"It's not up to companies to pay more than the market rate unless they want to for specific reasons."
The market rate varies from place to place and so the market rate for someone working as a PA for a director of a major business on Oxford Street (and £25K doesn't sound high at all to me) is going to be higher than for a similar position in a cheaper location.
If businesses want to base themselves in central London they have a responsibility to meet the resulting higher costs themselves and not look for various indirect subsidies from the taxpayer to allow them to do it on the cheap.
Alternatively if they want PAs to be afford to live in a style you see fit on £25K then they can always relocate someone with cheaper property costs.
Would, to take, Charles's example Boots have gone bust if the man paid his PA an extra £5k a year
It would be interesting to know how much the director was getting paid.
I deliberately didn't say "how much the director was earning" as the concept of 'earning' is often a contradiction when applied to the executive class.
@iSam - Why bother having the street names translated if they are all so fluent in English?
In Chinatown it's done for the tourism. I suspect it's the same in the very few streets around Brick Lane (Banglatown) where they do the same thing.
There are more things to buy in Chinatown than a takeaway. In fact, you'd probably struggle to get one there.
You genuinely think the streetnames are in Bengali in East London for tourism purposes?
I think it's a slightly less ridiculous idea than believing that a few street signs are bilingual because there is a serious problem with people in those areas not being able to speak English.
But if everyone speaks English, why have the street signs in any other language? You know as well as I do that Tower Hamlets isn't a tourist attraction in the way that Chinatown is
I think Warner was the most prescient of the pundits;
Jeremy Warner Who will be Prime Minister – and why? David Cameron, because an improving economy will come to his rescue and voters don’t trust Ed Miliband to run the country. What will be their majority? Marginal at best. There would have to be a monumental turnaround in the polls for the Tories to win a big majority. Who will be the star of the campaign? Unlikely though it may seem, George Osborne, who may be a somewhat cold figure, but has earned considerable respect for his handling of the economy.
@Socrates - "If you really think its good for British kids' development when theyre in classes where half the kids aren't speaking English easily, you've clearly never met a teacher that has taught such a class. It sets them back years."
Schools in multi-lingual London tend to significantly outperform schools in other, less multi-lingual parts of the country. See Tower Hamlets, for example.
That may be but I doubt that education standards are high in northern mill towns.
And then there's the issue of Birmingham schools ...
@iSam - Why bother having the street names translated if they are all so fluent in English?
In Chinatown it's done for the tourism. I suspect it's the same in the very few streets around Brick Lane (Banglatown) where they do the same thing.
There are more things to buy in Chinatown than a takeaway. In fact, you'd probably struggle to get one there.
You genuinely think the streetnames are in Bengali in East London for tourism purposes?
I think it's a slightly less ridiculous idea than believing that a few street signs are bilingual because there is a serious problem with people in those areas not being able to speak English.
But if everyone speaks English, why have the street signs in any other language? You know as well as I do that Tower Hamlets isn't a tourist attraction in the way that Chinatown is
Brick Lane and its surroundings most definitely are.
"It's not up to companies to pay more than the market rate unless they want to for specific reasons."
The market rate varies from place to place and so the market rate for someone working as a PA for a director of a major business on Oxford Street (and £25K doesn't sound high at all to me) is going to be higher than for a similar position in a cheaper location.
If businesses want to base themselves in central London they have a responsibility to meet the resulting higher costs themselves and not look for various indirect subsidies from the taxpayer to allow them to do it on the cheap.
Alternatively if they want PAs to be afford to live in a style you see fit on £25K then they can always relocate someone with cheaper property costs.
Would, to take, Charles's example Boots have gone bust if the man paid his PA an extra £5k a year
It would be interesting to know how much the director was getting paid.
I deliberately didn't say "how much the director was earning" as the concept of 'earning' is often a contradiction when applied to the executive class.
@Socrates - "If you really think its good for British kids' development when theyre in classes where half the kids aren't speaking English easily, you've clearly never met a teacher that has taught such a class. It sets them back years."
Schools in multi-lingual London tend to significantly outperform schools in other, less multi-lingual parts of the country. See Tower Hamlets, for example.
That may be but I doubt that education standards are high in northern mill towns.
And then there's the issue of Birmingham schools ...
Agreed. If other parts of the country learned from London's experiences we'd all be a lot better off. But the problems in Brum and the northern mill towns (as well as many less ethnically diverse areas) are not about language, they are about poor governance and lack of ambition. The schools in Tower Hamlets and other multi-lingual London boroughs show what can - and, more importantly, should - be achieved.
@iSam - Why bother having the street names translated if they are all so fluent in English?
In Chinatown it's done for the tourism. I suspect it's the same in the very few streets around Brick Lane (Banglatown) where they do the same thing.
There are more things to buy in Chinatown than a takeaway. In fact, you'd probably struggle to get one there.
You genuinely think the streetnames are in Bengali in East London for tourism purposes?
I think it's a slightly less ridiculous idea than believing that a few street signs are bilingual because there is a serious problem with people in those areas not being able to speak English.
But if everyone speaks English, why have the street signs in any other language? You know as well as I do that Tower Hamlets isn't a tourist attraction in the way that Chinatown is
Brick Lane and its surroundings most definitely are.
"It's not up to companies to pay more than the market rate unless they want to for specific reasons."
The market rate varies from place to place and so the market rate for someone working as a PA for a director of a major business on Oxford Street (and £25K doesn't sound high at all to me) is going to be higher than for a similar position in a cheaper location.
If businesses want to base themselves in central London they have a responsibility to meet the resulting higher costs themselves and not look for various indirect subsidies from the taxpayer to allow them to do it on the cheap.
Alternatively if they want PAs to be afford to live in a style you see fit on £25K then they can always relocate someone with cheaper property costs.
Well said, Mr. Richard! Might I suggest that the level, indeed the existence, of in-work benefits already suggests that many businesses are dependent on taxpayer subsidies and that the market-rate for low to medium paying jobs is nothing of the sort. It is what a business can get away with knowing the taxpayer will make up the difference.
We seem to have got ourselves into a right pickle in the last thirty years or so. Companies claim they can't pay more without driving up prices so the taxpayer steps in which pushes up taxes and lowers the money available for public spending on essential services and those benefits largely ending up in the pockets of the already wealthy who are the ones saying we can't pay more otherwise prices will have to go up and they will go out of business.
Somehow we need to break the cycle. God knows how that is to be done, though. Personally, I think Miliband was onto something with his pre-distribution (would, to take, Charles's example Boots have gone bust if the man paid his PA an extra £5k a year), but he fecked up the presentation and then seemed to forget about it. Maybe slashing in-work benefits would force companies to step up to the plate but the howls of pain in the transition period would be so horrendous no politician would dare to contemplate it.
I didn't forget about it Mr Llama, but you wouldn't expect me to post during the sermon would you? (It's the anthem now so can get away with it).
One point of clarification - on reflection he was talking about pool PAs not his personal one. Doesn't change the principle though.
For me, generally, everything is too expensive in this country. Housing/property is the big one, but tax is another killer. If housing costs were lower and tax more reasonable then people could have a decent standard of living on a reasonable wage.
"It's not up to companies to pay more than the market rate unless they want to for specific reasons."
The market rate varies from place to place and so the market rate for someone working as a PA for a director of a major business on Oxford Street (and £25K doesn't sound high at all to me) is going to be higher than for a similar position in a cheaper location.
If businesses want to base themselves in central London they have a responsibility to meet the resulting higher costs themselves and not look for various indirect subsidies from the taxpayer to allow them to do it on the cheap.
Alternatively if they want PAs to be afford to live in a style you see fit on £25K then they can always relocate someone with cheaper property costs.
