Video of the police shooting the Woolwich suspects:
That's some poor drills by the coppers on them, one of 'em got hit 8 times and he's still alive! Still, I'm glad they're alive. They'll be in a lot of pain, and will get no reward from their imaginary sky pixie.
I can't see any reason why the Green Party should be doing better. For most people green issues are way down the list of priorities. I settle for a bit of recycling, and changing my bulbs to LEDs.
Green issues might gain more traction if they didn't always involve the average person paying more for products and services.
The Greens are managing to hold steady at about 10% in most Australian polls, maybe because of the heatwaves they've had in the last few months. Sounds like a stupidly simplistic explanation but it could be true nonetheless.
I have no time for the "Greens",FOE,or Greenpeace,why? I ran an extremely efficient and effective industrial waste recycling operation which had endless attacks from the Greens,their argument was you provide a very clean efficient recycling process which will only encourage the waste producers to carry on making waste,if you did not exist they would be forced to clean up their act and stop producing waste.
Oh yeah,dream on,these guys make waste just to give me a living.
Also the quote,"The truth does not matter,it is what is perceived to be true that matters"
The Green time will come, big time, if there's a Lab/LibDem coalition.
As for the NGOs, they do vary. FOE were (I found) effective in lobbying and realistic in objectives. Greenpeace were OTT and too consistently hostile - if you did something they approved of, they'd find something else to tick you off about. I went off them big time when I promised to support a cause that they approved of, and they mobilised supporters to spam me and other supportive MPs every few seconds with messages demanding that we keep our promise - with the result that we couldn't get normal consituency email. This went on for 48 hours, after which I told them they'd persuaded me to vote the other way.
It was warmer in Glasgow today than London, which must be unusual for the second half of May, (probably not so unusual in the winter months):
It was bloody freezing on the Fells today,had to turn back due to snow, hail,and 50 mph winds. Global warming,can't wait.
" The 19th stage of the Giro d'Italia was canceled Friday because of snow along the route and Saturday's penultimate stage was altered for the same reasons. "
I think there is something in what people are saying in that 80s voters Green concern could be met by other parties at least to some extent. If you care about green issues, just get the other parties to be a bit more green, and still do all the other things you like. What benefit would there be to voting Green given that?
Of course, the Greens do have other policies besides environmental ones, but the ones we [rarely] hear about are either so far to the left that they have no hope of appealing to masses of voters, or appear to be of little concern to most people, do their only appeal is for people whose only concern is being unrealistically green.
The reinsurance sector quit the City a long time ago, and went to sunny (if boring) Bermuda. There have been a number of hedge fund defections in the last four years - I can think of five or six of note. Two went to the South of France, two to Switzerland, and two to Singapore. The Swiss defections were in response to the 50% tax rate. The ones who went to Singapore were simply reflecting the fact that the economic centre of gravity in the world has moved East. And the ones who went to France were of the view that if you're going to pay European tax rates and enjoy European regulation, well you might add well do it somewhere sunny.
Mrs Stodge has had her dinner and all's right with the world. On topic, I've never had an issue with those who argue we should look after the environment or even that we should reduce our use of fossil fuels and I certainly understand the need to safeguard the Earth for future generations. I did think that some of the authoritarian lifestyle policies peddled by some Greens were always to be too much for most. Yes, people will in extremis accept huge restrictions on their freedoms and changes in their ways of life (1939-45 being a good example) but will ordinarily resent such coercion.
On climate change, the view is less about "is it getting hotter or colder?" than about the impact of any significant change on our crowded corner of the world. A couple of cold wet days doesn't debunk theories on global warming or climate change any more than a couple of successful books makes an author a literary giant of our age. It can be cold and wet with temperatures around 10c in June and July - it can also be 32c and stiflingly hot. Over the decades, if the frequency of the latter increases and the frequency of the former declines, there may be something happening. Understanding how climate and weather impacts on us is very important. We know for example that a sustained 10-day heatwave in London is likely to cause problems for thousands if not tens of thousands of people let alone the impact on power supplies, law and order etc, etc.
Announcing her defection today she explained that the “final straw that broke the camel’s back” was having to vote as dictated by the Labour Whip.
“You could have your own opinion but when push comes to shove you have to vote as dictated. I’ve had enough of that.
Well that's...an incredibly naiive reason to defect to another party. No doubt there's more to it, but am I to believe that, push come to shove, UKIP do not strongarm their party members to vote certain ways? That's kind of the deal when you join a party - no matter how loyal you are to their core principles, sometimes they will have policies you do not agree with, and so long as it is not a matter of conscience you compromise and take one for the team.
If the new UKIP councillor is expecting to find some non-political political party as a new home, I fear she will be disappointed.
Announcing her defection today she explained that the “final straw that broke the camel’s back” was having to vote as dictated by the Labour Whip.
“You could have your own opinion but when push comes to shove you have to vote as dictated. I’ve had enough of that.
Well that's...an incredibly naiive reason to defect to another party. No doubt there's more to it, but am I to believe that, push come to shove, UKIP do not strongarm their party members to vote certain ways? That's kind of the deal when you join a party - no matter how loyal you are to their core principles, sometimes they will have policies you do not agree with, and so long as it is not a matter of conscience you compromise and take one for the team.
If the new UKIP councillor is expecting to find some non-political political party as a new home, I fear she will be disappointed.
UKIP as a matter of party policy do not whip their councillors. Of course I agree with you that there may well be pressure but officially there is no whipping.
