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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Labour’s “crutch” remains: The 2010 LD-LAB switchers are st

SystemSystem Posts: 12,213
edited April 2014 in General

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Labour’s “crutch” remains: The 2010 LD-LAB switchers are still on board and their numbers aren’t diminishing

The Populus aggregate data for March featured in the chart above sets out clearly that the big voter shift since 2010 hasn’t changed. Ed Miliband’s LAB is very reliant on those LD voters from last time who switched in the first year of the coalition staying on board.

Read the full story here


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Comments

  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    First!
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    So 2010 Labour voters who lent their vote to the LibDems will take it back? Whodathunkit? I guess the real question is whether the Miliband proposition will be compelling enough to get them to the poll on the day. And whether we have a Farageasm to Hoover up more non-voting in 2010 Labour supporters.....
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    After his arrogant rant yesterday, here comes the proof that Avery knows nothing about value betting either:

    Basingstoke new prices:
    CON 1/10 (from 1/20)
    UKIP 10/1 (from the 20/1 I highlighted yesterday)
    Lab 16/1
    LD 20/1
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    This would result in a no-change election: 2Lab,2SNP,1Con,1LD.

    Euro VI - Scotland - TNS subsample=101

    Lab 27%
    SNP 26%
    Con 17%
    LD 14%
    UKIP 10%
    oth 5%

    http://www.tns-bmrb.co.uk/uploads/files/TNSUK_DataTables_20140409.pdf
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    edited April 2014
    Do William Hill not watch the news? Or do they often play silly buggers?

    They have still not paid out on:

    - 21 Oct 13 / 21:58 (CEST) Single 1 Will Anyone Leave The UK Cabinet By End Of 2014? – Will Any Cabinet Member Leave Yes @ 5/6 – £100.00 */366****/000****/*.

    ... and reply:

    - "We have checked Bet receipt */366****/000****/*. Unfortunately, we have no available resources to settle this bet yet. We advise you to respond to this email and include a site that shows the result and we will be happy to settle it for you. At the same time, the bet will be settled accordingly."

    Huh?? They want me to send a link proving that Miller has resigned??

  • philiphphiliph Posts: 4,704
    Only 55% of 2010 Labour voters are in the Labour column now. If they are on 40% that implies the 2010 Labour voters, also known as the core vote, is down 6% to a figure of 22% ( from 28%). How have the opposition lost 6% of the dismal 2010 vote they achieved?


    How much churn in the polls is from miss remembering our are the pollsters sophisticated enough to eliminate it?
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    Lucky for Eck there is no public outrage about politician's expenses right now.
    The Peninsula Hotel confirmed the First Minister was charged $1,195 per night for his suite, which was the equivalent of £740 using the exchange rate at the time. This meant his total bill amounted to nearly $5,000, or £2,956, for the four-night stay.

    Scottish Labour last night said the truth of Mr Salmond’s “excesses” using the public purse was emerging despite him attempting to cover up the truth.

    Paul Martin, the party’s business manager, said: “Now we know why Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon are so desperate to cover up his wild spending in the US.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/10755898/Revealed-The-five-star-suite-Alex-Salmond-enjoyed-at-the-taxpayers-expense.html
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708
    philiph said:

    Only 55% of 2010 Labour voters are in the Labour column now.

    No, you've got it backwards.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    Mike,

    Just looking at the Labour percentages below, one could conclude that these returnees are actually Labour voters coming home. They are actually Labour who had voted LD. 2005 was Iraq and 2010 was general disillusionment..

    2010: 29.0%
    2005: 35.2%
    2001: 40.7%
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549

    So 2010 Labour voters who lent their vote to the LibDems will take it back? Whodathunkit? I guess the real question is whether the Miliband proposition will be compelling enough to get them to the poll on the day. And whether we have a Farageasm to Hoover up more non-voting in 2010 Labour supporters.....

    THe Labour voters who had "lent" their votes to the LDs [ I can think of one right now as I write ] are not the sort who will vote UKIP, I can assure you.

    Of course, I thoroughly respect UKIP's democratic aspirations. THey are doing a good job. But not for me, thanks !

  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708
    surbiton said:

    Mike,

    Just looking at the Labour percentages below, one could conclude that these returnees are actually Labour voters coming home. They are actually Labour who had voted LD. 2005 was Iraq and 2010 was general disillusionment..

    2010: 29.0%
    2005: 35.2%
    2001: 40.7%

    This may be true in terms of kinds of person as opposed to specific people, but at an individual level a lot of the individual Labour-identifying lefty-ex-LibDems will never have voted Labour. before.
  • philiphphiliph Posts: 4,704

    philiph said:

    Only 55% of 2010 Labour voters are in the Labour column now.

    No, you've got it backwards.
    yes, I didn't make that clear. I meant if the 2010 Labour are 55% of current Labour figure of 40% in the polls then that implies they have lost 6% of the 2010 vote.

    I'm not sure I believe they have lost that much of the2010 vote in real life.
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708
    philiph said:

    philiph said:

    Only 55% of 2010 Labour voters are in the Labour column now.

    No, you've got it backwards.
    yes, I didn't make that clear. I meant if the 2010 Labour are 55% of current Labour figure of 40% in the polls then that implies they have lost 6% of the 2010 vote.

    I'm not sure I believe they have lost that much of the2010 vote in real life.
    6% wouldn't be a huge number to lose over 4 years. People die, new people register to vote, people move overseas, different people move back... And there's a leadership change as well, which will replace some people who liked Gordon and dislike Ed with the converse.
  • MillsyMillsy Posts: 900
    So which voters are Labour losing? The last PB average on Sunday was (at 38.2%) just above its lowest point since December and so far this week the Labour share has been 36, 37, 36.

    The Tories might be back to their pre-budget position, but Labour are losing support as well! As previously, appears as though it's Ukip that are benefiting.
  • asjohnstoneasjohnstone Posts: 1,276
    Nearly a quarter of the labour support didn't vote last time ? You'd have to say it's likely a fair chunk of that will stay home again. It's surely very soft.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    edited April 2014
    A Scottish Labour MP "“putting forward untruths” and spreading "incredible" slander and scare stories? I simply do not believe it. They are the salt of the earth.

    'Jim Devine ordered to pay manager £18,000 damages'

    ... Devine was successfully sued by Marion Kinley after the former Labour MP falsely claimed she was under police investigation and helped herself to money that she was not entitled to.

    ... Lord Bannatyne rejected ­Devine’s evidence as “incredible”.