Well said, Mr. Richard! Might I suggest that the level, indeed the existence, of in-work benefits already suggests that many businesses are dependent on taxpayer subsidies and that the market-rate for low to medium paying jobs is nothing of the sort. It is what a business can get away with knowing the taxpayer will make up the difference.
We seem to have got ourselves into a right pickle in the last thirty years or so. Companies claim they can't pay more without driving up prices so the taxpayer steps in which pushes up taxes and lowers the money available for public spending on essential services and those benefits largely ending up in the pockets of the already wealthy who are the ones saying we can't pay more otherwise prices will have to go up and they will go out of business.
Somehow we need to break the cycle. God knows how that is to be done, though. Personally, I think Miliband was onto something with his pre-distribution (would, to take, Charles's example Boots have gone bust if the man paid his PA an extra £5k a year), but he fecked up the presentation and then seemed to forget about it. Maybe slashing in-work benefits would force companies to step up to the plate but the howls of pain in the transition period would be so horrendous no politician would dare to contemplate it.
The only way I can think of to square this circle is determined action to reduce living costs. If a government was able to reduce housing, energy and transport costs then it would be able to reduce in-work benefits without it causing hardship to working people.
The other thing to do would be to make Unions [a bit] more powerful so that employees were able to bargain for higher wages with their employers - and then you could reduce in-work benefits.
good old Paddy pants down, that's Lib Dems for you as bent as three bob bits
Ashdown has and the late Robin Cook had the measure of the perennially wrong Salmond;
" The events leading up to Kosovo showed that Salmond was, in the words of the late Robin Cook, “unfit to lead”.
He (Salmond) said then, “Let me see if I am right”. He was not. Once again, he is on the wrong side of human rights groups and civil society."
Him and paddy would have been great pals, both had issues keeping the trousers up. I am afraid that a rat that did not have the courage to tell his wife he was planning to leave her for his fancy piece until rumbled by the newspapers is not a man I would take lectures from on principles. Usual unprincipled , two faced labour MP , morals and principals free. You have some strange hero's Monica, both lying , cheating unprincipled , self seeking chancers whose word you could never trust.
I have no interest in the private lives of these men. It's their public performances that concern me.
"It's not up to companies to pay more than the market rate unless they want to for specific reasons."
The market rate varies from place to place and so the market rate for someone working as a PA for a director of a major business on Oxford Street (and £25K doesn't sound high at all to me) is going to be higher than for a similar position in a cheaper location.
If businesses want to base themselves in central London they have a responsibility to meet the resulting higher costs themselves and not look for various indirect subsidies from the taxpayer to allow them to do it on the cheap.
Alternatively if they want PAs to be afford to live in a style you see fit on £25K then they can always relocate someone with cheaper property costs.
Would, to take, Charles's example Boots have gone bust if the man paid his PA an extra £5k a year
It would be interesting to know how much the director was getting paid.
I deliberately didn't say "how much the director was earning" as the concept of 'earning' is often a contradiction when applied to the executive class.
Of course the CEO of Boots is well paid. And earned his money.
@iSam - Why bother having the street names translated if they are all so fluent in English?
In Chinatown it's done for the tourism. I suspect it's the same in the very few streets around Brick Lane (Banglatown) where they do the same thing.
There are more things to buy in Chinatown than a takeaway. In fact, you'd probably struggle to get one there.
You genuinely think the streetnames are in Bengali in East London for tourism purposes?
I think it's a slightly less ridiculous idea than believing that a few street signs are bilingual because there is a serious problem with people in those areas not being able to speak English.
But if everyone speaks English, why have the street signs in any other language? You know as well as I do that Tower Hamlets isn't a tourist attraction in the way that Chinatown is
Brick Lane and its surroundings most definitely are.
Chinatown is a tourist attraction because of the Chinese element
Spitalfields and Brick Lane aren't tourist attractions because of the Bengali element
The street signs are in Chinese in Chinatown, for tourism , yes quite possibly
They aren't in Bengali in Tower Hamlets for that reason though
We will have to agree to disagree. I see Banglatown and the Curry Mile as tourism initiatives - and pretty successful ones at that. If you don't, fair enough.
The most tedious things to do on "PoliticalBetting.com"
Trying to understand anything I post when not sober,
Trying to understand anything posted by :tumbleweed:, and
Making any sense of an OGH thread-header.
I reckon - and this is a spit-in-the-wind - that Liverpool will win the PL (FFS); Labour will not win as many seats in the Council-Elections; Gerrard will be the second English captain to raise the World-Cup; Scotland will be pished-off; Scotland wil be pi%hed; Scotland will be - errm, bu99er; what is the word... forgotten; and, finally, that oil-prices will fall below $80/barrel [Brent-crude mix] and England's Pound Sterling will hit around $1.85 by New Year (2015).
The only way I can think of to square this circle is determined action to reduce living costs. If a government was able to reduce housing, energy and transport costs then it would be able to reduce in-work benefits without it causing hardship to working people.
The other thing to do would be to make Unions [a bit] more powerful so that employees were able to bargain for higher wages with their employers - and then you could reduce in-work benefits.
Politicians can teach us a lot.This afternoon when my football team are,I fear,going to be relegated,I will put my fingers in my ears and go-la-la-la for a couple of hours as an avoidance of facing the obvious truth.
"It's not up to companies to pay more than the market rate unless they want to for specific reasons."
The market rate varies from place to place and so the market rate for someone working as a PA for a director of a major business on Oxford Street (and £25K doesn't sound high at all to me) is going to be higher than for a similar position in a cheaper location.
If businesses want to base themselves in central London they have a responsibility to meet the resulting higher costs themselves and not look for various indirect subsidies from the taxpayer to allow them to do it on the cheap.
Alternatively if they want PAs to be afford to live in a style you see fit on £25K then they can always relocate someone with cheaper property costs.
Well said, Mr. Richard! Might I suggest that the level, indeed the existence, of in-work benefits already suggests that many businesses are dependent on taxpayer subsidies and that the market-rate for low to medium paying jobs is nothing of the sort. It is what a business can get away with knowing the taxpayer will make up the difference.
We seem to have got ourselves into a right pickle in the last thirty years or so. Companies claim they can't pay more without driving up prices so the taxpayer steps in which pushes up taxes and lowers the money available for public spending on essential services and those benefits largely ending up in the pockets of the already wealthy who are the ones saying we can't pay more otherwise prices will have to go up and they will go out of business.
Somehow we need to break the cycle. God knows how that is to be done, though. Personally, I think Miliband was onto something with his pre-distribution (would, to take, Charles's example Boots have gone bust if the man paid his PA an extra £5k a year), but he fecked up the presentation and then seemed to forget about it. Maybe slashing in-work benefits would force companies to step up to the plate but the howls of pain in the transition period would be so horrendous no politician would dare to contemplate it.
I didn't forget about it Mr Llama, but you wouldn't expect me to post during the sermon would you? (It's the anthem now so can get away with it).
One point of clarification - on reflection he was talking about pool PAs not his personal one. Doesn't change the principle though.
For me, generally, everything is too expensive in this country. Housing/property is the big one, but tax is another killer. If housing costs were lower and tax more reasonable then people could have a decent standard of living on a reasonable wage.
It's because this nation has an unhealthy fascination with property regrettably egged on by its banks.
Remarkable to think the Conservatives could be "pleased" to be polling at 22-23% in a national election - the worst performance I can recall was the 1995 local elections when the Party lost 2,000 Councillors in a single night.
On other matters, interesting to see the Conservative poster in the Halal butcher's near me is in Arabic while the one in the Tamil hairdressers is in English.
Looking at the candidates in my Ward for the May 22nd local election (which might prop up turnout in the European elections in London), the four parties (including CPA) have chosen slates from different ethnic groups.
It's because this nation has an unhealthy fascination with property regrettably egged on by its banks.