. A couple of cold wet days doesn't debunk theories on global warming or climate change any more than a couple of successful books makes an author a literary giant of our age.
Now now, we all know anecdotal comments about the cold weather trumps any logic or long term trends.
The reinsurance sector quit the City a long time ago, and went to sunny (if boring) Bermuda. There have been a number of hedge fund defections in the last four years - I can think of five or six of note. Two went to the South of France, two to Switzerland, and two to Singapore. The Swiss defections were in response to the 50% tax rate. The ones who went to Singapore were simply reflecting the fact that the economic centre of gravity in the world has moved East. And the ones who went to France were of the view that if you're going to pay European tax rates and enjoy European regulation, well you might add well do it somewhere sunny.
The British Bankers Association (BBA) released its monthly retail banking report for April today. It is worth looking closely at key statistics which should inform debates on PB concerning the Treasury's lending support schemes.
The overall picture is that both households and corporations are continuing to deleverage: bank deposits are increasing and overall borrowing is falling. This trend has been consistent despite it being over four years since the Bank of England introduced its record low base rate pof 0.5%. It is counterintuitive when interest rates on both savings and borrowing are at all time lows, but evidences that neither consumer nor corporate confidence has fully recovered from the after effects of the financial crisis. It also explains why the Treasury and BoE are continuing to intervene in the markets to stimulate both supply and demand for lending.
Between April 2012 and 2013, personal deposits rose by 5.5%. Secured lending fell by 0.1% and unsecured by 1.3%. The fall in unsecured lending comes after growth in credit card borrowing of 5.8% was offset by a 6.7% fall in personal loans and overdrafts.
The 0.1% fall in net mortgage borrowing extends a linear falling trend from a growth rate of over 4% in April 2010. The net fall in borrowing reflects both contraction in mortgage lending and increased capital repayments. Households are paying off their loans faster than they are being replaced.
Other secured lending (e.g. equity release) has fallen by over 50% in this period: such loans were 37% lower in April 2013 over the same month a year earlier. Re-mortgages have also consistently fallen, though not to the same extent and with a small upturn recorded in the past quarter.
Growth in net lending to corporates has also fallen as repayments have exceeded new lending. Although corporate lending has contracted over the past three years, the trend, unlike the case with personal borrowing, is positive with all sectors showing reduced rates of decline except the property sector. The construction sector has improved from a more than 20% decline in borrowing in 2010 to less than 10% this year, with manufacturing moving from -15% to better than -5%. Lending to the property sector has fallen from a 0.0% growth rate to more than -5%.
Whilst deleveraging in the economy has long-term benefits, its short term effects are to reduce bank turnover and profits and to constrain growth in both consumer spending and goods and services output. Hence the BoE's Funding for Lending scheme and the targetting of further government interventions to stimulate the construction and housing sectors.
Those arguing that the mortgage support schemes are inflating a sub-prime propety bubble should study the current bank figures more diligently. Net mortgage lending is falling and mortgage approvals have been broadly static at just under 60,000 per month even with the stimuli already being provided. The small recent increase in average house purchase price remains well below the general level of inflation. In other words, so far, the impact of goevernment intervention has not been to inflate property prices, net mortgage lending or the volume and value of property sales: it has stablised the market and averted further decline.
Announcing her defection today she explained that the “final straw that broke the camel’s back” was having to vote as dictated by the Labour Whip.
“You could have your own opinion but when push comes to shove you have to vote as dictated. I’ve had enough of that.
Well that's...an incredibly naiive reason to defect to another party. No doubt there's more to it, but am I to believe that, push come to shove, UKIP do not strongarm their party members to vote certain ways? That's kind of the deal when you join a party - no matter how loyal you are to their core principles, sometimes they will have policies you do not agree with, and so long as it is not a matter of conscience you compromise and take one for the team.
If the new UKIP councillor is expecting to find some non-political political party as a new home, I fear she will be disappointed.
UKIP as a matter of party policy do not whip their councillors. Of course I agree with you that there may well be pressure but officially there is no whipping.
So I am told. I don't believe it for a second, if it came down to something important. A three line whip is no less a three line whip just because you don't officially call it that.
It's a nice story to make themselves seem less like 'ordinary' politicians, but which would likely collapse the instance things got tough, like an idealistic anti-austerity (of any kind) protestor discovering, crap, we really do need to cut spending at least a little. It's like abolishing a military officer corp only to discover there was one in the first place for good reason.
...Someone's going to link me a story about UKIP cllrs defying the whip despite it harming their party wishes now, aren't they?
The British Bankers Association (BBA) released its monthly retail banking report for April today. It is worth looking closely at key statistics which should inform debates on PB concerning the Treasury's lending support schemes.
The overall picture is that both households and corporations are continuing to deleverage: bank deposits are increasing and overall borrowing is falling. This trend has been consistent despite it being over four years since the Bank of England introduced its record low base rate of 0.5%.
So, the BoE effectively stealing money from us savers?
"Lucas is intelligent, thoughtful and charismatic." She is also a millennialist, a Malthusian and a Catastropharian. Since 17 years of statistically insignificant warming has been recognised as fact even by the World's Railway Engineer, those last 3 qualities are becoming redundant. The Green party aren't doing better because the scam is bust. The real problem worth considering is that UKIP have given a voice to social conservatives who would never dream of voting Tory while Dave is in charge. The centre-right vote is seriously challenging Ed's 35% fantasy.
