" might be a long way ahead in the polls but making the speech in London of all places ?!
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
What makes you think that, deep down, he actually wants to thwart the Nats?
You mean PR Dave might not MEAN what he's saying? I've just rushed my faith in humanity to Casualty.
The police and government bodies will have access to the central health database, even if you've asked for an opt-out. So the nosier civil servants will be able to see if you've ever suffered from depression or had an abortion. It's worth bearing in mind that the NSA has had several cases of employees looking into sexual interests, ex-girlfriends etc. And that's just the ones they caught. Considering they still don't know for sure what Edward Snowden did and didn't look at, there's almost certainly going to be a large bunch of highly computer literate people who can cover their tracks when snooping about.
I haven't read all the coverage of this one but presumably you'll be able to opt out by signing up for NHS Premium? And companies buying NHS Enterprise will have a realtime performance indicator dashboard showing them the key metrics they need to track the health of their workforce.
Trouble began only days later, when it was revealed Pearson had made an offer to David Cameron that Ukip candidates would step down at the 2010 election in return for a referendum on Britain’s relationship with Europe. As Pearson told his new party, unseating Eurosceptic Tories was "shooting our cause in the knee, and country in the heart". Cameron never replied, but the move caused serious conflict inside Ukip. Many in the grassroots were furious; they wanted nothing to do with the establishment and argued an alliance would wreck their goal of breaking up the party system. Appealing across party lines made no sense if they were in cahoots with the established politicians. The simmering tension soon spiralled into open rebellion, as in the South West constituency of Wells where local Ukippers simply refused the order to stand down. They went on to win 3.1 per cent, while the Tories lost the seat by 1.5 per cent.
Surely a man with the name of David William Donald Cameron should make his speech regarding Scotland IN Scotland, "No" might be a long way ahead in the polls but making the speech in London of all places ?!
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
What makes you think that, deep down, he actually wants to thwart the Nats?
I think he does want "No" to win, he's a passionate unionist and he'll go down as the man who broke up the union if "Yes" win. It will be good for the Conservatives long term, but a disaster for him personally.
I trust everyone has enjoyed Google's sly dig today at Russia?
Did you watch This Week last night?
John Amaechi made a video about Russia's attitude,e and what he thought the atheletes should do in response, that Portillo called "one of the best films we have ever had on the programme"
I watch very little TV so I didn't catch this, unfortunately. I shall try to track it down.
Surely a man with the name of David William Donald Cameron should make his speech regarding Scotland IN Scotland, "No" might be a long way ahead in the polls but making the speech in London of all places ?!
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
What makes you think that, deep down, he actually wants to thwart the Nats?
You mean PR Dave might not MEAN what he's saying? I've just rushed my faith in humanity to Casualty.
I think replacing "PR Dave" with "any politician since the dawn of time" would result in an equally true statement. Unless you actually believe everything Mr Salmond feeds you?!
Interesting interview with Farage on ITV's "The Late Debate" last night at 11.40.. It might have only been on in London, Im not sure.
When talking about possible deals with Tories
"If Douglas Carswell said Id rather you didn't stand against me in Harwich, but I can guarantee their wont be a Tory candidate in Eastleigh, well..."
then hinted that's what Michael Fabricant had suggested.
Would the kippers on the ground obey orders to stand down?
I think someone like Carswell deserves an easy ride, especially if something worthwhile is offered in return. Is there a big Kipper movement in Clacton?
I could see them standing down for Carswell but the Tories obviously wouldn't offer that deal, they'd have to get marginals, and serious numbers of them.
Surely a man with the name of David William Donald Cameron should make his speech regarding Scotland IN Scotland, "No" might be a long way ahead in the polls but making the speech in London of all places ?!
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
What makes you think that, deep down, he actually wants to thwart the Nats?
I think he does want "No" to win, he's a passionate unionist and he'll go down as the man who broke up the union if "Yes" win. It will be good for the Conservatives long term, but a disaster for him personally.
I disagree. Salmond will enter the history books with that honour. Cameron will be a footnote to the issue.