That and the building restrictions. Reduce supply and you will increase prices.
Basically there was a secular change in housing demand - driven by divorces and later marriages/pairing primarily - but supply didn't catch up. This was then exacerbated by the availability of cheap finance
It's because this nation has an unhealthy fascination with property regrettably egged on by its banks.
That and the building restrictions. Reduce supply and you will increase prices.
Basically there was a secular change in housing demand - driven by divorces and later marriages/pairing primarily - but supply didn't catch up. This was then exacerbated by the availability of cheap finance
I'm afraid so and you can chuck 4 million immigrants into the pot too. In summary we need to build about 2 million houses to get house price inflation back under control.
@Socrates - "If you really think its good for British kids' development when theyre in classes where half the kids aren't speaking English easily, you've clearly never met a teacher that has taught such a class. It sets them back years."
Schools in multi-lingual London tend to significantly outperform schools in other, less multi-lingual parts of the country. See Tower Hamlets, for example.
The schools in Tower Hamlets are dragged up by the high performing kids of wealthy bankers. You really are intentionally putting your head in the sand if you think kids' development literacy and communication skills isn't retarded by most of the other children in their class speaking a language other than English first and foremost.
Seriously, go and speak to some teachers who have taught such classes. You won't find one that argues otherwise.
"It's not up to companies to pay more than the market rate unless they want to for specific reasons."
The market rate varies from place to place and so the market rate for someone working as a PA for a director of a major business on Oxford Street (and £25K doesn't sound high at all to me) is going to be higher than for a similar position in a cheaper location.
If businesses want to base themselves in central London they have a responsibility to meet the resulting higher costs themselves and not look for various indirect subsidies from the taxpayer to allow them to do it on the cheap.
Alternatively if they want PAs to be afford to live in a style you see fit on £25K then they can always relocate someone with cheaper property costs.
Would, to take, Charles's example Boots have gone bust if the man paid his PA an extra £5k a year
It would be interesting to know how much the director was getting paid.
I deliberately didn't say "how much the director was earning" as the concept of 'earning' is often a contradiction when applied to the executive class.
Of course the CEO of Boots is well paid. And earned his money.
It's because this nation has an unhealthy fascination with property regrettably egged on by its banks.
OK, but how do you stop it? In particular, how can a government stop it and still win an election?
Build houses Mr L it's the only way. Supply and demand are dangerously out of line hence asset inflation. HMG could consider free up more land for construction, ease planning rules and stop subsidising buy to let.
Interesting information,including that of high turnover.Voter registration in the changed electoral registration system will make the formulation and compilation of the next electoral register crucial.It's bound to be a factor in GE2015.This could explain,partially at least,the Axelrod connection for Labour. I've been an electoral registration canvasser,chasing up and chasing down.Councils are going to need plenty this year and for anyone interested in the electoral process it's a good way to find out.I was on £1.80p for each return form and made enough for 2 weeks in Corfu.
The common link run through the Telegraph punditry is that UKIP will fail to deliver.
Maybe UKIP as a political force is here to stay and will break out beyond the Euro elections where it has traditionally done well. But rather than seeing the Tories as lending UKIP their votes in the Euros, I wonder whether it might be better to think of UKIP lending their votes to the Tories in the GE?
The Poles that I meet seem to be integratiing very well, though a distinct community. In twenty years they will be indistinguishable from other Britons, like the earlier wave of postwar settlement, apart from strange customs such as carp for Christmas dinner. Definitely worse than Turkey!
Perhaps but they do make up for it with Bigos which is perhaps one of the greatest dishes known to all mankind.
There's also the problem that language and identity are so closely related. If you don't naturally communicate in the language of the country you're in, you identify less with other types of people from the same nation.
Page 13 here shows how certain immigrant groups think of the West, Jews and homosexuals, for example:
@ Isam – et.al’ - How many bi-lingual street signs are there in and around London’s east end, apart from Brick Lane and Fournier Street?
Maggie's mob put one up at Southall train-station. No problem with that. [Most multi-culti crap is disappearing about Lewisham/Greenwich thankfully...!]
@Socrates - "If you really think its good for British kids' development when theyre in classes where half the kids aren't speaking English easily, you've clearly never met a teacher that has taught such a class. It sets them back years."
Schools in multi-lingual London tend to significantly outperform schools in other, less multi-lingual parts of the country. See Tower Hamlets, for example.
The schools in Tower Hamlets are dragged up by the high performing kids of wealthy bankers. You really are intentionally putting your head in the sand if you think kids' development literacy and communication skills isn't retarded by most of the other children in their class speaking a language other than English first and foremost.
Seriously, go and speak to some teachers who have taught such classes. You won't find one that argues otherwise.
Do you know anything at all about Tower Hamlets? The idea its schools are full of the high-performing children of wealthy bankers is laughable.
In 1998, schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets were performing poorly. Despite spending more on education than any other local authority in England, results were well below the national average. OFSTED ranked Tower Hamlets as the worst performing of 149 boroughs nationwide. By 2013 the position had been transformed: Tower Hamlets, still one of the poorest boroughs in England, returned GCSE results above the national average. Every maintained secondary school had been judged either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, and the gap between the performance of children on free schools meals and their peers was only 7 percentage points compared to a national gap of 23 points.
"Sophy Ridge @SophyRidgeSky May 2009 EU election launch, Cameron: Vote Tory to get a referendum. May 2014, EU election launch Cameron: vote Tory to get a referendum"
There's also the problem that language and identity are so closely related. If you don't naturally communicate in the language of the country you're in, you identify less with other types of people from the same nation.
Page 13 here shows how certain immigrant groups think of the West, Jews and homosexuals, for example:
It doesn't say anything about whether they can speak the local language or not. The London bombers were all fluent English speakers, with regional accents as far as I remember.
good old Paddy pants down, that's Lib Dems for you as bent as three bob bits
Ashdown has and the late Robin Cook had the measure of the perennially wrong Salmond;
" The events leading up to Kosovo showed that Salmond was, in the words of the late Robin Cook, “unfit to lead”.
He (Salmond) said then, “Let me see if I am right”. He was not. Once again, he is on the wrong side of human rights groups and civil society."
Him and paddy would have been great pals, both had issues keeping the trousers up. I am afraid that a rat that did not have the courage to tell his wife he was planning to leave her for his fancy piece until rumbled by the newspapers is not a man I would take lectures from on principles. Usual unprincipled , two faced labour MP , morals and principals free. You have some strange hero's Monica, both lying , cheating unprincipled , self seeking chancers whose word you could never trust.
I have no interest in the private lives of these men. It's their public performances that concern me.
Both found wanting in private and in public. Why do you think a lying cheating fake in private is anything different in public, it is what they are/were, both useless lying unprincipled losers.
There's also the problem that language and identity are so closely related. If you don't naturally communicate in the language of the country you're in, you identify less with other types of people from the same nation.
Page 13 here shows how certain immigrant groups think of the West, Jews and homosexuals, for example:
It doesn't say anything about whether they can speak the local language or not. The London bombers were all fluent English speakers, with regional accents as far as I remember.
Also I'm pretty sure that they also have gay people in Turkey and Morocco, and they speak the same languages as straight, religious people from Turkey and Morocco, so it seems a bit weird to blame the homophobia of the latter on a lack of mutual identification resulting from some hypothetical language barrier.
An American company wants to buy a British company to reduce their tax bill.
This means that the company itself is of secondary importance, and while this may not lead to underinvestment or asset stripping, having a closer look at their intentions might be a good idea. And given the promises of certain Royal Mail preferred bidders to hold on to their stock as a "long term investment", some cast iron guarantees might be advisable?
The most tedious things to do on "PoliticalBetting.com"
Trying to understand anything I post when not sober,
Trying to understand anything posted by :tumbleweed:, and
Making any sense of an OGH thread-header.