    In court, Ms Kinley had maintained that the ex-Labour MP had made damaging statements about her to “cover up his own actions”.

    The former office manager told the court in Edinburgh: “They were vindictive. They were just set out to cover up for himself with absolutely no regard for what effect it would have on me.”

    Ms Kinley said it had been claimed she was being investigated by the police and Special Branch. She added: “He also stated I had helped myself to bonus money I was not entitled to. I had stolen significant sums of money while office manager and the reason I did this was ­because I had a serious gambling problem.”

    ... Lord Bannatyne said such behaviour supported Ms Kinley’s stance that there was a campaign by Devine to maliciously “put forward untruths”.

    Ms Kinley was supposed to return to work that October. When Ms McDonald told the politician when his office manager was coming back, the court heard his response was: “No she f***ing won’t.”

    The judge agreed that Ms Kinley had been defamed by the former MP and said: “I have had no difficulty in concluding that the defender [Devine], when he made these statements to the pursuer [Ms Kinley] and others, knew them to be false.”"


    http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/jim-devine-ordered-to-pay-manager-18-000-damages-1-3371274
  • Fat_SteveFat_Steve Posts: 361
    Mike's analysis is interesting, but I think there may be danger in focusing intently on a particular defined voter-segment.

    Consider these three things - Any one of which can be defended as possible or even likely

    - Labour's polling lead declines slowly over the year, broadly in line with the trend of the last year, to either a small or no lead before the election.
    - Labour's vote share according to the polls declines slightly during an election campaign. (There is no Peter Mandelson this time).
    - There is a modest , Kinnock-style, underperformance on the day for Labour.

    You could make a case for each of these individually, or all 3. 2 of these, together, could lead to Con Most Seats.

    No 2 if it happens, may not be easy to spot at the time. It will probably look like noise - wobbles up and down.
    No 3 - The pollsters will be factoring in all they can to prevent it - They will want their polls to look like the outcome, and adjust accordingly. But their task is hard.
  • asjohnstoneasjohnstone Posts: 1,276
    philiph said:

    philiph said:

    Only 55% of 2010 Labour voters are in the Labour column now.

    No, you've got it backwards.
    I'm not sure I believe they have lost that much of the2010 vote in real life.
    It seems a very plausible number, I'd imagine they've dropped a fair chunk in Scotland were they were very strong in 2010. Also the full horror of the labour handling of public finances only became apparent after they left office, and despite the hype, the current administration hasn't engaged in any meaningful austerity measures or eaten any babies.

  • philiphphiliph Posts: 4,704

    philiph said:

    philiph said:

    Only 55% of 2010 Labour voters are in the Labour column now.

    No, you've got it backwards.
    yes, I didn't make that clear. I meant if the 2010 Labour are 55% of current Labour figure of 40% in the polls then that implies they have lost 6% of the 2010 vote.

    I'm not sure I believe they have lost that much of the2010 vote in real life.
    6% wouldn't be a huge number to lose over 4 years. People die, new people register to vote, people move overseas, different people move back... And there's a leadership change as well, which will replace some people who liked Gordon and dislike Ed with the converse.

    philiph said:

    philiph said:

    Only 55% of 2010 Labour voters are in the Labour column now.

    No, you've got it backwards.
    yes, I didn't make that clear. I meant if the 2010 Labour are 55% of current Labour figure of 40% in the polls then that implies they have lost 6% of the 2010 vote.

    I'm not sure I believe they have lost that much of the2010 vote in real life.
    6% wouldn't be a huge number to lose over 4 years. People die, new people register to vote, people move overseas, different people move back... And there's a leadership change as well, which will replace some people who liked Gordon and dislike Ed with the converse.
    Yes and no. The chart above implies that 45% of labour votes will be from people who didn't vote for them last time. That strikes me as a high percentage of new voters.

    6% of your alleged core vote is substantial, in round figures it represents a 20% loss of the 2010 voters.

  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557

    philiph said:

    philiph said:

    Only 55% of 2010 Labour voters are in the Labour column now.

    No, you've got it backwards.
    I'm not sure I believe they have lost that much of the2010 vote in real life.
    ... I'd imagine they've dropped a fair chunk in Scotland were they were very strong in 2010.
    Not so sure about that. The evidence is very mixed and I would be relucatant to draw hard conclusions.

    We have had very, very few full-sample Scottish polls of Westminster VI since 2010, but here for example is what Lord Ashcroft's polling found (SLAB got 42% in 2010):

    CON 18%, LAB 40%, LIBDEM 6%, SNP 31%, UKIP 2% (1,039 adults in Scotland were interviewed by telephone between 4 and 8 October 2013.)

    http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/8320

    In addition, he conducted a huge 10,000 sample (!!) Westminster VI poll back in the springtime of 2013:

    CON 16%, LAB 45%, LIBDEM 8%, SNP 23%, UKIP 5% (10,007 adults in Scotland were interviewed by telephone and online between 22 Feb and 9 May 2013.)

    Those Westminster Voting Intention findings are presented on Page 29 of this report:

    http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Camerons-Caledonian-Conundrum.pdf

    Lots of other info and links here:

    http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2013/10/camerons-caledonian-conundrum/

  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    TGOHF said:
    That Telegraph article feels implausible to me.

    It is not the floor plan, views or number of rooms. It is just that I can't see Eck fitting into that bath.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
  • IcarusIcarus Posts: 994
    edited April 2014
    Good morning all, now that I have a job I really do need to sell our house - cheap mortgage finally runs out in 2015 (Barclays might want their money back!).

    Hythe House is a beautiful listed house only 50 minutes by train from Euston (from nearby Rugby) for the cost of a flat in London! Liberal Democrats preferred - the previous owner apologised for not being there to welcome us (in 1984) because it was her stint at Greenham Common - she left bottle of Champagne though!
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    AveryLP said:

    TGOHF said:
    That Telegraph article feels implausible to me.

    It is not the floor plan, views or number of rooms. It is just that I can't see Eck fitting into that bath.
    And no side bath entry for Mrs S.
  • MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792
    AveryLP said:

    TGOHF said:
    That Telegraph article feels implausible to me.

    It is not the floor plan, views or number of rooms. It is just that I can't see Eck fitting into that bath.
    That isn't a bath, it's a marble trough.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,457
    More Co-op woes:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26965375

    Lord Myners resigns, but his report carries on like some ethereal wraith....