Surely a man with the name of David William Donald Cameron should make his speech regarding Scotland IN Scotland, "No" might be a long way ahead in the polls but making the speech in London of all places ?!
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
What makes you think that, deep down, he actually wants to thwart the Nats?
You mean PR Dave might not MEAN what he's saying? I've just rushed my faith in humanity to Casualty.
I think replacing PR Dave with "any politician since the down of time" would be an equally true statement. Unless you actually believe everything Mr Salmond feeds you?!
There's a qualitative difference between believing 'some' and FA of what a pol tells you. However I realise the 'I never fancied you anyway' stratagem is a necessary psychological crutch for some Tories.
To reply to dugandbardier and fitalass on the last thread - people seem less anti-Crow this time round than in the past, perhaps because it's about jobs rather than £££, and people aren't too keen on losing ticket offices. Letters in the Standard are pretty evenly divided and people on the buses are being British and phlegmatic. It's a nuisance - I had an extra hour the other day swapping buses - but largely seems seen as just one of those things. Opinion could switch if there are lots more strikes, of course, but at the moment it's not producing a roar of rage. (Doubt if Crow would care if it did.)
I do find it a little hard to stomach when people are demanding that employees should be banned from striking, it makes me want to, well, go on strike!
Especially as Boris guaranteed not to close down the ticket offices in his Electoral campaign.
I wont say that it will cause carnage, but having unmanned stations would not make them safer or nice places, and if I were working at a station late at night, I wouldn't want to be in uniform on the forecourt dealing with customer complaints
Staff in an office behind a closed door and a glass window don't really do much to make a station safer late at night. You want the staff to be out and about.
The one thing I don't understand about this is why the staff currently working in the ticket offices would have to take a £6k pay cut to work on their feet amongst the public. I would have thought the latter was a more demanding job and deserving of a pay rise.
The staff are there to assist with customer queries, not patrol the station as a quasi policeman/security guard. I disagree that having someone there behind glass wouldn't make it safer. Vandals and drug dealers would soon know where the unmanned station forecourts are, and those stations would then become a lot less safe than they are now.
The staion I used a lot as a kid, Elm Park, had to resort to playing classical music over the tannoy to chill the kids hanging around causing aggro out!
"Signs were that it did the trick, and Elm Park on the District Line became the first Tube station to try it in 2003 – a place where there was such a gang problem that train drivers were afraid to stop there. Within 18 months, robberies were cut by 33 per cent, assaults on staff by 25 per cent, and vandalism by 37 per cent as the voice of Pavarotti made troublemakers scarper."
Surely a man with the name of David William Donald Cameron should make his speech regarding Scotland IN Scotland, "No" might be a long way ahead in the polls but making the speech in London of all places ?!
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
What makes you think that, deep down, he actually wants to thwart the Nats?
You mean PR Dave might not MEAN what he's saying? I've just rushed my faith in humanity to Casualty.
I think replacing PR Dave with "any politician since the down of time" would be an equally true statement. Unless you actually believe everything Mr Salmond feeds you?!
There's a qualitative difference between believing 'some' and FA of what a pol tells you. However I realise the 'I never fancied you anyway' stratagem is a necessary psychological crutch for some Tories.
Not at all. This is great stuff. Top class fop PR from the man who got flummoxed by a pasty.
Surely a man with the name of David William Donald Cameron should make his speech regarding Scotland IN Scotland, "No" might be a long way ahead in the polls but making the speech in London of all places ?!
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
What makes you think that, deep down, he actually wants to thwart the Nats?
You mean PR Dave might not MEAN what he's saying? I've just rushed my faith in humanity to Casualty.
I think replacing "PR Dave" with "any politician since the dawn of time" would result in an equally true statement. Unless you actually believe everything Mr Salmond feeds you?!
Of all the current very front benchers I'd say Ed Miliband is the biggest believer in his own bollocks followed by George Osborne. Balls and Salmond are both reassuringly dishonest - Cameron likes to spout crap too but he is a country before party man on the Scottish Referendum issue I think.