I reckon - and this is a spit-in-the-wind - that Liverpool will win the PL (FFS); Labour will not win as many seats in the Council-Elections; Gerrard will be the second English captain to raise the World-Cup; Scotland will be pished-off; Scotland wil be pi%hed; Scotland will be - errm, bu99er; what is the word... forgotten; and, finally, that oil-prices will fall below $80/barrel [Brent-crude mix] and England's Pound Sterling will hit around $1.85 by New Year (2015).
Meanwhile back in the real world........every one of the forecasts are absolute bollocks, hopefully you are not sober or I would worry about your sanity
@ Isam – et.al’ - How many bi-lingual street signs are there in and around London’s east end, apart from Brick Lane and Fournier Street?
[Most multi-culti crap is disappearing about Lewisham/Greenwich thankfully...!]
Very reassuring to hear that - my earliest memories from the 70s of this kind of nonsense was the desire by local councils to change old English street names, to that of dead communists and brigands. - Liverpool's John Lennon drive and Paul McCartney Way, was the thin edge of the wedge and has a lot to answer for..!
An American company wants to buy a British company to reduce their tax bill.
This means that the company itself is of secondary importance, and while this may not lead to underinvestment or asset stripping, having a closer look at their intentions might be a good idea. And given the promises of certain Royal Mail preferred bidders to hold on to their stock as a "long term investment", some cast iron guarantees might be advisable?
If EdM were serious he'd re-introduce Clause IV but he isn't serious, he's crap.
"I didn't forget about it Mr Llama, but you wouldn't expect me to post during the sermon would you? (It's the anthem now so can get away with it)."
Go to the 8 o'clock, Mr. Charles, then you don't have to worry, especially with a BCP service.
I prefer Choral Matins to be honest - that nice Mr Cameron goes to the 8am and I'd rather not have to face him at that time of the morning
Choral Matins! By the cringe, I thought that had been abolished when the CofE got fixated by Eucharistic services (part of its long term programme to abolish itself). Still, I suppose there must be some churches holding out against the tide.
As a lad I used to go to All Saints, Wandsworth for Choral Matins, which started at 11:00 and finished at 11:50, and for years I wondered for years why the men never used to walk back up the hill with the women and children but arrived home a hour or so later.
An American company wants to buy a British company to reduce their tax bill.
This means that the company itself is of secondary importance, and while this may not lead to underinvestment or asset stripping, having a closer look at their intentions might be a good idea. And given the promises of certain Royal Mail preferred bidders to hold on to their stock as a "long term investment", some cast iron guarantees might be advisable?
If you note, when this was announced earlier in the week I expressed doubts about the deal, mainly from drug development and competition standpoints (although I am far from an expert in this area). So I'm not necessarily in favour of the bid going ahead.
However, screeching for yet another inquiry is stupid. An inquiry would take forever, cost a fortune, and just come up with whatever the bounds of the inquiry state. And all to allow Miliband to gurn to the cameras whilst screaming about the iniquity of big companies.
And the killer is this: if we are ever unfortunate enough to see Ed in Number Ten, he will not be calling for, or launching inquiries, unless they can be a Hutton-style stitch-up.
It's because this nation has an unhealthy fascination with property regrettably egged on by its banks.
OK, but how do you stop it? In particular, how can a government stop it and still win an election?
Build houses Mr L it's the only way. Supply and demand are dangerously out of line hence asset inflation. HMG could consider free up more land for construction, ease planning rules and stop subsidising buy to let.
No, Mr. B., it is not the only way. At the moment we seem to have a supply and demand mismatch in that there areas in the North where one could buy a whole street for the price of a 3 bed semi in parts of the South. Exporting surplus population from the South to the North would perhaps be a good idea. Not going to work for working people, God knows we have tried that idea for long enough, but how about people like me. Make it attractive enough for the old 'uns to leave their too large properties in the South to more sensibly sized, for their needs, properties in the North and we will do so.
@ Isam – et.al’ - How many bi-lingual street signs are there in and around London’s east end, apart from Brick Lane and Fournier Street?
[Most multi-culti crap is disappearing about Lewisham/Greenwich thankfully...!]
Very reassuring to hear that - my earliest memories from the 70s of this kind of nonsense was the desire by local councils to change old English street names, to that of dead communists and brigands. - Liverpool's John Lennon drive and Paul McCartney Way, was the thin edge of the wedge and has a lot to answer for..!
Don't speak too soon
"Among the new names which reflect Britain's multicultural society are Masjid Lane, in Tower Hamlets, east London, which uses the Arabic term for mosque.
In Lewisham, south London, a development has been named Khadija Walk, using the name of the prophet Mohammed's first wife, the first person after him to convert to Islam.
In Oldham, there is an Allama Iqbal Road, named after Sir Muhammad Iqbal, the early twentieth century poet and politician from British India, who was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilisation.
A nearby street is called Jinnah Close, after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the modern state of Pakistan. Neither man was noted for his close links to the Lancashire town, although the area does have a large Asian population. "
"Sophy Ridge @SophyRidgeSky May 2009 EU election launch, Cameron: Vote Tory to get a referendum. May 2014, EU election launch Cameron: vote Tory to get a referendum"
And if enough people had voted Tory, soi that they formed a majority after 2010, then you might have got one.
But we did get a referendum on AV.
So it seems we can have a referendum on things if Cameron wanted it.
Yet another person who does not understand coalition politics ...
I understand it rather better than you.
Really? Then how come you never show any indication of knowing anything about it?
Oooo an insult, aren't you the hard man.
I notice you don't address - and deliberately delete - the substantive point I made.
So I'll repeat it:
" clearly the LibDems wanted a referendum on AV far more than Cameron wanted a referendum on the EU "
If an EU referendum had been a fundamental issue for Cameron then we would have had one or there would have been a Conservative minority government. But it wasn't so we didn't.. On the other hand an AV referendum was a fundamental issue for the LibDems and so we had one.
You were once an interesting PBer, that you're now reduced to being a 'my party good your party bad' bleater is sad.
Might I suggest you go walking for a few weeks to refresh yourself.
And with that I'll refresh myself for the rest of the day.
Get the feeling most of those "predictions" are based on what the pundit's want to happen, including Fraser rooting for Ed and Dan rooting for Dave, LOL.
Sunday lunch calls (roast pork with all the trimmings- Huzzah!). My thanks to all for another Sundays Morning's worth of interesting conversation, I really do think its the best time of the week on here.
@ Isam – et.al’ - How many bi-lingual street signs are there in and around London’s east end, apart from Brick Lane and Fournier Street?
[Most multi-culti crap is disappearing about Lewisham/Greenwich thankfully...!]
Very reassuring to hear that - my earliest memories from the 70s of this kind of nonsense was the desire by local councils to change old English street names, to that of dead communists and brigands. - Liverpool's John Lennon drive and Paul McCartney Way, was the thin edge of the wedge and has a lot to answer for..!
Don't speak too soon
I trust there aren't any "bungalows" on those roads.......
@ Isam – et.al’ - How many bi-lingual street signs are there in and around London’s east end, apart from Brick Lane and Fournier Street?
[Most multi-culti crap is disappearing about Lewisham/Greenwich thankfully...!]
Very reassuring to hear that - my earliest memories from the 70s of this kind of nonsense was the desire by local councils to change old English street names, to that of dead communists and brigands. - Liverpool's John Lennon drive and Paul McCartney Way, was the thin edge of the wedge and has a lot to answer for..!
Don't speak too soon
I trust there aren't any "bungalows" on those roads.......
Biggest upset would be caused by a “yes” vote in the Scottish referendum. Cameron would feel obliged to resign, significant economic uncertainties would be created and it would raise big questions about the length of the next parliament.