The British Bankers Association (BBA) released its monthly retail banking report for April today. It is worth looking closely at key statistics which should inform debates on PB concerning the Treasury's lending support schemes.
The overall picture is that both households and corporations are continuing to deleverage: bank deposits are increasing and overall borrowing is falling. This trend has been consistent despite it being over four years since the Bank of England introduced its record low base rate of 0.5%.
So, the BoE effectively stealing money from us savers?
No, Sunil.
It is the BoE suggesting you take your money out of your savings account and either spend it or invest it in riskier investments with higher returns.
Announcing her defection today she explained that the “final straw that broke the camel’s back” was having to vote as dictated by the Labour Whip.
“You could have your own opinion but when push comes to shove you have to vote as dictated. I’ve had enough of that.
Well that's...an incredibly naiive reason to defect to another party. No doubt there's more to it, but am I to believe that, push come to shove, UKIP do not strongarm their party members to vote certain ways? That's kind of the deal when you join a party - no matter how loyal you are to their core principles, sometimes they will have policies you do not agree with, and so long as it is not a matter of conscience you compromise and take one for the team.
If the new UKIP councillor is expecting to find some non-political political party as a new home, I fear she will be disappointed.
UKIP as a matter of party policy do not whip their councillors. Of course I agree with you that there may well be pressure but officially there is no whipping.
So I am told. I don't believe it for a second, if it came down to something important. A three line whip is no less a three line whip just because you don't officially call it that.
It's a nice story to make themselves seem less like 'ordinary' politicians, but which would likely collapse the instance things got tough, like an idealistic anti-austerity (of any kind) protestor discovering, crap, we really do need to cut spending at least a little. It's like abolishing a military officer corp only to discover there was one in the first place for good reason.
...Someone's going to link me a story about UKIP cllrs defying the whip despite it harming their party wishes now, aren't they?
No but if I can be bothered later I will link you to a story of a Tory Councillor in Newark and Sherwood who was kicked out of the party for going against the whip over the huge expansion in house building being pushed by the Council against the wishes of the local community.
The punchline is that she then stood against the Tories in the County elections earlier this month and won in what had previously been a safe Tory seat.
The moral of this story is that what matters is the effect on the ground. UKIP claim they do not whip their councillors. Since the main sanction if you defy the whip is to be suspended or kicked out by your party, until such times as you have evidence that they have carried this through then I am inclined to take them at face value.
Announcing her defection today she explained that the “final straw that broke the camel’s back” was having to vote as dictated by the Labour Whip.
“You could have your own opinion but when push comes to shove you have to vote as dictated. I’ve had enough of that.
Well that's...an incredibly naiive reason to defect to another party. No doubt there's more to it, but am I to believe that, push come to shove, UKIP do not strongarm their party members to vote certain ways? That's kind of the deal when you join a party - no matter how loyal you are to their core principles, sometimes they will have policies you do not agree with, and so long as it is not a matter of conscience you compromise and take one for the team.
If the new UKIP councillor is expecting to find some non-political political party as a new home, I fear she will be disappointed.
UKIP as a matter of party policy do not whip their councillors. Of course I agree with you that there may well be pressure but officially there is no whipping.
So I am told. I don't believe it for a second, if it came down to something important. A three line whip is no less a three line whip just because you don't officially call it that.
It's a nice story to make themselves seem less like 'ordinary' politicians, but which would likely collapse the instance things got tough, like an idealistic anti-austerity (of any kind) protestor discovering, crap, we really do need to cut spending at least a little. It's like abolishing a military officer corp only to discover there was one in the first place for good reason.
...Someone's going to link me a story about UKIP cllrs defying the whip despite it harming their party wishes now, aren't they?
No but if I can be bothered later I will link you to a story of a Tory Councillor in Newark and Sherwood who was kicked out of the party for going against the whip over the huge expansion in house building being pushed by the Council against the wishes of the local community.
The punchline is that she then stood against the Tories in the County elections earlier this month and won in what had previously been a safe Tory seat.
The moral of this story is that what matters is the effect on the ground. UKIP claim they do not whip their councillors. Since the main sanction if you defy the whip is to be suspended or kicked out by your party, until such times as you have evidence that they have carried this through then I am inclined to take them at face value.
Fair enough - it's not personal to UKIP, it's just my view on human nature.
The attitude of the likes of tim, branding white Brits racist while never condemning attacks on Londoners by muslims, is what drives ordinary British people to far right parties/the EDL
The attitude of the likes of tim, branding white Brits racist while never condemning attacks on Londoners by muslims, is what drives ordinary British people to far right parties/the EDL
Fortunately it doesn't drive many, given the numbers of those groups.
The attitude of the likes of tim, branding white Brits racist while never condemning attacks on Londoners by muslims, is what drives ordinary British people to far right parties/the EDL
Fortunately it doesn't drive many, given the numbers of those groups.
As with muslim terrorists, compared to the total Muslim population, it doesnt take many.
Announcing her defection today she explained that the “final straw that broke the camel’s back” was having to vote as dictated by the Labour Whip.
“You could have your own opinion but when push comes to shove you have to vote as dictated. I’ve had enough of that.
Well that's...an incredibly naiive reason to defect to another party. No doubt there's more to it, but am I to believe that, push come to shove, UKIP do not strongarm their party members to vote certain ways? That's kind of the deal when you join a party - no matter how loyal you are to their core principles, sometimes they will have policies you do not agree with, and so long as it is not a matter of conscience you compromise and take one for the team.