    It seems as though some people in the 'ungovernable' organisation may not have liked the findings of his interim report. But the best line is this:
    But some of the Co-op's most influential members are worried the changes could damage the group's values.
    ... Instead, they'll damage the group's values themselves.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    20% from DNV-other?

    Is there a split of who many are Other and how many are DNV?

    Surely if even 10% of Labour's support comes from DNV10 that's got to be a big risk in terms of softness of the vote? That would be 4 percentage points right off the top - enough to shift them to the low to mid 30s.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557

    Do William Hill not watch the news? Or do they often play silly buggers?

    They have still not paid out on:

    - 21 Oct 13 / 21:58 (CEST) Single 1 Will Anyone Leave The UK Cabinet By End Of 2014? – Will Any Cabinet Member Leave Yes @ 5/6 – £100.00 */366****/000****/*.

    ... and reply:

    - "We have checked Bet receipt */366****/000****/*. Unfortunately, we have no available resources to settle this bet yet. We advise you to respond to this email and include a site that shows the result and we will be happy to settle it for you. At the same time, the bet will be settled accordingly."

    Huh?? They want me to send a link proving that Miller has resigned??

    Fun this morning with Hill's customer service:

    - "Sorry took time before I understand your bet. I got confused of Maria Miller's resignation."

    :) I'm sure he is not alone!

    Never mind. It ended well:

    - "Let me settle this for you. Total winnings is 183.33"

  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,457

    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
    No, you're too utterly complacent to panic.
  • MillsyMillsy Posts: 900
    I wonder if we will get ICM and Ipsos-Mori today?
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,014
    Charles said:

    20% from DNV-other?

    Is there a split of who many are Other and how many are DNV?

    Surely if even 10% of Labour's support comes from DNV10 that's got to be a big risk in terms of softness of the vote? That would be 4 percentage points right off the top - enough to shift them to the low to mid 30s.

    At the top end 20% of their current vote is roughly equivalent to 7% which would get their vote back down to 2010 levels.

    What I am having trouble understanding is that if 20% of current Labour support falls into that category why do the different filters imposed by the different pollsters on certainty to vote not result in bigger differences in their results? Presumably the pollsters are using different techniques which have broadly the same effect at the end of the day.

    The unfiltered results presumably have Labour in the low 40s to achieve their current polling.

  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,498
    edited April 2014
    Scott_P said:

    Lucky for Eck there is no public outrage about politician's expenses right now.

    The Peninsula Hotel confirmed the First Minister was charged $1,195 per night for his suite, which was the equivalent of £740 using the exchange rate at the time. This meant his total bill amounted to nearly $5,000, or £2,956, for the four-night stay.

    Scottish Labour last night said the truth of Mr Salmond’s “excesses” using the public purse was emerging despite him attempting to cover up the truth.

    Paul Martin, the party’s business manager, said: “Now we know why Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon are so desperate to cover up his wild spending in the US.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/10755898/Revealed-The-five-star-suite-Alex-Salmond-enjoyed-at-the-taxpayers-expense.html

    Sad Scott and his numpty Labour pals, little to bother them. What happened to labour's £3000 per night number they have banged on about for years, was their abacus broken.
  • FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916
    Does Age Make a Difference to VI?

    YouGov poll asked what each leader's age is from just a recent photo.

    Most got Cameron right at 47 (mean result), Clegg nearly right at 46 (he is 47) but thought Farage to be older at 53 (he is just 50), Miliband younger at 42 (he is 44) and Boris 48 (he is 49).

    So with this narrow age spread, will the voters go for the younger (inexperienced), older (wiser? and experienced) or those they know most about, or a plague on all their houses?

    Age ranges given for each leader:

    Cameron: 38-60
    Clegg: 37-56
    Farage:40-65
    Miliband:34-51
    Johnson: 38-61

    http://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/04/09/Farage-turns-50-but-public-think-hes-older/
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    Off topic,

    I seem to be restored to Diplomacy, no cheating, just caused some confusion when my son set up an account and joined another game. This gave the impression of multiple identities, but not in the PB games.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,498
    TGOHF said:
    You boys are in a panic today , Scotsman is not best for the truth. Grovelling apology to Panelbase to save them being sued.
    pic.twitter.com/8LsL8qn3mc
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,498
    TGOHF said:

    AveryLP said:

    TGOHF said:
    That Telegraph article feels implausible to me.

    It is not the floor plan, views or number of rooms. It is just that I can't see Eck fitting into that bath.
    And no side bath entry for Mrs S.
    I see now that the unionists have lost the argument and stare defeat in the face , they revert to their normal tactics of insults , slurs and libels on the person.
  • Scrapheap_as_wasScrapheap_as_was Posts: 10,069
    edited April 2014
    Thanks OGH,

    If something is worth saying once, it's worth saying 100 times....

    A bit like ed is crap.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,498

    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
    No, you're too utterly complacent to panic.
    Do you ever think before you post
  • malcolmg said:

    TGOHF said:

    AveryLP said:

    TGOHF said:
    That Telegraph article feels implausible to me.

    It is not the floor plan, views or number of rooms. It is just that I can't see Eck fitting into that bath.
    And no side bath entry for Mrs S.
    I see now that the unionists have lost the argument and stare defeat in the face , they revert to their normal tactics of insults , slurs and libels on the person.
    no comment needed, just worth repeating that one.
  • MonksfieldMonksfield Posts: 2,808
    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    malcolmg said:

    TGOHF said:

    AveryLP said:

    TGOHF said:
    That Telegraph article feels implausible to me.

    It is not the floor plan, views or number of rooms. It is just that I can't see Eck fitting into that bath.
    And no side bath entry for Mrs S.
    I see now that the unionists have lost the argument and stare defeat in the face , they revert to their normal tactics of insults , slurs and libels on the person.
    Says the bigot calling others " Knuckledraggers "
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,014
    There is something slightly odd about those hotel prices. Even in Dundee, which is a good step away from Gleneagles, hotel rates are nearly doubling while the Ryder Cup is on.

    "Normal" rates really should not be much of a guide.

    But as I have said before laughing at or mocking Salmond is not even relevant to winning the referendum vote. Energy being spent on this is energy wasted by a No campaign that needs to get out and sell the Union in a positive way.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,457
    malcolmg said:

    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
    No, you're too utterly complacent to panic.
    Do you ever think before you post
    All the time. (*) May I suggest that you try doing the same?