I saw a certain forlorn look on her face: a poignant expression which said - one day my kids will forget Polish, and I won't be able to talk to them in their mother tongue. And she was right. They will forget Polish, just as they will forget Punjabi, Swahili, Chinese and Arabic.
Yet, sixty years after the mass migration from the Indian subcontinent to Tower Hamlets, they still have Bengali translators at polling stations, and street signs in foreign languages.
That's because we are still getting new immigrants from the subcontinent, not because vast numbers of third generation immigrants haven't learned English. Apart from a few stay at home mums it just doesn't happen. People are DESPERATE to learn English around the world, the fact Britain speaks English is one of the main reasons we are such a magnet for migrants: they know that their kids will grow up speaking the global language, which will give them a head start in life.
The problem in my area is arrange marriages,nearly all in the streets round me the British Asian sons and daughters have married someone from the subcontinent,how good is this for they kids to learn English.
While we are on about integration of our communities,I live near the area of manningham in Bradford,do we remember the manningham riots.
I remember what came from a report on this was we needed integration more in our schools and housing with our british Asian/white communities,so what do we get 10 years later,the white flight of white English people my area and large immigration from eastern Europe of the roma community,just brilliant.
Never trust a sub-editor's summary. The article says employment (not unemployment) among people who don't speak English is 48%. A lot of the other 52% will non-active, rather than unemployed, eg old people or stay-at-home mums. This may suck for them, especially if they're not around other people outside home who they share a non-English language with, but it's a different thing to unemployment.
In Lewisham, south London, a development has been named Khadija Walk, using the name of the prophet Mohammed's first wife, the first person after him to convert to Islam.
Perhaps they could rename a road with a primary school Aisha Street after the girl he was engaged to when she was 6 years old and he was 51?
"Sophy Ridge @SophyRidgeSky May 2009 EU election launch, Cameron: Vote Tory to get a referendum. May 2014, EU election launch Cameron: vote Tory to get a referendum"
And if enough people had voted Tory, soi that they formed a majority after 2010, then you might have got one.
But we did get a referendum on AV.
So it seems we can have a referendum on things if Cameron wanted it.
Yet another person who does not understand coalition politics ...
I understand it rather better than you.
Really? Then how come you never show any indication of knowing anything about it?
Oooo an insult, aren't you the hard man.
I notice you don't address - and deliberately delete - the substantive point I made.
So I'll repeat it:
" clearly the LibDems wanted a referendum on AV far more than Cameron wanted a referendum on the EU "
If an EU referendum had been a fundamental issue for Cameron then we would have had one or there would have been a Conservative minority government. But it wasn't so we didn't.. On the other hand an AV referendum was a fundamental issue for the LibDems and so we had one.
You were once an interesting PBer, that you're now reduced to being a 'my party good your party bad' bleater is sad.
Might I suggest you go walking for a few weeks to refresh yourself.
And with that I'll refresh myself for the rest of the day.
Right, the EU referendum for a PR referendum deal was probably doable in 2010. Maybe in 2015 they'll actually do it.
It's because this nation has an unhealthy fascination with property regrettably egged on by its banks.
OK, but how do you stop it? In particular, how can a government stop it and still win an election?
But the Bank of England have just told us, Mr. Brooke, that mortgages are falling both in number and value:
The number of mortgages approved for home lending decreased to 67,135, from 69,592 in the month before (consensus: 72,000). The value of the same fell to £10.7bn, from £11.2bn.
Whatever is driving the current prices rises in residential property it is definitely not increased mortgage lending.
[A bit of a traditional pre-Spring fall probably accounts for the net contraction over the past three months, but even after allowing for seasonal variation price rises in the housing market are not being driven by proportional increases in bank lending].
I saw a certain forlorn look on her face: a poignant expression which said - one day my kids will forget Polish, and I won't be able to talk to them in their mother tongue. And she was right. They will forget Polish, just as they will forget Punjabi, Swahili, Chinese and Arabic.
Yet, sixty years after the mass migration from the Indian subcontinent to Tower Hamlets, they still have Bengali translators at polling stations, and street signs in foreign languages.
That's because we are still getting new immigrants from the subcontinent, not because vast numbers of third generation immigrants haven't learned English. Apart from a few stay at home mums it just doesn't happen. People are DESPERATE to learn English around the world, the fact Britain speaks English is one of the main reasons we are such a magnet for migrants: they know that their kids will grow up speaking the global language, which will give them a head start in life.
The problem in my area is arrange marriages,nearly all in the streets round me the British Asian sons and daughters have married someone from the subcontinent,how good is this for they kids to learn English.
While we are on about integration of our communities,I live near the area of manningham in Bradford,do we remember the manningham riots.
I remember what came from a report on this was we needed integration more in our schools and housing with our british Asian/white communities,so what do we get 10 years later,the white flight of white English people my area and large immigration from eastern Europe of the roma community,just brilliant.
Integration mr ar$e,more like the wild west.
About 50 percent of British Pakistani males marry someone from Pakistan. 5 percent marry a Briton from another ethnic group. This is sixty years after they first came here in large numbers. How's that for integration?
Personally I think people should have to lived together for two years to get a marriage visa. That would stop a lot of arranged marriages like this. Also bring back the primary purpose rule, which the Tories are too cowardly to.
"Sophy Ridge @SophyRidgeSky May 2009 EU election launch, Cameron: Vote Tory to get a referendum. May 2014, EU election launch Cameron: vote Tory to get a referendum"
And if enough people had voted Tory, soi that they formed a majority after 2010, then you might have got one.
But we did get a referendum on AV.
So it seems we can have a referendum on things if Cameron wanted it.
Yet another person who does not understand coalition politics ...
I understand it rather better than you.
Really? Then how come you never show any indication of knowing anything about it?
Oooo an insult, aren't you the hard man.
I notice you don't address - and deliberately delete - the substantive point I made.
So I'll repeat it:
" clearly the LibDems wanted a referendum on AV far more than Cameron wanted a referendum on the EU "
If an EU referendum had been a fundamental issue for Cameron then we would have had one or there would have been a Conservative minority government. But it wasn't so we didn't.. On the other hand an AV referendum was a fundamental issue for the LibDems and so we had one.
You were once an interesting PBer, that you're now reduced to being a 'my party good your party bad' bleater is sad.
Might I suggest you go walking for a few weeks to refresh yourself.
And with that I'll refresh myself for the rest of the day.
Right, the EU referendum for a PR referendum deal was probably doable in 2010. Maybe in 2015 they'll actually do it.
I don't think the LibDems WANTED a referendum on AV; I strongly suspect that was the best they could get. Whether a referendum on a proper PR system was a quid pro quo for one on Europe I've no idea. We'll have to wait for Cameron or Clegg's memoirs.
"Sophy Ridge @SophyRidgeSky May 2009 EU election launch, Cameron: Vote Tory to get a referendum. May 2014, EU election launch Cameron: vote Tory to get a referendum"
And if enough people had voted Tory, soi that they formed a majority after 2010, then you might have got one.
But we did get a referendum on AV.
So it seems we can have a referendum on things if Cameron wanted it.
Yet another person who does not understand coalition politics ...
I understand it rather better than you.
Really? Then how come you never show any indication of knowing anything about it?
Oooo an insult, aren't you the hard man.
I notice you don't address - and deliberately delete - the substantive point I made.
So I'll repeat it:
" clearly the LibDems wanted a referendum on AV far more than Cameron wanted a referendum on the EU "
If an EU referendum had been a fundamental issue for Cameron then we would have had one or there would have been a Conservative minority government. But it wasn't so we didn't.. On the other hand an AV referendum was a fundamental issue for the LibDems and so we had one.
You were once an interesting PBer, that you're now reduced to being a 'my party good your party bad' bleater is sad.