I think he does want "No" to win, he's a passionate unionist and he'll go down as the man who broke up the union if "Yes" win. It will be good for the Conservatives long term, but a disaster for him personally.
I wouldn't overstate that. Sure, it would be a sentimental blow, but one mitigated by the knowledge that it was bye-bye to 58 non-Tory MPs, most of whom are Labour MPs, and by the fact that it would be a much more massive blow for the Labour Party in other ways as well - history, the fact that they are leading the No campaign, the fact that so many of their prominent figures are and have been Scots.
There's a precedent: Macmillan, Cameron's hero and the PM whom he most resembles. The dismantling of the British empire, which he largely presided over, was traumatic in terms of sentiment and national pride, but, in the end, is not something Macmillan is blamed for now or something which was particularly important electorally at the time.
It won't be long before thousands and thousands of government employees have access to your health records, travel history, commuting behaviour, financial situation and internet browsing history. And this movement has all been overseen and supported by one party that claims to be liberal and one party that claims to be small state. The reality is that David Cameron, despite going through the motions of studying political theory and philosophy at one of the best universities in the world, hasn't imbibed any of the importance of the democratic theory that slowly evolved to make the English world great. He just wants to be Prime Minister for as long as possible, and will make whatever political choices to maintain that, consequences be damned.
I used to work in the Inland Revenue - which is now part of HMRC. Under their computer system I could look up almost anyone's tax records - I had to be able to in order to do my job.
There were dire warnings about what would happen if you used the system inappropriately, with occasional news about convictions of former employees who had done so. Also, the tax records of "high value" people - such as Wayne Rooney or Jeremy Paxman - were only accessible to a smaller unit of people who dealt with those tax records alone.
So, on the one hand, were I still working there it would have been possible for me to look up the tax records of probably everyone on pb.com who has used their real name, and you may well feel concerned about that, but if my search of tax records had a suspicious pattern - looking up too many people out of area, perhaps, then it would be flagged and I'd have to be able to justify what I'd done, or face disciplinary or criminal action.
With the health records it will be really helpful for health researchers to look at the vast aggregates of data that will be made available. I agree that there should be appropriate limits on who can access this information, and I'm baffled that police would be allowed to do so without a warrant.
However, in principle, it is possible to have computerised records available to a large number of people with appropriate safeguards in place so that access is used for the intended purpose and not abused, and where abused that abuse is detected and punished.
Trouble began only days later, when it was revealed Pearson had made an offer to David Cameron that Ukip candidates would step down at the 2010 election in return for a referendum on Britain’s relationship with Europe. As Pearson told his new party, unseating Eurosceptic Tories was "shooting our cause in the knee, and country in the heart". Cameron never replied, but the move caused serious conflict inside Ukip. Many in the grassroots were furious; they wanted nothing to do with the establishment and argued an alliance would wreck their goal of breaking up the party system. Appealing across party lines made no sense if they were in cahoots with the established politicians. The simmering tension soon spiralled into open rebellion, as in the South West constituency of Wells where local Ukippers simply refused the order to stand down. They went on to win 3.1 per cent, while the Tories lost the seat by 1.5 per cent.
A deal by the Tories with ukip would be a disaster for the Tories. ukip is a completely off-the-wall inconsistent outfit full of Tory rejects.
Interesting interview with Farage on ITV's "The Late Debate" last night at 11.40.. It might have only been on in London, Im not sure.
When talking about possible deals with Tories
"If Douglas Carswell said Id rather you didn't stand against me in Harwich, but I can guarantee their wont be a Tory candidate in Eastleigh, well..."
then hinted that's what Michael Fabricant had suggested.
Would the kippers on the ground obey orders to stand down?
I think someone like Carswell deserves an easy ride, especially if something worthwhile is offered in return. Is there a big Kipper movement in Clacton?
I could see them standing down for Carswell but the Tories obviously wouldn't offer that deal, they'd have to get marginals, and serious numbers of them.