If the new UKIP councillor is expecting to find some non-political political party as a new home, I fear she will be disappointed.
UKIP as a matter of party policy do not whip their councillors. Of course I agree with you that there may well be pressure but officially there is no whipping.
So I am told. I don't believe it for a second, if it came down to something important. A three line whip is no less a three line whip just because you don't officially call it that.
It's a nice story to make themselves seem less like 'ordinary' politicians, but which would likely collapse the instance things got tough, like an idealistic anti-austerity (of any kind) protestor discovering, crap, we really do need to cut spending at least a little. It's like abolishing a military officer corp only to discover there was one in the first place for good reason.
...Someone's going to link me a story about UKIP cllrs defying the whip despite it harming their party wishes now, aren't they?
No but if I can be bothered later I will link you to a story of a Tory Councillor in Newark and Sherwood who was kicked out of the party for going against the whip over the huge expansion in house building being pushed by the Council against the wishes of the local community.
The punchline is that she then stood against the Tories in the County elections earlier this month and won in what had previously been a safe Tory seat.
The moral of this story is that what matters is the effect on the ground. UKIP claim they do not whip their councillors. Since the main sanction if you defy the whip is to be suspended or kicked out by your party, until such times as you have evidence that they have carried this through then I am inclined to take them at face value.
Fair enough - it's not personal to UKIP, it's just my view on human nature.
Not necessarily disagreeing with you on that.
As some on here may remember I have a serious aversion to the whips system which I see as a corruption of the whole principle of representative democracy. personally I would make it illegal in exactly the same way that bribing an MP or councillor is illegal.
I am always being told this is impractical and won't work but I can't help but think the same arguments were used in the past to argue against paying buying MPs to do your bidding. And yet Newark is no longer the Duke of Newcastle's only little fiefdom and Gldstone is no longer his bought representative in parliament.
So for me the news that UKIP won't whip their councillors (something I actually wasn't aware of until a couple of weeks ago) is a big plus.
No, he predicted how people like you would stir up trouble and antagonise the English against the immigrants
Its like hes your puppet master from beyond the grave
Replace the word Muslim with Jew in some of the posts on here over the last few days and you good old' boys are right back in 1947
Listen you are an apologist for paedophiles and men who behead soldiers, as long as theyre Muslim extremists. I personally have no problem with any religion and it is a vile smear to suggest otherwise.
As predicted in "The Road to National Suicide", people like you are stirring up hatred between the extremists on both sides.
The man you hate predicted your behaviour almost exactly decades ago and you dont even realise it.
No, he predicted how people like you would stir up trouble and antagonise the English against the immigrants
Its like hes your puppet master from beyond the grave
Replace the word Muslim with Jew in some of the posts on here over the last few days and you good old' boys are right back in 1947
Listen you are an apologist for paedophiles and men who behead soldiers, as long as theyre Muslims. I personally have no problem with any religion and it is a vile smear to suggest otherwise.
As predicted in "The Road to National Suicide", people like you are stirring up hatred between the extremists on both sides.
The man you hate predicted your behaviour almost exactly decades ago and you dont even realise it.
It's alright isam, tim's anti jewish smear is thinly disguised anti semitism at it's most primitive. Dont let him rile you up. For my part I don't mind, as its to be expected of a man so full of hates.
In a 2 for £7 from Asda - my other book was Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, which will be the best?
But a question to SeanT:
Why the change in cover design and title type from the previous books ?
A picture of some woman standing on a rock looking out to see with the title 'The Deceit' seems more from the anguished/damaged women genre.
Is SeanT trying for a new market ?
Must admit I have only read the first of Tom Knox's books so can't really say how good the later ones are.
What I will say is that they would have to be pretty damn amazing to beat Wolf Hall. This would rate as one of the best books I have read in many years and is one of the very few occasions where I found myself entirely in agreement with the Booker judges.
I agree that two big hurdles are the Rightwing dominance of our media, which any progressive Party will find difficult (they're never going to be fawned over like UKIP),
and the 'ideological purity' of people attracted to the Greens (earnest discussions in backrooms of pubs rather than mendacity on golf courses)
Also, they will never attract loaded old duffers like UKIP, or amoral opportunist backers like Tory, Labour, Lib Dem, so funding might be a problem?
And as Southam said earlier, they need a more positive vision. Their offering does sound a bit sackcloth and ashes to many. By contrast, the UKIP yearning to take us back to the 1950s sounds positive to many who are scared of the modern world.
In a 2 for £7 from Asda - my other book was Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, which will be the best?
But a question to SeanT:
Why the change in cover design and title type from the previous books ?
A picture of some woman standing on a rock looking out to see with the title 'The Deceit' seems more from the anguished/damaged women genre.
Is SeanT trying for a new market ?
Must admit I have only read the first of Tom Knox's books so can't really say how good the later ones are.
What I will say is that they would have to be pretty damn amazing to beat Wolf Hall. This would rate as one of the best books I have read in many years and is one of the very few occasions where I found myself entirely in agreement with the Booker judges.
Hilary Mantel's writing style certainly seems distinctive from the few pages I've already read.
The problem with historical novels though is that you know how the story is going to end.