Might I suggest you go walking for a few weeks to refresh yourself.
And with that I'll refresh myself for the rest of the day.
Right, the EU referendum for a PR referendum deal was probably doable in 2010. Maybe in 2015 they'll actually do it.
I don't think the LibDems WANTED a referendum on AV; I strongly suspect that was the best they could get. Whether a referendum on a proper PR system was a quid pro quo for one on Europe I've no idea. We'll have to wait for Cameron or Clegg's memoirs.
An EU referendum was the pressure valve for all the Cons backbenchers who found themselves in an NOM situation, blamed Cameron and started to sulk.
Of course there has always been discord in the Cons ranks about europe but it was the easiest route to say "**** you" to Cam after his "failure" to win the election.
And of course as it wasn't and isn't an LD priority (other than they want to remain in) it wasn't in the (IMO v impressive and timely) "four points response" which gained Cam the coalition.
Re the Malaysian flight. I heard a very well informed opinion, last week, that the flight was hijacked and then shot down by a no-nonsense government, and the search is a risible, international cover-up to calm the horses.
Caveat emptor.
http://www.pprune.org/ is still talking about a fire. That, of course, doesn't mean that Mr T's source isn't right.
Re the Malaysian flight. I heard a very well informed opinion, last week, that the flight was hijacked and then shot down by a no-nonsense government, and the search is a risible, international cover-up to calm the horses.
Caveat emptor.
There is certainly one European intelligence service who reportedly believe that some of their erstwhile counterparts elsewhere know what happened but are keeping quiet.
"Sophy Ridge @SophyRidgeSky May 2009 EU election launch, Cameron: Vote Tory to get a referendum. May 2014, EU election launch Cameron: vote Tory to get a referendum"
And if enough people had voted Tory, soi that they formed a majority after 2010, then you might have got one.
But we did get a referendum on AV.
So it seems we can have a referendum on things if Cameron wanted it.
Yet another person who does not understand coalition politics ...
I understand it rather better than you.
Really? Then how come you never show any indication of knowing anything about it?
Oooo an insult, aren't you the hard man.
I notice you don't address - and deliberately delete - the substantive point I made.
So I'll repeat it:
" clearly the LibDems wanted a referendum on AV far more than Cameron wanted a referendum on the EU "
If an EU referendum had been a fundamental issue for Cameron then we would have had one or there would have been a Conservative minority government. But it wasn't so we didn't.. On the other hand an AV referendum was a fundamental issue for the LibDems and so we had one.
You were once an interesting PBer, that you're now reduced to being a 'my party good your party bad' bleater is sad.
Might I suggest you go walking for a few weeks to refresh yourself.
And with that I'll refresh myself for the rest of the day.
Oh come on, you class that as an insult? It sounds like you might have had a few too many refreshments already.
Re the Malaysian flight. I heard a very well informed opinion, last week, that the flight was hijacked and then shot down by a no-nonsense government, and the search is a risible, international cover-up to calm the horses.
Caveat emptor.
There is certainly one European intelligence service who reportedly believe that some of their erstwhile counterparts elsewhere know what happened but are keeping quiet.
I would guess the Aussies aren't in on the deception. Not sure who in SE Asia would be able to keep schtum for that long.
And welcome to pb.com Mr./Miss Sarissa. Delightful name.
Not if you were on the receiving end - It was the 18 foot long pike used by the phalanxes in Alexander the Great's army!>
Amd welcome too - it's nice to see fresh opinions and comments and alert commentators. (My comment was very much intended as a sequel to yours, rather than anything else.)
@Yokel Midday has come and gone for Adams with no hint of a decision to charge or to release him. In theory, the PSNI could apply to a County Court Judge for a second warrant authorising a further custody extension under Part III of Schedule 8 to the 2000 Act? That would be bound to rile the Fenians even further... The deadline is 8 pm.
"It's not up to companies to pay more than the market rate unless they want to for specific reasons."
The market rate varies from place to place and so the market rate for someone working as a PA for a director of a major business on Oxford Street (and £25K doesn't sound high at all to me) is going to be higher than for a similar position in a cheaper location.
If businesses want to base themselves in central London they have a responsibility to meet the resulting higher costs themselves and not look for various indirect subsidies from the taxpayer to allow them to do it on the cheap.
Alternatively if they want PAs to be afford to live in a style you see fit on £25K then they can always relocate someone with cheaper property costs.
Would, to take, Charles's example Boots have gone bust if the man paid his PA an extra £5k a year
It would be interesting to know how much the director was getting paid.
I deliberately didn't say "how much the director was earning" as the concept of 'earning' is often a contradiction when applied to the executive class.
Of course the CEO of Boots is well paid. And earned his money.
Do you think all CEOs earn their money ?
Not all CEOs, but it is up to shareholders how much they want to pay their CEOs
Scottish historian Allan Massie has fun with some tongue-in-cheek scenarios if YES wins in September.
"So what happens when Scotland votes yes? Cameron's quit, the Queen is furious, the Shetlands have taken all the oil - and the Scottish economy is tanking: A brilliant 'imagining' of life after the Union"
Not Alex of the Speccy, but (I think) his dad the novelist. [Edit: and a fine one too.]
Hmm, might be more useful to read the Sunday Herald. An astonishing transformation - though not uncritical - with some of the most vigorous journalism I've seen for some time, and even [edit: given his fairly neutral stance] Iain Macwhirter piling into the No campaign and their smear stories.
Re the Malaysian flight. I heard a very well informed opinion, last week, that the flight was hijacked and then shot down by a no-nonsense government, and the search is a risible, international cover-up to calm the horses.
Caveat emptor.
There is certainly one European intelligence service who reportedly believe that some of their erstwhile counterparts elsewhere know what happened but are keeping quiet.
I would guess the Aussies aren't in on the deception. Not sure who in SE Asia would be able to keep schtum for that long.
It doesn't make sense to me: in the long term such conspiracies are worse than admitting guilt. The Russians shooting down of KAL 007 was soon forgotten, and the same for US with Iran Air 655. Best to admit guilt and get it over with, than have it come out at a later date. The cover-up is always the thing that hurts you.
However, there are groups who would be best served by such rumours, especially if the cause was a technical fault with the plane. People will be watching Boeing's 777 airworthiness directives carefully over the next few months. Or it might have been a maintenance issue. Distracting away from these by rumours is very helpful.
Now, if you don't mind I've got to tune my tinfoil hat ...
Re the Malaysian flight. I heard a very well informed opinion, last week, that the flight was hijacked and then shot down by a no-nonsense government, and the search is a risible, international cover-up to calm the horses.
Caveat emptor.
There is certainly one European intelligence service who reportedly believe that some of their erstwhile counterparts elsewhere know what happened but are keeping quiet.
These days you can't just walk into the cockpit and there was nothing to suggest from any transmissions that there was a hijack situation. Plus no credible claim AFAIA.
That said, it does remain puzzling. I haven't been to PPRuNe for a few weeks but as of last prognoscis the most believable (of a set of not hugely believable) theories was the decompression one. All the others make less sense although there are holes in the decompression story also.
And will people please stop banging on about the mangosteens...
Re the Malaysian flight. I heard a very well informed opinion, last week, that the flight was hijacked and then shot down by a no-nonsense government, and the search is a risible, international cover-up to calm the horses.
Caveat emptor.
It's certainly very odd that the thing has disappeared off the face of the earth. Even if it had crashed in the Southern Ocean you'd think some sort of debris would have surfaced?
I've been wondering whether it could be an alien abduction, TBH. We'll have to get Tapestry back on here to let us know what's really gone down...
Scottish historian Allan Massie has fun with some tongue-in-cheek scenarios if YES wins in September.