Well then I guess they wouldn't stand down for him.. UKIP could be in a position to negotiate a good deal by the lead up to the next election if the support continues to grow as it has. No chance of an alliance though, Farage expressly ruled it out on the show last night, saying he would be letting down the 2/3rds of Kippers who aren't disgruntled Tories
Comments
Good points, I love watching Ronnie play snooker at his best . Not sure there is a finer sporting 5 minutes of action than when he did his world record 147 (maybe Bolero and Torvill and Dean!)
Everybody likes an underdog and an upset but I like best when hype is anticipated and then not only lived up to but exceeded!- eg Usain Bolt, T& D , Phil Taylor and O Sullivan
What it does do is make stuff more expensive, as the cost will be passed directly on to consumers if at all possible... nice one.
Balls has ruled it out, he definitely seems a bit to the economic right of Miliband at any rate. I don't think they'd be stupid enough to introduce it
We have a tax on turnover: it's called Value Added Tax
We have a tax on turnover: it's called Value Added Tax
Not exactly. The difference is that VAT-registered business can claim VAT back on Purchases, which I assume would not be case in a 'turnover' tax. So for business, VAT doesn't really exist in the majority of areas, apart from a cash-flow issue.
No matter. Your outburst was incredibly revealing though you likely didn't intended it to be.
John Amaechi made a video about Russia's attitude,e and what he thought the atheletes should do in response, that Portillo called "one of the best films we have ever had on the programme"
Of course, a tax on turnover in the UK would be a boon for Amazon Luxembourg. Companies would just shut down their UK operations, and ship everything from low tax jurisdictions.
We have a tax on turnover: it's called Value Added Tax
Err...not really. The clue is in the name. Value Added Tax. Companies only pay tax on the net (output VAT minus input VAT). That'd be the net. It is a very different beast from eg sales tax as you have in the USA.
UKIP campaign paper in Wythenshawe and Sale East pic.twitter.com/EDvZVzfqjM
It's not the only area where journalists are a bit rubbish. The lack of understanding about debt and deficit is due not only to obfuscating politicians but complicit, inept and occasionally stupid media reports.
I wont say that it will cause carnage, but having unmanned stations would not make them safer or nice places, and if I were working at a station late at night, I wouldn't want to be in uniform on the forecourt dealing with customer complaints
We have a tax on turnover: it's called Value Added Tax
That's definitely not a turnover tax.
Instead of sending a thankyou letter, card and flowers for contributing to Britain's balance of payments, the shits at HMCE are sending an inspector... in March - right after the audit >.<
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/liberaldemocrats/10622295/The-Lib-Dems-are-revolting-sowhy-not-just-let-them-go.html
Of particular interest are the following:
"His [the Lib Dems’ South African strategist, Ryan Coetzee] research shows that Clegg’s best chance lies in wooing the people he had given up on: the Left-wingers, who are now called the “switch-backers”. They dislike Conservatives in general, and Michael Gove in particular – so, runs his logic, Clegg’s best chance of holding on to his 55 MPs is to attack his partners."
"But Tories are being “militarily sanguine” because Cameron does not want to retaliate. In part, this is because the Coalition is his creation, and he doesn’t want it to degenerate in the way that critics predicted. But more important, this Lib Dem intifada rather suits his purposes. If Clegg’s new aim is to win back voters from Labour, then every Tory should wish him well. If the Lib Dems hold on to their seats at the next election, it’s far more likely that Cameron will return as prime minister – perhaps with a small majority. Some Tories suspect he has secretly agreed a sadomasochism strategy: that he’s not just tolerating the attacks but enjoying them, thinking they’ll weaken Labour."
Oddly, Fraser Nelson then suggests that the coalition should now break up. Since this would defeat the entire purpose of such a strategy on both sides, that seems bizarre.
Please please don't let anyone else know. Can it be our secret? Can it?
plus, apologies if that for you constituted an "outburst". I will try to find a gentler way of getting my points across in future.
1970 General Election:
The public's mood changed when trade figures released three days before polling showed that after a nine-month run of good returns, there had been a £31 million trade deficit for May. The Tory claim that Labour was unable to manage the economy carried new force. Edward Heath voiced the concern that if Labour were re-elected, sterling may face a second devaluation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge70.shtml
Firstly there is a distinct difference between placing over half a billion shares to the market at a price that analysts would recommend and the very limited sale of a million or so shares that come up daily.