I agree that two big hurdles are the Rightwing dominance of our media, which any progressive Party will find difficult (they're never going to be fawned over like UKIP),
"I agree that two big hurdles are the Rightwing dominance of our media, which any progressive Party will find difficult (they're never going to be fawned over like UKIP),"
Beyond parody.
What ultimately limits the Greens is that they're an upper middle class bunch on a guilt trip who want to make everyone else pay to save the world.
I agree that two big hurdles are the Rightwing dominance of our media, which any progressive Party will find difficult (they're never going to be fawned over like UKIP),
Watch the BBC much?
Exactly. Even the BBC, the world's most impartial and reliable news outlet, takes its lead far too much from our Rightwing dominated print media.
So, for example, they'll feel the need to "balance" a discussion about climate change by putting some Bloke From The Pub like Delingpole or Lawson's deranged conspiracy theories as a counterpoint to real science.
I agree that two big hurdles are the Rightwing dominance of our media, which any progressive Party will find difficult (they're never going to be fawned over like UKIP),
Watch the BBC much?
Exactly. Even the BBC, the world's most impartial and reliable news outlet, takes its lead far too much from our Rightwing dominated print media.
So, for example, they'll feel the need to "balance" a discussion about climate change by putting some Bloke From The Pub like Delingpole or Lawson's deranged conspiracy theories as a counterpoint to real science.
That must be why Andrew Marr admitted the BBC had a liberal-left bias.
If you mean Rees-Mogg, I've gone right off him. If someone openly says they will be following voting not with the views of their party, or their constituents, but as told by the leader of another country, I don't really think they should hold elective office in this country.
I agree that two big hurdles are the Rightwing dominance of our media, which any progressive Party will find difficult (they're never going to be fawned over like UKIP),
Watch the BBC much?
Exactly. Even the BBC, the world's most impartial and reliable news outlet, takes its lead far too much from our Rightwing dominated print media.
So, for example, they'll feel the need to "balance" a discussion about climate change by putting some Bloke From The Pub like Delingpole or Lawson's deranged conspiracy theories as a counterpoint to real science.
Trying reading this about the secret meeting to "green" the BBC:
I agree that two big hurdles are the Rightwing dominance of our media, which any progressive Party will find difficult (they're never going to be fawned over like UKIP),
Watch the BBC much?
Exactly. Even the BBC, the world's most impartial and reliable news outlet, takes its lead far too much from our Rightwing dominated print media.
So, for example, they'll feel the need to "balance" a discussion about climate change by putting some Bloke From The Pub like Delingpole or Lawson's deranged conspiracy theories as a counterpoint to real science.
"So, for example, they'll feel the need to "balance" a discussion about climate change by putting some Bloke From The Pub like Delingpole or Lawson's deranged conspiracy theories as a counterpoint to real science."
Scientific progress has always been founded on debate.
400 years ago you would have complaining that deranged conspiracies like the earth revolving around the sun were used as a counterpoint to 'real science'.
I assume your absence was due to your research into when we can expect our first monthly trade surplus ?
But good of you to put up your porcine pet GloucesterOldSpot to stand in for you while you were away.
Did GOS inform you of the discussion I had with RN over a holiday for the Camerons which would enable them to bond with the proles ?
Namely a weekend in Cleethorpes.
While you and Dave could have a few rounds at Normanby Hall (both on the golf course and in the club house) the wives and kids, together with GOS, could have a paddle in the Cleethorpes mud and go for donkey rides on the beach.
Just think of the photo opportunities!
Now how much should I be paid for such a vote winning idea ?
Even the BBC, the world's most impartial and reliable news outlet, takes its lead far too much from our Rightwing dominated print media
Wee-laddie: How can I explain this in sim-ple Eng-lish?
Everyone knows that you are a twelve year old child. You love McCain chips so much that you wear them on both your shoulders!
Unfortunately this is not "NewsRound": Cartoon characters - ok, apart from Wee-Timmy - and fruedian-focused humour will not normally be found here. You are posting at the wrong address!
Please advise your mother to contact the site. [Tell 'mummy' that there is a speckial clicky-thingy that makes contacting fellow adults simples!] Once she explains your "special needs" then the grown-ups can order your medicine.
I agree that two big hurdles are the Rightwing dominance of our media, which any progressive Party will find difficult (they're never going to be fawned over like UKIP),
Watch the BBC much?
Exactly. Even the BBC, the world's most impartial and reliable news outlet, takes its lead far too much from our Rightwing dominated print media.
So, for example, they'll feel the need to "balance" a discussion about climate change by putting some Bloke From The Pub like Delingpole or Lawson's deranged conspiracy theories as a counterpoint to real science.
Carl you wouldn't know 'real science' if it hit you in the face.
I think one has to give credit to backbench Tory MPs, in concert with sympathetic ministers, for setting the news agenda. Thus the news agenda has been dominated by the issues of welfare, immigration and Europe. Even when "green" items have been in the news it has often been on the territory of their choosing - eg the Hayes speech on wind turbines - that has put their opponents on the back foot.
They have refused to keep quiet and not make trouble, and as a result they have had a lot of media time to make their arguments. As we can now see a large minority of the population now tells opinion pollsters they will vote in favour of such policies by voting for UKIP.
The Green party criticising government policy is never going to be as interesting to the media as backbench MPs from a government party criticising government policy. Even Labour struggles to get a look-in when the public debate is between the Government frontbench and Tory backbenchers.
I assume your absence was due to your research into when we can expect our first monthly trade surplus ?