"So what happens when Scotland votes yes? Cameron's quit, the Queen is furious, the Shetlands have taken all the oil - and the Scottish economy is tanking: A brilliant 'imagining' of life after the Union"
Not Alex of the Speccy, but (I think) his dad the novelist. [Edit: and a fine one too.]
Hmm, might be more useful to read the Sunday Herald. An astonishing transformation - though not uncritical - with some of the most vigorous journalism I've seen for some time, and even [edit: given his fairly neutral stance] Iain Macwhirter piling into the No campaign and their smear stories.
We won't know whether the No side was right until after a Yes. That's a huge help to the Yes side, of course.
Mr. Observer, one does wonder if we'll get: Yes wins Osborn et al. say No to a currency union Scots get terribly upset that Westminster politicians were actually being honest and straightforward
I hope No wins. I can't see separation being other than acrimonious, alas.
Mr. Observer, one does wonder if we'll get: Yes wins Osborn et al. say No to a currency union Scots get terribly upset that Westminster politicians were actually being honest and straightforward
I hope No wins. I can't see separation being other than acrimonious, alas.
Should that happen, should EU membership not be automatic, should a lot of the other things that the SNP has said will happen not happen, the SNP will clearly seek to blame everyone but themselves, and "Westminster" most of all. So the chances of a happy break-up are minimal. But, hopefully, the nasty stuff will be done with quickly. It will not suit many people for there to be on-going hostility - especially as we're all so mixed up together and so dependent on each other for so much.
Scottish historian Allan Massie has fun with some tongue-in-cheek scenarios if YES wins in September.
"So what happens when Scotland votes yes? Cameron's quit, the Queen is furious, the Shetlands have taken all the oil - and the Scottish economy is tanking: A brilliant 'imagining' of life after the Union"
Not Alex of the Speccy, but (I think) his dad the novelist. [Edit: and a fine one too.]
Hmm, might be more useful to read the Sunday Herald. An astonishing transformation - though not uncritical - with some of the most vigorous journalism I've seen for some time, and even [edit: given his fairly neutral stance] Iain Macwhirter piling into the No campaign and their smear stories.
Embarrassing for the real journalists on the Sunday Herald to be now working for a self proclaimed SNP propaganda sheet rather than a respectable newspaper.
Re the Malaysian flight. I heard a very well informed opinion, last week, that the flight was hijacked and then shot down by a no-nonsense government, and the search is a risible, international cover-up to calm the horses.
Caveat emptor.
The fact that the Malaysian authorities still haven't revealed what was in the cargo hold doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
One of the main problems is that Malaysia is at the top of this list:
Get the feeling most of those "predictions" are based on what the pundit's want to happen, including Fraser rooting for Ed and Dan rooting for Dave, LOL.
Gin - You're surely not seriously suggesting that Fraser Nelson is a Labour Luvvie anymore than that that Dan Hodges is a Tory are you?
Even if the 'problem' that the kippers identify actually exists, I completely fail to see how UKIP's get out of Europe policy changes it one iota.
Ukippers complain about immigration and then give examples of communities that would be utterly unaffected by any of their polices.
Ask them ,like I have today repeatedly, and all you get is silence
Because the battle is really over the ideology of political correctness which spawned out of the corpse of Marxism and is designed to destroy all national groups and nation-states. The globalist right e.g. Con, are going along with it because it helps them get an unlimited supply of cheap labour hence the Tory "modernizers".
The refusal of the political class to even attempt to maintain national and social cohesion in this country is part of the same ideology that wants them to dissolve Britain into a corrupt, authoritarian monster state.
Remarkable to think the Conservatives could be "pleased" to be polling at 22-23% in a national election - the worst performance I can recall was the 1995 local elections when the Party lost 2,000 Councillors in a single night.
On other matters, interesting to see the Conservative poster in the Halal butcher's near me is in Arabic while the one in the Tamil hairdressers is in English.
Looking at the candidates in my Ward for the May 22nd local election (which might prop up turnout in the European elections in London), the four parties (including CPA) have chosen slates from different ethnic groups.
This end result of the europhile political class's policies - divide and rule along ethnic lines.
Comments
I deliberately didn't say "how much the director was earning" as the concept of 'earning' is often a contradiction when applied to the executive class.
But if everyone speaks English, why have the street signs in any other language? You know as well as I do that Tower Hamlets isn't a tourist attraction in the way that Chinatown is
Jeremy Warner
Who will be Prime Minister – and why?
David Cameron, because an improving economy will come to his rescue and voters don’t trust Ed Miliband to run the country.
What will be their majority?
Marginal at best. There would have to be a monumental turnaround in the polls for the Tories to win a big majority.
Who will be the star of the campaign?
Unlikely though it may seem, George Osborne, who may be a somewhat cold figure, but has earned considerable respect for his handling of the economy.
And then there's the issue of Birmingham schools ...
Brick Lane and its surroundings most definitely are.
http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/brick-lane-and-market-london
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d187544-Reviews-Brick_Lane-London_England.html
http://goo.gl/tvUmSo
http://newstonoone.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/strange-town-london-2015.html
http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/brick-lane-and-market-london
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d187544-Reviews-Brick_Lane-London_England.html
Dear me
Chinatown is a tourist attraction because of the Chinese element
Spitalfields and Brick Lane aren't tourist attractions because of the Bengali element
The street signs are in Chinese in Chinatown, for tourism , yes quite possibly
They aren't in Bengali in Tower Hamlets for that reason though
One point of clarification - on reflection he was talking about pool PAs not his personal one. Doesn't change the principle though.
For me, generally, everything is too expensive in this country. Housing/property is the big one, but tax is another killer. If housing costs were lower and tax more reasonable then people could have a decent standard of living on a reasonable wage.
The other thing to do would be to make Unions [a bit] more powerful so that employees were able to bargain for higher wages with their employers - and then you could reduce in-work benefits.
Chinatown is a tourist attraction because of the Chinese element
Spitalfields and Brick Lane aren't tourist attractions because of the Bengali element
The street signs are in Chinese in Chinatown, for tourism , yes quite possibly
They aren't in Bengali in Tower Hamlets for that reason though
We will have to agree to disagree. I see Banglatown and the Curry Mile as tourism initiatives - and pretty successful ones at that. If you don't, fair enough.
The most tedious things to do on "PoliticalBetting.com"
- Trying to understand anything I post when not sober,
- Trying to understand anything posted by :tumbleweed:, and
- Making any sense of an OGH thread-header.
I reckon - and this is a spit-in-the-wind - that Liverpool will win the PL (FFS); Labour will not win as many seats in the Council-Elections; Gerrard will be the second English captain to raise the World-Cup; Scotland will be pished-off; Scotland wil be pi%hed; Scotland will be - errm, bu99er; what is the word... forgotten; and, finally, that oil-prices will fall below $80/barrel [Brent-crude mix] and England's Pound Sterling will hit around $1.85 by New Year (2015).Remarkable to think the Conservatives could be "pleased" to be polling at 22-23% in a national election - the worst performance I can recall was the 1995 local elections when the Party lost 2,000 Councillors in a single night.
On other matters, interesting to see the Conservative poster in the Halal butcher's near me is in Arabic while the one in the Tamil hairdressers is in English.
Looking at the candidates in my Ward for the May 22nd local election (which might prop up turnout in the European elections in London), the four parties (including CPA) have chosen slates from different ethnic groups.
Go to the 8 o'clock, Mr. Charles, then you don't have to worry, especially with a BCP service.
http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/n4ojuqo0a6/YG-Archive-140411-Eveningstandard-London.pdf
Basically there was a secular change in housing demand - driven by divorces and later marriages/pairing primarily - but supply didn't catch up. This was then exacerbated by the availability of cheap finance
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/04/nigel-farage-tv-election-debates-ed-miliband
Seriously, go and speak to some teachers who have taught such classes. You won't find one that argues otherwise.
and stop subsidising buy to let.