Secondly the Coalition has managed to successfully place the Post Office in the private sector, a feat thought unattainable by Thatcher and considered but binned by the Labour government as being both politically and financially far too difficult.
The one thing I don't understand about this is why the staff currently working in the ticket offices would have to take a £6k pay cut to work on their feet amongst the public. I would have thought the latter was a more demanding job and deserving of a pay rise.
When talking about possible deals with Tories
"If Douglas Carswell said Id rather you didn't stand against me in Harwich, but I can guarantee their wont be a Tory candidate in Eastleigh, well..."
then hinted that's what Michael Fabricant had suggested.
LOL
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/06/police-backdoor-access-nhs-health-records
The police and government bodies will have access to the central health database, even if you've asked for an opt-out. So the nosier civil servants will be able to see if you've ever suffered from depression or had an abortion. It's worth bearing in mind that the NSA has had several cases of employees looking into sexual interests, ex-girlfriends etc. And that's just the ones they caught. Considering they still don't know for sure what Edward Snowden did and didn't look at, there's almost certainly going to be a large bunch of highly computer literate people who can cover their tracks when snooping about.
It is part of a package that will see some tube lines running 24 hours a day for some days of the week. This would have been lovely when I was a student. ;-)
On the other hand, LU have promised no compulsory redundancies despite 950 job cuts. But anyone in this move will have to reapply for their jobs, and may (will?) get lower pay.
That 3% is vital: is it all journeys, all passengers, or transactions? If the latter, then the offices get less usage than it would seem.
All from memory, so take care.
Blimey! What an innovative new approach. If only they could have thought of it before now.
They might have even gave it some kind of strategic title like "differentiation" and then used it to posture before every single set of local elections. If they had already done all that then surely they wouldn't still be flatlining at 10% since late 2010, would they?
Ah well, better late than never. Time to wheel out Laws to posture against Gove as that will definitely start to turn it all around.
I'm not that militant, and was genuinely in two minds about striking this time, I even actually voted NO in the ballot, but I'd walk out the doors the moment any government tries to curb my rights, hard won rights at that. The country would come to a standstill, overnight.
If only London Underground were able to do the same.
At precisely the time when the principal project of the Coalition, that of recovering the economy from the Labour train wreck, is coming to fruition, Nelson wants to replace stable government with a weak minority government that will be subject to all the political storms of an administration in the last year of its term and all that means to our immediate economic future.
Bradford West .. 2012 .. Lab to Respect
Mitcham & Morden .. 1982 .. Lab (SDP) to Con
Lincoln .. 1973 .. Lab (Dem Lab) to Democratic Lab
Rochdale .. 1972 .. Lab to Lib
Mid-Ulster .. 1969 .. Con (UU) to Unity
Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles .. 1965 .. Con to Lib
A marketing email list has to be opt in, but sharing your medical records with third parties is opt-out. Not good.
http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/home/2014/01/opt-care-data.html
It just gives off the impression that the Gov't is completely London-centric, should have given it in Lockerbie I reckon.
Con: 13
Lab: 18
LibD: 13
SNP: 27
You were saying?
Typical Nat - if I don't love your vision of Scotland I must "hate Scotland".
It won't be long before thousands and thousands of government employees have access to your health records, travel history, commuting behaviour, financial situation and internet browsing history. And this movement has all been overseen and supported by one party that claims to be liberal and one party that claims to be small state. The reality is that David Cameron, despite going through the motions of studying political theory and philosophy at one of the best universities in the world, hasn't imbibed any of the importance of the democratic theory that slowly evolved to make the English world great. He just wants to be Prime Minister for as long as possible, and will make whatever political choices to maintain that, consequences be damned.
Boris' solution is a step too far the other way, giving too much weight to the [supposed] views of those who can't even be bothered to cast a vote.
And I say this as a Tory Londoner who's endured a miserable couple of days try to get to and from work!