    (*) Although I haven't had a drink since Friday, so the amount of blood reaching my head is reaching dangerous levels...
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,498

    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
    No, you're too utterly complacent to panic.
    Do you ever think before you post
    TGOHF said:

    malcolmg said:

    TGOHF said:

    AveryLP said:

    TGOHF said:
    That Telegraph article feels implausible to me.

    It is not the floor plan, views or number of rooms. It is just that I can't see Eck fitting into that bath.
    And no side bath entry for Mrs S.
    I see now that the unionists have lost the argument and stare defeat in the face , they revert to their normal tactics of insults , slurs and libels on the person.
    Says the bigot calling others " Knuckledraggers "
    If you will act like one, why not raise the tone of your debate and give us a few positives for the union, instead you choose to post libels regarding Mr Salmond. YES at least have a positive position to put to people, it may not happen 100% but at least is a vision of what can be done.
    NO have said that Scotland is 100% useless, broken and could never ever do anything, how do they expect to win with that as their slogan. 100% of all papers produced by NO/Westminster claim Scotland is crap, do you think that is encouraging people to stay in the union. What great brains are thinking up these wonderful ideas.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,950
    Good morning, everyone.

    Welcome back to the Diplomacy game, Mr. Foxinsox.

    Mr. Flashman (deceased), he didn't send out voting ballots with the preferred candidate's face on them, did he?

    Mr. G, just joined the thread so this is neither against nor for you, or the specific unionists to whom you refer, but I fear the unpleasantness expressed here may well be reflected more widely. That's one of the reasons why I think a potential split will be acrimonious rather than amiable, sadly.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,498
    DavidL said:

    There is something slightly odd about those hotel prices. Even in Dundee, which is a good step away from Gleneagles, hotel rates are nearly doubling while the Ryder Cup is on.

    "Normal" rates really should not be much of a guide.

    But as I have said before laughing at or mocking Salmond is not even relevant to winning the referendum vote. Energy being spent on this is energy wasted by a No campaign that needs to get out and sell the Union in a positive way.

    David, they have shown what they have to sell , slurs, insults and lies, they have no winning campaign. They are fixated on Alex Salmond , meanwhile thousands upon thousands of YES people are focused on winning the vote. The amount of time spent on a hotel bill from years ago beggars belief, these people must be really stupid. The public do not care about £3K and expect their First Minister to stay in a decent hotel.
  • FattyBolgerFattyBolger Posts: 299
    OT but amused to see a pint pot full of pennies on the bar of my village local in Deep England last week. It was labelled "Help yourself to your tax cut". Price of pint unchanged.
  • anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Repayments look very manageable:

    "You only make repayments when your income is over £21,000 a year. … Each month you pay back 9% of any income over £21,000."

    https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/repayments




  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Sorry, that's BS.

    3x £9,000 = 27,000

    That's slightly more than 1x the national average wage. Most people who want mortgages borrow up to 5x (some borrow more, but that's not usually wise).

    If they can only borrow a smaller amount to buy a house, then - over time - house prices will moderate to compensate*. Which would be a good thing.

    * excluding P/SPL of course because the sources of demand are different
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,498

    Good morning, everyone.

    Welcome back to the Diplomacy game, Mr. Foxinsox.

    Mr. Flashman (deceased), he didn't send out voting ballots with the preferred candidate's face on them, did he?

    Mr. G, just joined the thread so this is neither against nor for you, or the specific unionists to whom you refer, but I fear the unpleasantness expressed here may well be reflected more widely. That's one of the reasons why I think a potential split will be acrimonious rather than amiable, sadly.

    MD, as they see defeat coming the unionists are getting more and more desperate, we will see more from them before we are finished. Most people are sensible but there will be a minority stirring it and trying to pin it on YES people. Labour will fight tooth and nail to keep their snouts in the trough.
  • IcarusIcarus Posts: 994
    edited April 2014

    Off topic,

    I seem to be restored to Diplomacy, no cheating, just caused some confusion when my son set up an account and joined another game. This gave the impression of multiple identities, but not in the PB games.

    I am Icarus in diplomacy - what is your moniker?
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Looking at polls day by day or even month by month is rarely fruitful. This belatedly has dawned on Polling Observatory, which after months of saying that month on month there had been essentially no change yesterday acknowledged:

    "It seems our speculation about a possible “voteless recovery” last month may have been premature...

    The Conservatives’ renewed strength in the polls may owe something to a well-received budget from George Osborne, but when we take a longer view it becomes apparent that this latest narrowing is in fact the a continuation of a very gradual trend that has been proceeding, in stop-start fashion, for more than a year – as our excellent colleague Anthony Wells noted in his year-end review. In the early months of last year, Labour leads over the Conservatives were in double digits. This fell to under six points in the summer, before rebounding slightly in the autumn. Since November 2013, though, the narrowing has continued, and the lead has fallen from just under seven points to just over three.

    Regular readers of this blog will know that we are cautious about identifying trends in what is often stable opinion, and also wary of using figures on polling leads, which are subject to more volatility and random variation. The underlying pattern here is however clear – the gap between the top two parties is steadily narrowing. Our main chart suggests this is the product both of rising Conservative support and falling Labour support, and also suggests that this is happening despite no decline in support for UKIP, who many argue are the main cause of recent Conservative weakness".

    http://nottspolitics.org/2014/04/09/polling-observatory-35-march-2014-politics-fast-and-slow

    Glaciers melt slowly.
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    @Icarus

    Hope you sell the little cottage soon .... but where do the staff live presently ?
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    edited April 2014

    OT but amused to see a pint pot full of pennies on the bar of my village local in Deep England last week. It was labelled "Help yourself to your tax cut". Price of pint unchanged.

    Cute. And clever business.

    I suspect most people will be slightly embarrassed to take the money, so the pub owner will pocket the tax cut (edit: but without appearing greedy to his customers)

    It's like when WH Smith first launched their honesty boxes for newspaper - they found that their takings went up substantially because people would rather pay £1 (or whatever) than queue to get 20p in change.
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    Foxinsox

    So not foxinsoxuk.

    I dropped the UK out of respect for the Diplomacy game designers who have made Wales, Clyde and Edinburgh all parts of "England"

    Icarus said:

    Off topic,

    I seem to be restored to Diplomacy, no cheating, just caused some confusion when my son set up an account and joined another game. This gave the impression of multiple identities, but not in the PB games.

    I am Icarus in diplomacy - what is your moniker?
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    edited April 2014
    Latest Survation is

    47% NO 37% YES or 56/44 if dk's excluded

    Last poll was 48/39

    https://twitter.com/search?q=#indyref&src=hash
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514
    edited April 2014
    Charles said:

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Sorry, that's BS.