I've been an electoral registration canvasser,chasing up and chasing down.Councils are going to need plenty this year and for anyone interested in the electoral process it's a good way to find out.I was on £1.80p for each return form and made enough for 2 weeks in Corfu.
Maybe UKIP as a political force is here to stay and will break out beyond the Euro elections where it has traditionally done well. But rather than seeing the Tories as lending UKIP their votes in the Euros, I wonder whether it might be better to think of UKIP lending their votes to the Tories in the GE?
Page 13 here shows how certain immigrant groups think of the West, Jews and homosexuals, for example:
http://www.wzb.eu/sites/default/files/u8/ruud_koopmans_religious_fundamentalism_and_out-group_hostility_among_muslims_and_christian.pdf
In 1998, schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets were performing poorly. Despite spending more on education than any other local authority in England, results were well below the national average. OFSTED ranked Tower Hamlets as the worst performing of 149 boroughs nationwide.
By 2013 the position had been transformed: Tower Hamlets, still one of the poorest boroughs in England, returned GCSE results above the national average. Every maintained secondary school had been judged either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, and the gap between the performance of children on free schools meals and their peers was only 7 percentage points compared to a national gap of 23 points.
http://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/the-transformation-of-tower-hamlets-how-they-did-it/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27274954
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/821698.stm
An American company wants to buy a British company to reduce their tax bill.
This means that the company itself is of secondary importance, and while this may not lead to underinvestment or asset stripping, having a closer look at their intentions might be a good idea.
And given the promises of certain Royal Mail preferred bidders to hold on to their stock as a "long term investment", some cast iron guarantees might be advisable?
Miliband would be worse than Hollande.
Curious that the Malaysian authorities have lifted 11 people in relation to this in the last week.
As a lad I used to go to All Saints, Wandsworth for Choral Matins, which started at 11:00 and finished at 11:50, and for years I wondered for years why the men never used to walk back up the hill with the women and children but arrived home a hour or so later.
However, screeching for yet another inquiry is stupid. An inquiry would take forever, cost a fortune, and just come up with whatever the bounds of the inquiry state. And all to allow Miliband to gurn to the cameras whilst screaming about the iniquity of big companies.
And the killer is this: if we are ever unfortunate enough to see Ed in Number Ten, he will not be calling for, or launching inquiries, unless they can be a Hutton-style stitch-up.
"Among the new names which reflect Britain's multicultural society are Masjid Lane, in Tower Hamlets, east London, which uses the Arabic term for mosque.
In Lewisham, south London, a development has been named Khadija Walk, using the name of the prophet Mohammed's first wife, the first person after him to convert to Islam.
In Oldham, there is an Allama Iqbal Road, named after Sir Muhammad Iqbal, the early twentieth century poet and politician from British India, who was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilisation.
A nearby street is called Jinnah Close, after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the modern state of Pakistan. Neither man was noted for his close links to the Lancashire town, although the area does have a large Asian population. "
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7530346/Englands-changing-street-names-goodbye-Acacia-Avenue-welcome-to-Yoga-Way.html
I notice you don't address - and deliberately delete - the substantive point I made.
So I'll repeat it:
" clearly the LibDems wanted a referendum on AV far more than Cameron wanted a referendum on the EU "
If an EU referendum had been a fundamental issue for Cameron then we would have had one or there would have been a Conservative minority government. But it wasn't so we didn't.. On the other hand an AV referendum was a fundamental issue for the LibDems and so we had one.
You were once an interesting PBer, that you're now reduced to being a 'my party good your party bad' bleater is sad.
Might I suggest you go walking for a few weeks to refresh yourself.
And with that I'll refresh myself for the rest of the day.
It is no surprise that unemployment among the 800,000 UK residents who don't speak English is as high as 48 per cent "
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10610028/Racial-integration-the-words-that-keep-us-apart.html
Biggest upset would be caused by a “yes” vote in the Scottish referendum. Cameron would feel obliged to resign, significant economic uncertainties would be created and it would raise big questions about the length of the next parliament.
I trust JohnO had a more successful return journey this time!
Finally, a last call for the South Africa game - entries close 7pm on Tuesday:
http://www.electiongame.co.uk/sa14/
Many thanks,
DC
The problem in my area is arrange marriages,nearly all in the streets round me the British Asian sons and daughters have married someone from the subcontinent,how good is this for they kids to learn English.
While we are on about integration of our communities,I live near the area of manningham in Bradford,do we remember the manningham riots.
I remember what came from a report on this was we needed integration more in our schools and housing with our british Asian/white communities,so what do we get 10 years later,the white flight of white English people my area and large immigration from eastern Europe of the roma community,just brilliant.
Integration mr ar$e,more like the wild west.
The number of mortgages approved for home lending decreased to 67,135, from 69,592 in the month before (consensus: 72,000). The value of the same fell to £10.7bn, from £11.2bn.
Whatever is driving the current prices rises in residential property it is definitely not increased mortgage lending.
[A bit of a traditional pre-Spring fall probably accounts for the net contraction over the past three months, but even after allowing for seasonal variation price rises in the housing market are not being driven by proportional increases in bank lending].
Personally I think people should have to lived together for two years to get a marriage visa. That would stop a lot of arranged marriages like this. Also bring back the primary purpose rule, which the Tories are too cowardly to.
Of course there has always been discord in the Cons ranks about europe but it was the easiest route to say "**** you" to Cam after his "failure" to win the election.
And of course as it wasn't and isn't an LD priority (other than they want to remain in) it wasn't in the (IMO v impressive and timely) "four points response" which gained Cam the coalition.
Midday has come and gone for Adams with no hint of a decision to charge or to release him. In theory, the PSNI could apply to a County Court Judge for a second warrant authorising a further custody extension under Part III of Schedule 8 to the 2000 Act? That would be bound to rile the Fenians even further... The deadline is 8 pm.
Hmm, might be more useful to read the Sunday Herald. An astonishing transformation - though not uncritical - with some of the most vigorous journalism I've seen for some time, and even [edit: given his fairly neutral stance] Iain Macwhirter piling into the No campaign and their smear stories.
However, there are groups who would be best served by such rumours, especially if the cause was a technical fault with the plane. People will be watching Boeing's 777 airworthiness directives carefully over the next few months. Or it might have been a maintenance issue. Distracting away from these by rumours is very helpful.
Now, if you don't mind I've got to tune my tinfoil hat ...
That said, it does remain puzzling. I haven't been to PPRuNe for a few weeks but as of last prognoscis the most believable (of a set of not hugely believable) theories was the decompression one. All the others make less sense although there are holes in the decompression story also.
And will people please stop banging on about the mangosteens...
It's certainly very odd that the thing has disappeared off the face of the earth. Even if it had crashed in the Southern Ocean you'd think some sort of debris would have surfaced?
I've been wondering whether it could be an alien abduction, TBH. We'll have to get Tapestry back on here to let us know what's really gone down...
Mr/Miss Sarissa, I know
Yes wins
Osborn et al. say No to a currency union
Scots get terribly upset that Westminster politicians were actually being honest and straightforward
I hope No wins. I can't see separation being other than acrimonious, alas.
Dutch.Bracelet and Tapestry.
Good luck to anyone having a bet.
BetVictor - YES vote percentage
50-54% shortens to 7/2
35-39% lengthens to 5/1
One of the main problems is that Malaysia is at the top of this list:
http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/power-distance-index/
Edit: Oops, I missed your final "LOL"!
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/jamesbloodworth/2014/05/ive-just-seen-nazi-banners-in-trafalgar-square-well-almost/
The refusal of the political class to even attempt to maintain national and social cohesion in this country is part of the same ideology that wants them to dissolve Britain into a corrupt, authoritarian monster state.