Though about half of tory activists might welcome it I seem to recall an older poll showing far less enthiusiasm for it on the kipper side. Some kippers would likely quit if there was far too much 'collaboration' with the tories much as some tories would do the same if it was all too obvious. The kippers aren't a very credible protest vote if they are operating hand-in-glove with the main party they are protesting against after all. Hard core kippers are unlikely to let the tories have a free ride anywhere.
Poor Vince does have the countenance of a man with his hair shirt on too tightly whilst sucking half a dozen lemons.
Cheer up Vince, you and the Coalition are doing a decent job.
The programme was divided into two halves, the first being an interview with Nigel, and the second analysis of UKIP by Matthew Goodwin and the Director of ComRes.
Anyone interested in UKIPs effect on Politics should try and watch, particularly Kippers as it was almost like a half hour show saying how great we are!
It was only aired in London I believe
The pollsters confirmed that UKIP were taking a huge chunk of "White Working Class Male Voters" (their words not mine, email itv for answers on how to define WWC etc)
And as for negativity, you Malcolm are my role model for cheery optimism, good natured bonhomie and never having a bad word to say about anyone......
The Scots are on the verge of being given a vote for independence and those that will vote YES will do so because (presumably) they don't like Westminster interfering. So DC is acknowledging that by saying: fine, here's some Westminster non-interference. Sort it out amongst yourselves and we will respect the outcome.
Tonight's UK opinion poll. The right - Tories/UKIP 44%. Labour 38%. When almost half Tory activists want a UKIP pact. #differentcountries
You need to also add the Lib Dem total to Labour if you are going to play this game though.
If a worker can't be arsed to participate in a ballot, which involves making a mark on a piece of paper, and sending it off in a prepaid envelope, then they have to take the majority vote of the people who could be arsed.
As for certain workers not being allowed to strike, that's a slippery slope. After us, and train workers, who's next? Nurses? Teachers? Binmen?
If they can't strike, what do they do when any concessions granted as a sweetener to take the no strike pill are eroded by events, inflation, and a different government reneging on a previous government's deal?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26071166
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03twwfj/This_Week_06_02_2014/
No doubt they would all cheer it on then.
The staion I used a lot as a kid, Elm Park, had to resort to playing classical music over the tannoy to chill the kids hanging around causing aggro out!
"Signs were that it did the trick, and Elm Park on the District Line became the first Tube station to try it in 2003 – a place where there was such a gang problem that train drivers were afraid to stop there. Within 18 months, robberies were cut by 33 per cent, assaults on staff by 25 per cent, and vandalism by 37 per cent as the voice of Pavarotti made troublemakers scarper."
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/mind-the-bach-classical-music-on-the-underground-800483.html
Completely agree with your last paragraph for the reasons I have just given.
Balls and Salmond are both reassuringly dishonest - Cameron likes to spout crap too but he is a country before party man on the Scottish Referendum issue I think.
There's a precedent: Macmillan, Cameron's hero and the PM whom he most resembles. The dismantling of the British empire, which he largely presided over, was traumatic in terms of sentiment and national pride, but, in the end, is not something Macmillan is blamed for now or something which was particularly important electorally at the time.
There were dire warnings about what would happen if you used the system inappropriately, with occasional news about convictions of former employees who had done so. Also, the tax records of "high value" people - such as Wayne Rooney or Jeremy Paxman - were only accessible to a smaller unit of people who dealt with those tax records alone.
So, on the one hand, were I still working there it would have been possible for me to look up the tax records of probably everyone on pb.com who has used their real name, and you may well feel concerned about that, but if my search of tax records had a suspicious pattern - looking up too many people out of area, perhaps, then it would be flagged and I'd have to be able to justify what I'd done, or face disciplinary or criminal action.
With the health records it will be really helpful for health researchers to look at the vast aggregates of data that will be made available. I agree that there should be appropriate limits on who can access this information, and I'm baffled that police would be allowed to do so without a warrant.
However, in principle, it is possible to have computerised records available to a large number of people with appropriate safeguards in place so that access is used for the intended purpose and not abused, and where abused that abuse is detected and punished.