But good of you to put up your porcine pet GloucesterOldSpot to stand in for you while you were away.
Did GOS inform you of the discussion I had with RN over a holiday for the Camerons which would enable them to bond with the proles ?
Namely a weekend in Cleethorpes.
While you and Dave could have a few rounds at Normanby Hall (both on the golf course and in the club house) the wives and kids, together with GOS, could have a paddle in the Cleethorpes mud and go for donkey rides on the beach.
Just think of the photo opportunities!
Now how much should I be paid for such a vote winning idea ?
ar
You seem to have perked up since your last visit. You must have found that lost ball at the Double Trouble.
I fear Cleethorpes is a little too close to Grimsby for true comfort and I tend to shy away from seaside fishing towns as I am allergic to the smell of smoking kippers.
A day out with the Brocklesby might be a better idea. Alhough I accept that nowadays I might be more stable on one of the Cleethorpe Sands donkeys.
As for the balance of payments, I did reply to you. You need first to exclude oil and gas trade, before any meaningful prediction on a surplus can be made.
Maybe we need to find export markets for Cleethorpes oysters or better still frack some offshore Lincolnshire shale.
"The religious conspiracy thriller genre is dwinding, so I am moving to a new market"
Is the market dwindling generally or have you just run out of things to say ?
There's no shortage of books of this genre out there.
One little area which hasn't been covered much seems to be the Borgias. As Cesare Borgia was big mates with LdV there must be plenty of possible conspiracies there.
I also notice that the Tom Knox biog details doesn't mention your Telegraph blogging, was it too late to get that changed ?
And in a real life connection did the Woolwich killers casual standing around and waiting for the police remind you of the effect of that drug in the Babylon Rite ?
I agree that two big hurdles are the Rightwing dominance of our media, which any progressive Party will find difficult (they're never going to be fawned over like UKIP),
Watch the BBC much?
Exactly. Even the BBC, the world's most impartial and reliable news outlet, takes its lead far too much from our Rightwing dominated print media.
So, for example, they'll feel the need to "balance" a discussion about climate change by putting some Bloke From The Pub like Delingpole or Lawson's deranged conspiracy theories as a counterpoint to real science.
Carl you wouldn't know 'real science' if it hit you in the face.
It is a fair point that they should get actual scientists in to debate the matter, rather than crazies like Delingpole.
Comments
Still, I'm glad they're alive. They'll be in a lot of pain, and will get no reward from their imaginary sky pixie.
The Greens are past their sell by date.
Vote UKIP.
I can't see any reason why the Green Party should be doing better. For most people green issues are way down the list of priorities. I settle for a bit of recycling, and changing my bulbs to LEDs.
Green issues might gain more traction if they didn't always involve the average person paying more for products and services.
Which will die first ?
Hilarious
I ran an extremely efficient and effective industrial waste recycling operation which had endless attacks from the Greens,their argument was you provide a very clean efficient recycling process which will only encourage the waste producers to carry on making waste,if you did not exist they would be forced to clean up their act and stop producing waste.
Oh yeah,dream on,these guys make waste just to give me a living.
Also the quote,"The truth does not matter,it is what is perceived to be true that matters"
We all remember the lies over Brent Spar.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2648579
Prostitutes going out of business as they struggle with rising rent costs and energy bills
Why are you blaming the Tories? Are they giving it away for free?
http://www.economicvoice.com/labour-councillor-defects-to-ukip/50037204#axzz2UEaO1xvw
As for the NGOs, they do vary. FOE were (I found) effective in lobbying and realistic in objectives. Greenpeace were OTT and too consistently hostile - if you did something they approved of, they'd find something else to tick you off about. I went off them big time when I promised to support a cause that they approved of, and they mobilised supporters to spam me and other supportive MPs every few seconds with messages demanding that we keep our promise - with the result that we couldn't get normal consituency email. This went on for 48 hours, after which I told them they'd persuaded me to vote the other way.
It was bloody freezing on the Fells today,had to turn back due to snow, hail,and 50 mph winds. Global warming,can't wait.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/snowfalls-are-now-just-a-thing-of-the-past-724017.html
Of course, the Greens do have other policies besides environmental ones, but the ones we [rarely] hear about are either so far to the left that they have no hope of appealing to masses of voters, or appear to be of little concern to most people, do their only appeal is for people whose only concern is being unrealistically green.
Mrs Stodge has had her dinner and all's right with the world. On topic, I've never had an issue with those who argue we should look after the environment or even that we should reduce our use of fossil fuels and I certainly understand the need to safeguard the Earth for future generations. I did think that some of the authoritarian lifestyle policies peddled by some Greens were always to be too much for most. Yes, people will in extremis accept huge restrictions on their freedoms and changes in their ways of life (1939-45 being a good example) but will ordinarily resent such coercion.
On climate change, the view is less about "is it getting hotter or colder?" than about the impact of any significant change on our crowded corner of the world. A couple of cold wet days doesn't debunk theories on global warming or climate change any more than a couple of successful books makes an author a literary giant of our age. It can be cold and wet with temperatures around 10c in June and July - it can also be 32c and stiflingly hot. Over the decades, if the frequency of the latter increases and the frequency of the former declines, there may be something happening. Understanding how climate and weather impacts on us is very important. We know for example that a sustained 10-day heatwave in London is likely to cause problems for thousands if not tens of thousands of people let alone the impact on power supplies, law and order etc, etc.