    3x £9,000 = 27,000

    That's slightly more than 1x the national average wage. Most people who want mortgages borrow up to 5x (some borrow more, but that's not usually wise).

    If they can only borrow a smaller amount to buy a house, then - over time - house prices will moderate to compensate*. Which would be a good thing.

    * excluding P/SPL of course because the sources of demand are different
    Mr Charles, the Student loan fiasco is a ticking time bomb the size of the NHS computer fiasco and yet consrvatives seem hugely complacent on this.

    It's a vote killer and Willetts should be sacked. The man's an idiot.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,014
    Let's take the EU as a template for what No has to do.

    They need to get beyond the lies told by Salmond, the non-existent legal advice, the uncertainty of whether and what terms Scotland would be able to re-negotiate membership and instead focus on how the EU treats small countries in its determinations.

    Suppose in 10 years time an independent Scotland is a signed up member of the EU on whatever terms it has to take. There is a new policy on agriculture that will have a material effect on Scotland. What chance has Scotland got of its views being taken into account (a) as part of the second largest economy and second largest net contributor to the EU budget and (b) as a country of 5m people?

    There are endless examples of how the interests of small countries are simply ignored when the big boys carve the cake. At the moment we are one of the big boys. Why would we want to give that up? Better together.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,950
    Mr. Brooke, I thought the student loans problem wasn't the debt per individual, but the method of repayment (ie thresholds and percentages) which means it'll actually cost the state more?
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Charles said:

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Sorry, that's BS.

    3x £9,000 = 27,000

    That's slightly more than 1x the national average wage. Most people who want mortgages borrow up to 5x (some borrow more, but that's not usually wise).

    If they can only borrow a smaller amount to buy a house, then - over time - house prices will moderate to compensate*. Which would be a good thing.

    * excluding P/SPL of course because the sources of demand are different
    Mr Charles, the Student loan fiasco is a ticking time bomb the size of the NHS computer fiasco and yet consrvatives seem hugely complacent on this.

    It's a vote killer and Willetts should be sacked. The man's an idiot.
    I don't know the details of exactly how the system works, so I'll talk to principals.

    Graduates benefit most from higher education, in terms of increased life opportunities and/or earning potential. It is therefore morally right that they should pay for that education.

    There are, of course, some subjects - principally STEM - where the government may decide that the national interest is to subsidise individuals selecting these degrees and I wouldn't have an issue with that. Similarly, there is a strong national interest in making the system means blind so that everyone can achieve their individual full potential.

    Within those constraints, I don't care precisely how the system is structured, although they way they have done it seems rather complex.
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789

    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
    No, you're too utterly complacent to panic.
    If you think the Nats are complacent you are hopelessly, scarily wrong. They are the most determined electoral fighting force on these islands.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Also from the Polling Observatory piece linked to below, some important observations about how public opinion moves:

    "Those who make a habit of following political stories on newspaper front pages – or via highly charged political Twitter feeds easily forget that most voters are paying little to no attention to the events which are filling their days. Even major political set-pieces like the budget, Prime Minister’s Questions, or the Clegg-Farage debates barely register with many voters. Indeed, most of the population are at work during PMQs, unable to tune in to a television or a politics live blog, while the vast majority had much more interest in the latest goings on in Albert Square or Coronation Street than the duelling rhetoric of Nigel and Nick. Even economic news, which is of more immediate interest to many voters, tends to trickle down as a gradual process of diffusion, either in a general sense among the public that things are getting better or worse for the country or more directly as people feel better about the pounds in their pocket, and more eager to spend them. In practice, the fallout from political events is usually slow and sluggish, as it takes a long time for voters to notice and respond to things which are a long way from their everyday concerns.

    Shifts in public opinion therefore tend to take place slowly, over long periods of time (with rare, but important, exceptions such as the Cameron veto and the “omnishambles” budget). Political commentators, however, exist entirely in the “high frequency politics” world, and interpret every day’s and week’s events in terms set by this world, projecting them onto the wider public, whose indifference is so far from their own everyday experience that it is hard for them to keep it in mind. Every minor event is expected to produce a sharp public reaction and every momentary twitch in the pulse of public opinion is attributed to the stories attracting Westminster buzz...

    It is important to bear in mind that the important, and lasting, changes in public opinion take place gradually, often too slowly to perceive without the benefit of months of data, because as election fever takes hold in the Westminster village, the focus on “fast politics” will become ever more intense. There will be many moments and many stories that are presented to us as ‘game-changers’ or turning points. In most cases they will be nothing of the sort, while the real action takes place away from the noisy slapstick comedy playing out on the news channels. Millions of voters will begin settling on their choices, nudged this way and that by forces which are, to some extent, predictable. The regularity of the tidal forces which move the “slow politics” of voters’ shifting opinions allow us to make modestly informed forecasts about the direction public opinion will take next, based on the lessons of history."

    No further comment required. I won't even highlight the bit about the Clegg-Farage debate.
  • FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916
    OECD: Welsh government lacks education 'long-term vision'

    A major review of the schools system in Wales says the Welsh government lacks a long-term vision for education and does not do enough to support teachers.

    The Welsh government asked the worldwide Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to conduct the review in 2012.....

    The most recent Pisa international education tests, which are run by the OECD, ranked Wales bottom in the UK.

    The OECD review said: "From an international perspective, the performance of 15-year-olds in Wales on Pisa is low overall, and there are too many students performing at low levels.

    "The Pisa 2012 reading and science assessments showed that almost one in five Welsh students did not achieve level two which is considered the baseline of proficiency at which students begin to demonstrate competencies to actively participate in life."

    "For mathematics this proportion was even higher, almost 30%. These levels are among the lowest in OECD countries."

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-26962501
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    JackW said:

    Latest Survation is

    47% NO 37% YES or 56/44 if dk's excluded

    Last poll was 48/39

    https://twitter.com/search?q=#indyref&src=hash

    Swingback ?
  • philiphphiliph Posts: 4,704

    Charles said:

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Sorry, that's BS.

    3x £9,000 = 27,000

    That's slightly more than 1x the national average wage. Most people who want mortgages borrow up to 5x (some borrow more, but that's not usually wise).

    If they can only borrow a smaller amount to buy a house, then - over time - house prices will moderate to compensate*. Which would be a good thing.