“You could have your own opinion but when push comes to shove you have to vote as dictated. I’ve had enough of that.
Well that's...an incredibly naiive reason to defect to another party. No doubt there's more to it, but am I to believe that, push come to shove, UKIP do not strongarm their party members to vote certain ways? That's kind of the deal when you join a party - no matter how loyal you are to their core principles, sometimes they will have policies you do not agree with, and so long as it is not a matter of conscience you compromise and take one for the team.
If the new UKIP councillor is expecting to find some non-political political party as a new home, I fear she will be disappointed.
A sunny place for shady people
The overall picture is that both households and corporations are continuing to deleverage: bank deposits are increasing and overall borrowing is falling. This trend has been consistent despite it being over four years since the Bank of England introduced its record low base rate pof 0.5%. It is counterintuitive when interest rates on both savings and borrowing are at all time lows, but evidences that neither consumer nor corporate confidence has fully recovered from the after effects of the financial crisis. It also explains why the Treasury and BoE are continuing to intervene in the markets to stimulate both supply and demand for lending.
Between April 2012 and 2013, personal deposits rose by 5.5%. Secured lending fell by 0.1% and unsecured by 1.3%. The fall in unsecured lending comes after growth in credit card borrowing of 5.8% was offset by a 6.7% fall in personal loans and overdrafts.
The 0.1% fall in net mortgage borrowing extends a linear falling trend from a growth rate of over 4% in April 2010. The net fall in borrowing reflects both contraction in mortgage lending and increased capital repayments. Households are paying off their loans faster than they are being replaced.
Other secured lending (e.g. equity release) has fallen by over 50% in this period: such loans were 37% lower in April 2013 over the same month a year earlier. Re-mortgages have also consistently fallen, though not to the same extent and with a small upturn recorded in the past quarter.
Growth in net lending to corporates has also fallen as repayments have exceeded new lending. Although corporate lending has contracted over the past three years, the trend, unlike the case with personal borrowing, is positive with all sectors showing reduced rates of decline except the property sector. The construction sector has improved from a more than 20% decline in borrowing in 2010 to less than 10% this year, with manufacturing moving from -15% to better than -5%. Lending to the property sector has fallen from a 0.0% growth rate to more than -5%.
Whilst deleveraging in the economy has long-term benefits, its short term effects are to reduce bank turnover and profits and to constrain growth in both consumer spending and goods and services output. Hence the BoE's Funding for Lending scheme and the targetting of further government interventions to stimulate the construction and housing sectors.
Those arguing that the mortgage support schemes are inflating a sub-prime propety bubble should study the current bank figures more diligently. Net mortgage lending is falling and mortgage approvals have been broadly static at just under 60,000 per month even with the stimuli already being provided. The small recent increase in average house purchase price remains well below the general level of inflation. In other words, so far, the impact of goevernment intervention has not been to inflate property prices, net mortgage lending or the volume and value of property sales: it has stablised the market and averted further decline.
tim to read carefully, repeat and note.
It's a nice story to make themselves seem less like 'ordinary' politicians, but which would likely collapse the instance things got tough, like an idealistic anti-austerity (of any kind) protestor discovering, crap, we really do need to cut spending at least a little. It's like abolishing a military officer corp only to discover there was one in the first place for good reason.
...Someone's going to link me a story about UKIP cllrs defying the whip despite it harming their party wishes now, aren't they?
This will guarantee a non answer...
What religion were the two men who beheaded the English soldier?
(clue the opening price on Betfair was 1.01)
http://metro.co.uk/2013/05/24/dale-cregan-police-van-involved-in-crash-on-route-to-court-3807502/
It is the BoE suggesting you take your money out of your savings account and either spend it or invest it in riskier investments with higher returns.
Or so I am told.
It appears we are not listening.
The punchline is that she then stood against the Tories in the County elections earlier this month and won in what had previously been a safe Tory seat.
The moral of this story is that what matters is the effect on the ground. UKIP claim they do not whip their councillors. Since the main sanction if you defy the whip is to be suspended or kicked out by your party, until such times as you have evidence that they have carried this through then I am inclined to take them at face value.
Labour councillor defects to UKIP.
http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/update/2013-05-24/labour-councillor-defects-to-ukip/ …
Here is a look at the new UKIP councillor. She looks very stern; perhaps the rest of the council are due for a whipping.
High Court: Sally Bercow's Lord McAlpine tweet was libel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22652083
Oh dear what a shame never mind......
As predicted 45 years ago
0.01% is enough
As some on here may remember I have a serious aversion to the whips system which I see as a corruption of the whole principle of representative democracy. personally I would make it illegal in exactly the same way that bribing an MP or councillor is illegal.
I am always being told this is impractical and won't work but I can't help but think the same arguments were used in the past to argue against paying buying MPs to do your bidding. And yet Newark is no longer the Duke of Newcastle's only little fiefdom and Gldstone is no longer his bought representative in parliament.
So for me the news that UKIP won't whip their councillors (something I actually wasn't aware of until a couple of weeks ago) is a big plus.
"Rebel members of the Green administration on Brighton and Hove City Council today failed in a bid to replace Jason Kitcat with Phelim MacCafferty."
@tim
@LeeJasper
@NickGriffin
@AnjemChoudray
@OswaldMosely
@MichaelAdebajo
People like you are are ruining our country
The Road to National Suicide
Its like hes your puppet master from beyond the grave
2013
As predicted in "The Road to National Suicide", people like you are stirring up hatred between the extremists on both sides.