    * excluding P/SPL of course because the sources of demand are different
    Mr Charles, the Student loan fiasco is a ticking time bomb the size of the NHS computer fiasco and yet consrvatives seem hugely complacent on this.

    It's a vote killer and Willetts should be sacked. The man's an idiot.
    it it's easily managed by tweaking repayment starting points and rates.

    It may be easy to get attention grabbing headlines, but the system is better for students in almost every way than the system it replaced.
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    edited April 2014
    BobaFett said:

    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
    No, you're too utterly complacent to panic.
    If you think the Nats are complacent you are hopelessly, scarily wrong. They are the most determined electoral fighting force on these islands.
    I think you are misplacing "determined" for noisy and blustering.

    Either way this mornings poll indicates that again the majority of Scots are not swayed. NO will win come 18th September.

    And to paraphrase .... it's suddenly gone quiet over there ....

  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Someone has to pay for higher education. At a time when fewer than half the population goes into higher education, it seems appropriate that the cost should be borne at least in part by those that benefit most from that higher education: the students. If they don't in fact benefit particularly from their higher education, perhaps they and we should rethink whether they should be doing it at all in the first place.
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    TGOHF said:

    JackW said:

    Latest Survation is

    47% NO 37% YES or 56/44 if dk's excluded

    Last poll was 48/39

    https://twitter.com/search?q=#indyref&src=hash

    Swingback ?
    Probably just MOE but something of a relief they there has been no shift to Yes.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    antifrank said:

    Someone has to pay for higher education. At a time when fewer than half the population goes into higher education, it seems appropriate that the cost should be borne at least in part by those that benefit most from that higher education: the students. If they don't in fact benefit particularly from their higher education, perhaps they and we should rethink whether they should be doing it at all in the first place.

    You're sounding more an more like a sensible Tory every day ;-)
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    antifrank said:

    Someone has to pay for higher education. At a time when fewer than half the population goes into higher education, it seems appropriate that the cost should be borne at least in part by those that benefit most from that higher education: the students. If they don't in fact benefit particularly from their higher education, perhaps they and we should rethink whether they should be doing it at all in the first place.

    Agree to an extent but fees are now too high - they will act as a disincentive to poorer children so need to come down.
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    JackW said:

    BobaFett said:

    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
    No, you're too utterly complacent to panic.
    If you think the Nats are complacent you are hopelessly, scarily wrong. They are the most determined electoral fighting force on these islands.
    I think you are misplacing "determined" for noisy and blustering.

    Either way this mornings poll indicates that again the majority of Scots are not swayed. NO will win come 18th September.

    And to paraphrase .... it's suddenly gone quiet over there ....

    It's not wise to underestimate your opponent.

  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited April 2014

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Perhaps you should reflect on why "ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives".

    The answer is very simple.

    In 2000-1, the UK government did not need to borrow a penny to finance its annual expenditure. More than that, the central government net financing requirement showed a surplus of £14.3 billion for the year.

    Move forward ten years to 2009-10 and the annual financing requirement of central government was £218.3 billion.

    And for those who prefer to measure accrued debt as a ratio of GDP rather than annual cash borrowing:

    - in 2000-01 Public Sector Net Debt was 30.1% of GDP.
    - in 2009-10 Public Sector Net Debt was 151.7% of GDP.

    Or in pounds, at the end of March 2010, UK Public Sector Net Debt was £2,228,308,000,000 or 2.2 Trillion. And this figure doesn't include a further £200 billion of Quantitative Easing undertaken by the Bank of England and guaranteed by the taxpayer.

    From boom to bust in under a decade under Gordon and Labour.

    Now who do you think should be blamed for condemning our children and grandchildren to a lifetime of 'debt enslavery'?
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    TGOHF said:

    JackW said:

    Latest Survation is

    47% NO 37% YES or 56/44 if dk's excluded

    Last poll was 48/39

    https://twitter.com/search?q=#indyref&src=hash

    Swingback ?
    Swingstill more like .... but I'm sure today there will have been much gnashing of the YES teeth as yet another poll indicates that their "brilliant" campaign is going nowhere despite all the guff that regularly appears on PB.

  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300

    Charles said:

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Sorry, that's BS.

    3x £9,000 = 27,000

    That's slightly more than 1x the national average wage. Most people who want mortgages borrow up to 5x (some borrow more, but that's not usually wise).

    If they can only borrow a smaller amount to buy a house, then - over time - house prices will moderate to compensate*. Which would be a good thing.

    * excluding P/SPL of course because the sources of demand are different
    Mr Charles, the Student loan fiasco is a ticking time bomb the size of the NHS computer fiasco and yet consrvatives seem hugely complacent on this.

    It's a vote killer and Willetts should be sacked. The man's an idiot.
    It is a fiasco but it was not Willetts' fault, as I understand it.

    One problem was the Treasury's aversion to anything with the word "tax" in it, as a graduate tax would not have the problem of unemployed or low-paid graduates having a huge debt hanging over them (even if they'd not in fact need to repay it).

    Another is Nick Clegg's immediate capitulation (which will cost the LibDems dear, imo) which meant the policy was not as closely examined as one might have hoped.

    The irony is that income-contingent loans might actually be a good solution to other problems, such as support for new enterprises, or development in deprived regions.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    BobaFett said:

    antifrank said:

    Someone has to pay for higher education. At a time when fewer than half the population goes into higher education, it seems appropriate that the cost should be borne at least in part by those that benefit most from that higher education: the students. If they don't in fact benefit particularly from their higher education, perhaps they and we should rethink whether they should be doing it at all in the first place.

    Agree to an extent but fees are now too high - they will act as a disincentive to poorer children so need to come down.
    There's absolutely no evidence that fees are acting as a disincentive to poorer children - quite the reverse:

    http://intouni.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/numbers-of-successful-applicants-to.html#!/2013/12/numbers-of-successful-applicants-to.html

    "UCAS’s mid-December ‘End of Cycle Report’ determined that a record-breaking number of applicants had been accepted in to full-time undergraduate study in the U.K. after the 2013-14 admissions cycle. This peak of 495,600 successful applicants marked a variation in the trend in applications following the tuition fee increase, which had seen both applications and university take-up drop in number significantly. Also on the rise is the number of successful applicants from lower-income backgrounds, an increase credited mainly to the work of widening participation organisations in conjunction with university outreach programmes."

    The squealing seems in fact to be coming from middle class parents.
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    BobaFett said:

    JackW said:

    BobaFett said:

    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
    No, you're too utterly complacent to panic.
    If you think the Nats are complacent you are hopelessly, scarily wrong. They are the most determined electoral fighting force on these islands.
    I think you are misplacing "determined" for noisy and blustering.

    Either way this mornings poll indicates that again the majority of Scots are not swayed. NO will win come 18th September.

    And to paraphrase .... it's suddenly gone quiet over there ....

    It's not wise to underestimate your opponent.

    Or to overestimate them in the light of evidence.

  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    Charles said:

    OT but amused to see a pint pot full of pennies on the bar of my village local in Deep England last week. It was labelled "Help yourself to your tax cut". Price of pint unchanged.

    Cute. And clever business.

    I suspect most people will be slightly embarrassed to take the money, so the pub owner will pocket the tax cut (edit: but without appearing greedy to his customers)

    It's like when WH Smith first launched their honesty boxes for newspaper - they found that their takings went up substantially because people would rather pay £1 (or whatever) than queue to get 20p in change.
    That's a fantastic microeconomic case study Charles. Why don't more shops do similar with other goods? I would be happy to pay more for sundries if I didn't have to queue. At times I have even offered the exact change for an item when rushing for a train but the person on the counter has refused because "I have to scan it". I've ended up leaving the item a number of times...
  • MonksfieldMonksfield Posts: 2,808
    Charles said:

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Sorry, that's BS.

    3x £9,000 = 27,000

    That's slightly more than 1x the national average wage. Most people who want mortgages borrow up to 5x (some borrow more, but that's not usually wise).

    If they can only borrow a smaller amount to buy a house, then - over time - house prices will moderate to compensate*. Which would be a good thing.

    * excluding P/SPL of course because the sources of demand are different
    It's all cumulative though isn't it? You have a vicious cocktail of loans, high asset prices - rentals or mortgages and ongoing pressure on ordinary people's wages. This is going to drag down people's ability to spend in the future as their disposable income is limited. And will hurt the real economy as a result. You say house prices may eventually diminish, but at the moment virtually every pillar of Government policy is specifically designed to prevent this desirable outcome from happening. If on the other hand, a high proportion of loans will never be paid off, then a load of debt will eventually need to be written away, and it will be the taxpayer who does it.
  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    AveryLP said:

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Perhaps you should reflect on why "ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives".

    The answer is very simple.

    In 2000-1, the UK government did not need to borrow a penny to finance its annual expenditure. More than that, the central government net financing requirement showed a surplus of £14.3 billion for the year.

    Move forward ten years to 2009-10 and the annual financing requirement of central government was £218.3 billion.

    And for those who prefer to measure accrued debt as a ratio of GDP rather than annual cash borrowing:

    - in 2000-01 Public Sector Net Debt was 30.1% of GDP.
    - in 2009-10 Public Sector Net Debt was 151.7% of GDP.

    Or in pounds, at the end of March 2010, UK Public Sector Net Debt was £2,228,308,000,000 or 2.2 Trillion. And this figure doesn't include a further £200 billion of Quantitative Easing undertaken by the Bank of England and guaranteed by the taxpayer.

    From boom to bust in under a decade under Gordon and Labour.

    Now who do you think should be blamed for condemning our children and grandchildren to a lifetime of 'debt enslavery'?
    Once more you have accidentally forgotten the role of the global financial crisis in your rush to blame Labour, and nor have you gone back to the indebtedness of the previous Conservative administration, though what any of this has to do with student loans is unclear.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Conversely, I now try to avoid shopping in WH Smiths whenever possible because they so aggressively seek to make you use the self-service tills, which I detest because they almost always go wrong for me. This is no doubt a reflection on my technological savvy, but shops should be dealing with customers as they are, not as they would wish them to be.
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    @Morris
    Thinking about your accounting issues, I note you said that costs aren't a problem, lack of income is. Of course, low income is more of a problem because your costs are too high. You may well be able to save quite a bit by claiming for equipment, heat, light, travel etc. I note you have recently purchased a new computer, for example.
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    antifrank said:

    Conversely, I now try to avoid shopping in WH Smiths whenever possible because they so aggressively seek to make you use the self-service tills, which I detest because they almost always go wrong for me. This is no doubt a reflection on my technological savvy, but shops should be dealing with customers as they are, not as they would wish them to be.

    They always go wrong and it's even worse in shops where you are buying booze. By the time the girl has come over to confirm you are over 18, it's quicker to go through a manner till. Hate the things - just a penny pinching way to save on staff costs.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514
    Charles said:

    Charles said:

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Sorry, that's BS.

    3x £9,000 = 27,000

    That's slightly more than 1x the national average wage. Most people who want mortgages

    * excluding P/SPL of course because the sources of demand are different
    Mr Charles, the Student loan fiasco is a ticking time bomb the size of the NHS computer fiasco and yet consrvatives seem hugely complacent on this.

    It's a vote killer and Willetts should be sacked. The man's an idiot.
    I don't know the details of exactly how the system works, so I'll talk to principals.

    Graduates benefit most from higher education, in terms of increased life opportunities and/or earning potential. It is therefore morally right that they should pay for that education.

    There are, of course, some subjects - principally STEM - where the government may decide that the national interest is to subsidise individuals selecting these degrees and I wouldn't have an issue with that. Similarly, there is a strong national interest in making the system means blind so that everyone can achieve their individual full potential.

    Within those constraints, I don't care precisely how the system is structured, although they way they have done it seems rather complex.
    It's just so much bollocks Charles. The twaddle of graduate salaries is just that. Graduate salaries are skewed by a handful of professions - medicine, law - and the rest tend to be fairly average. The basic laws of supply and demand say make everyone a graduate and there's no reason to pay a premium. We have made out children indentured labour, modern day serfs.

    Lets get back to free Uni fees, let grads study anywhere in the UK and pay for it by slashing the overseas bribes budget.
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    @AF

    They always go wrong and it's even worse in shops where you are buying booze. By the time the girl has come over to confirm you are over 18, it's quicker to go through a manned till. Hate the things - just a penny pinching way to save on staff costs.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,457
    BobaFett said:

    antifrank said:

    Someone has to pay for higher education. At a time when fewer than half the population goes into higher education, it seems appropriate that the cost should be borne at least in part by those that benefit most from that higher education: the students. If they don't in fact benefit particularly from their higher education, perhaps they and we should rethink whether they should be doing it at all in the first place.

    Agree to an extent but fees are now too high - they will act as a disincentive to poorer children so need to come down.
    Labour wanted 50% of teenagers to go to higher education or further education. Not only did they fail to meet that target, but they had no basis of why that target - and not 40%, or 60% - was the magic number.