The man you hate predicted your behaviour almost exactly decades ago and you dont even realise it.
Apparently she doesn't like being whipped.
In theoretical terms I pretty much agree with tim on this issue.
But in practical terms I'm not affected by foreign students except for the fine amusement of reading the wailing of the PB lefties on the subject.
I suppose this is how lefties must have felt when they were banning foxhunting.
Although the fox hunting restrictions do not seem to have been ineffective.
Unlike it seems the restriction on foreign students.
In a 2 for £7 from Asda - my other book was Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, which will be the best?
But a question to SeanT:
Why the change in cover design and title type from the previous books ?
A picture of some woman standing on a rock looking out to see with the title 'The Deceit' seems more from the anguished/damaged women genre.
Is SeanT trying for a new market ?
http://hurryupharry.org/2013/05/23/confronting-the-causes-of-religion-motivated-terrorism/
What I will say is that they would have to be pretty damn amazing to beat Wolf Hall. This would rate as one of the best books I have read in many years and is one of the very few occasions where I found myself entirely in agreement with the Booker judges.
How many voted for Obama in 2008 ?
I agree that two big hurdles are the Rightwing dominance of our media, which any progressive Party will find difficult (they're never going to be fawned over like UKIP),
and the 'ideological purity' of people attracted to the Greens (earnest discussions in backrooms of pubs rather than mendacity on golf courses)
Also, they will never attract loaded old duffers like UKIP, or amoral opportunist backers like Tory, Labour, Lib Dem, so funding might be a problem?
And as Southam said earlier, they need a more positive vision. Their offering does sound a bit sackcloth and ashes to many. By contrast, the UKIP yearning to take us back to the 1950s sounds positive to many who are scared of the modern world.
I'd certainly vote Green, though.
The problem with historical novels though is that you know how the story is going to end.
Beyond parody.
What ultimately limits the Greens is that they're an upper middle class bunch on a guilt trip who want to make everyone else pay to save the world.
Niche market.
So, for example, they'll feel the need to "balance" a discussion about climate change by putting some Bloke From The Pub like Delingpole or Lawson's deranged conspiracy theories as a counterpoint to real science.
He's doing a Boris.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/11/10/the-secret-28-who-made-bbc-green-will-not-be-named/
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/11/12/breaking-the-secret-list-of-the-bbc-28-is-now-public/
Scientific progress has always been founded on debate.
400 years ago you would have complaining that deranged conspiracies like the earth revolving around the sun were used as a counterpoint to 'real science'.
http://www.ehow.co.uk/slideshow_12237376_worst-uk-cities-towns-live.html?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=outbrain#pg=1
bits of greater london get 6 of the 8 top spots according to this
I'm pleased to see you return.
I assume your absence was due to your research into when we can expect our first monthly trade surplus ?
But good of you to put up your porcine pet GloucesterOldSpot to stand in for you while you were away.
Did GOS inform you of the discussion I had with RN over a holiday for the Camerons which would enable them to bond with the proles ?
Namely a weekend in Cleethorpes.
While you and Dave could have a few rounds at Normanby Hall (both on the golf course and in the club house) the wives and kids, together with GOS, could have a paddle in the Cleethorpes mud and go for donkey rides on the beach.
Just think of the photo opportunities!
Now how much should I be paid for such a vote winning idea ?
Everyone knows that you are a twelve year old child. You love McCain chips so much that you wear them on both your shoulders!
Unfortunately this is not "NewsRound": Cartoon characters - ok, apart from Wee-Timmy - and fruedian-focused humour will not normally be found here. You are posting at the wrong address!
Please advise your mother to contact the site. [Tell 'mummy' that there is a speckial clicky-thingy that makes contacting fellow adults simples!] Once she explains your "special needs" then the grown-ups can order your medicine.
:who-is-a-cheekie-chappie-yes-you-are:
They have refused to keep quiet and not make trouble, and as a result they have had a lot of media time to make their arguments. As we can now see a large minority of the population now tells opinion pollsters they will vote in favour of such policies by voting for UKIP.
The Green party criticising government policy is never going to be as interesting to the media as backbench MPs from a government party criticising government policy. Even Labour struggles to get a look-in when the public debate is between the Government frontbench and Tory backbenchers.
You seem to have perked up since your last visit. You must have found that lost ball at the Double Trouble.
I fear Cleethorpes is a little too close to Grimsby for true comfort and I tend to shy away from seaside fishing towns as I am allergic to the smell of smoking kippers.
A day out with the Brocklesby might be a better idea. Alhough I accept that nowadays I might be more stable on one of the Cleethorpe Sands donkeys.
As for the balance of payments, I did reply to you. You need first to exclude oil and gas trade, before any meaningful prediction on a surplus can be made.
Maybe we need to find export markets for Cleethorpes oysters or better still frack some offshore Lincolnshire shale.
Is the market dwindling generally or have you just run out of things to say ?
There's no shortage of books of this genre out there.
One little area which hasn't been covered much seems to be the Borgias. As Cesare Borgia was big mates with LdV there must be plenty of possible conspiracies there.
I also notice that the Tom Knox biog details doesn't mention your Telegraph blogging, was it too late to get that changed ?
And in a real life connection did the Woolwich killers casual standing around and waiting for the police remind you of the effect of that drug in the Babylon Rite ?