    It also leads to the utterly fallacious idea that in order to get on, you need a degree. Whilst that is true for some occupations (e.g. law, medicine, architecture), for others it is not. I, for instance, am a pleb who ain't got no degree, yet ah'm doing very well, yes siree.

    Fees is just one problem caused by increasing the number of students so massively.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,950
    edited April 2014
    Mr. Fett, an understandable error but I just had a new OS installed on an old one.

    I just need to sell more books (my expenses, as it were, are very low). I'm hoping 1-4 short stories I'll have out in the next year or so will help to function as advertisements to attract people to my full-size books. There's also a small chance the second Sir Edric comedy will be bundled with the first as a traditionally published book, which would be splendid.

    Edited extra bit: incidentally, thanks for your advice and the sentiment behind it.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514
    AveryLP said:

    Student loans: what a ticking bomb this is. The majority of ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives. God knows how they will be able to afford to have families etc.

    Perhaps you should reflect on why "ordinary middle and working class graduates are going to be enslaved by debt for most of their working lives".

    The answer is very simple.

    In 2000-1, the UK government did not need to borrow a penny to finance its annual expenditure. More than that, the central government net financing requirement showed a surplus of £14.3 billion for the year.

    Move forward ten years to 2009-10 and the annual financing requirement of central government was £218.3 billion.

    And for those who prefer to measure accrued debt as a ratio of GDP rather than annual cash borrowing:

    - in 2000-01 Public Sector Net Debt was 30.1% of GDP.
    - in 2009-10 Public Sector Net Debt was 151.7% of GDP.

    Or in pounds, at the end of March 2010, UK Public Sector Net Debt was £2,228,308,000,000 or 2.2 Trillion. And this figure doesn't include a further £200 billion of Quantitative Easing undertaken by the Bank of England and guaranteed by the taxpayer.

    From boom to bust in under a decade under Gordon and Labour.

    Now who do you think should be blamed for condemning our children and grandchildren to a lifetime of 'debt enslavery'?
    Willetts - he's a Danish king of England. ( anag )
  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    antifrank said:

    Someone has to pay for higher education. At a time when fewer than half the population goes into higher education, it seems appropriate that the cost should be borne at least in part by those that benefit most from that higher education: the students. If they don't in fact benefit particularly from their higher education, perhaps they and we should rethink whether they should be doing it at all in the first place.

    But those words could just as easily be a defence of the old student grant system: if graduates earn more, they'll pay more tax. Or they could defend a graduate tax, which is arguably what the current government should have introduced.

    But Michael Gove, I think, might argue that we all benefit from a better educated and enlightened populace -- the traditional defence of a liberal arts education.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,457
    BobaFett said:

    JackW said:

    BobaFett said:

    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
    No, you're too utterly complacent to panic.
    If you think the Nats are complacent you are hopelessly, scarily wrong. They are the most determined electoral fighting force on these islands.
    I think you are misplacing "determined" for noisy and blustering.

    Either way this mornings poll indicates that again the majority of Scots are not swayed. NO will win come 18th September.

    And to paraphrase .... it's suddenly gone quiet over there ....

    It's not wise to underestimate your opponent.

    That goes for both sides.
  • anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746
    BobaFett said:

    antifrank said:

    Conversely, I now try to avoid shopping in WH Smiths whenever possible because they so aggressively seek to make you use the self-service tills, which I detest because they almost always go wrong for me. This is no doubt a reflection on my technological savvy, but shops should be dealing with customers as they are, not as they would wish them to be.

    Hate the things - just a penny pinching way to save on staff costs.
    I agree with that. But while I avoid them in supermarkets, I always use them in libraries, because there I want to cut costs.

  • IcarusIcarus Posts: 994
    JackW said:

    @Icarus

    Hope you sell the little cottage soon .... but where do the staff live presently ?

    I have no idea where or how the staff manage, Lutterworth does have a Morrison's though - you can see it from the Waitrose car park.

  • Icarus said:

    JackW said:

    @Icarus

    Hope you sell the little cottage soon .... but where do the staff live presently ?

    I have no idea where or how the staff manage, Lutterworth does have a Morrison's though - you can see it from the Waitrose car park.

    I like Morrisons, keeps the riff raff out of my local Waitrose.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,959
    edited April 2014
    The Times front page splash is that George Osborne and Lynton Crosby led a revolt and forced Maria Miller out.

    Edit 14/1 on George Osborne does seem value does it not?

    And I'm doing well with 14/1 tips.
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789

    BobaFett said:

    JackW said:

    BobaFett said:

    TGOHF said:
    Ho ho. We all know who is panicking, and it ain't Yes Scotland.
    No, you're too utterly complacent to panic.
    If you think the Nats are complacent you are hopelessly, scarily wrong. They are the most determined electoral fighting force on these islands.
    I think you are misplacing "determined" for noisy and blustering.

    Either way this mornings poll indicates that again the majority of Scots are not swayed. NO will win come 18th September.

    And to paraphrase .... it's suddenly gone quiet over there ....

    It's not wise to underestimate your opponent.

    That goes for both sides.
    You are the one calling our opponents complacent, not me.
  • antifrank said:

    Conversely, I now try to avoid shopping in WH Smiths whenever possible because they so aggressively seek to make you use the self-service tills, which I detest because they almost always go wrong for me. This is no doubt a reflection on my technological savvy, but shops should be dealing with customers as they are, not as they would wish them to be.

    Tesco are much worse.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,564

    So 2010 Labour voters who lent their vote to the LibDems will take it back? Whodathunkit? I guess the real question is whether the Miliband proposition will be compelling enough to get them to the poll on the day. And whether we have a Farageasm to Hoover up more non-voting in 2010 Labour supporters.....

    I've said for some time that the issue isn't whether the Libdem switchers will vote - they are with the possible exception of UKIP the most politically-motivated part of the electorate. They voted LibDem before even though they knew they wouldn't win, and they recoiled strongly from the coalition.

    The more open question is turnout among traditional "yeah, I suppose so" Labour and Tory voters. That's why GOTV will be crucial (and incidentally why I'm spending 18 months of my life canvassing nearly every weekend - knowing who to get out on polling day is absolutely vital).

  • Survation ‏@Survation 35m

    Using an unrounded comparison month over month, NO is essentially unchanged, YES slips 2 points, undecided makes up the difference +3
This discussion has been closed.