Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Well done to the main phone pollsters for now reporting Eng

124»

Comments

  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Cyclefree said:

    Charles said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Charles said:

    S

    So the earliest anyone could 'fess up to the sin of owning a house which has risen in value beyond some arbitrary figure would be in their income tax return, presumably for the year 2015-2016, due by January 2017. If it's like income tax they'd then have to pay the tax in January 2017, with the option of deferring it (at what interest rate?) if they're not higher-rate taxpayers.

    And yet:

    “I would like to see that revenue coming in in the first year of a Labour government, before the end of the financial year."

    Has he thought this through?

    Have you thought it through? Why not ask for the information in the 2014-2015 return, due next autumn and payable in Jan 2016? That would explain why there are urgent discussions going on with the Treasury officials.

    It's not as though it was a secret potential tax that nobody had heard about, so it can't really be described as retrospective. People (a) with £multi-X million houses who (b) fret about paying a few thousand and (c) don't have a conscience and (d) had nonetheless planned to vote Labour have plenty of time to consider voting Tory instead. I'm sure it's a key swing group.

    Can you explain why you believe someone who doesn't want to pay more tax "does[n't] have a conscience"?
    Snap! (See my post just before yours.)

    I look forward to seeing NP's answer - assuming he will give us one.

    You are an uncommonly sensible woman sometimes

    ;-)

    Only sometimes? (Smiley face)
    Whenever you agree with me you are!
  • MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
  • john_zimsjohn_zims Posts: 3,399
    @kle4

    'The other guy will do worse" doesn't seem like it will work when it seems like present lot are doing poorly'

    People will remember that less than 5 years ago 'the other guy' drove the economy into the ground.
  • MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053

    Coming up on PB tomorrow - a special guest slot from ex-ICM boss Nick Sparrow

    Provocative.

    Provocative, in that it's another sly attack on UKIP among other things, perhaps?
  • Bobajob_Bobajob_ Posts: 195
    LOL. Classic PB - either Ed is crap and has no chance, or Labour are getting back in and it's time to secure one's holdings in Swiss bank accounts etc etc.

    Happy Christmas PBTories!
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,710
    MikeK said:

    Coming up on PB tomorrow - a special guest slot from ex-ICM boss Nick Sparrow

    Provocative.

    Provocative, in that it's another sly attack on UKIP among other things, perhaps?
    You're not paranoid Mike, "they" ARE out to get you!

    Got it direct from the lizards!
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548

    At the end of 2012 I predicted (to much derision IIRC) that the UK economy would surprise on the upside in 2013, a prediction which was spot-on.

    Here's my prediction for 2015: the UK economy will do considerably worse than the financial markets, economists and media pundits currently expect. Although fund managers and economists do mention the uncertainties of the GE, I don't think they have fully taken on board the nature and extent of the risks. Almost no plausible outcome looks good. The risks of a Miliband government hardly need mentioning, but even a Conservative majority wouldn't be great in the short term, because uncertainty over the EU referendum will paralyse investment. A weak government in a hung parliament will be the worst of all worlds

    The stock markets do not always correlate well with growth, indeed the biggest rises of the last decade would have been the two years from Feb 2009 where the economy was stagnant.

    I agree that there will be major volatility and wobbles over: the prospect of a Milliband government; the prospect of a Brexit referendum and the possibility of a hung parliament. Between these three it seems nailed on!

    There may be some good opportunities to buy in the dips, and like you I have hedged by buying companies that either earn in dollars or make most of their earnings elsewhere.
  • Can I offer a suggestion as to why the Labour Party in Scotland under Jim Murphy are still going nowhere fast or even at all.

    Murphy may be seen as the big Westminster name for the job but perhaps what Scots Labour actually needed was something very different. They should be trying to attract back the people who have defected wholesale to the SNP since the election. Jim Murphy, insofar as he has a constituency of appeal, is it not to swing Lab/Tory voters who are in limited numbers in Scotland, except perhaps in Eastwood. In contrast, to the Labour to SNP defectors, Murphy is a red rag to a bull given his alliance with the Tories in Better Together.

    In other words when Labour should have been aiming at a large number of red nats they instead are focussed on a small number of blue rinses.

    A case of Murphy's Law perhaps?
  • dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,300
    Carnyx said:

    SeanT said:

    Carnyx said:


    dr_spyn said:

    Every move you make, every breath you take...Polis in Scotland monitor twitter for 'offensive tweets'.

    I read that offensive tweet yesterday, shrugged my shoulders and wondered why someone would want to be to be so crass. Hard to decide which is worse the attitude of self styled Twitter Police, or the actual Scottish Police.

    However, some families will be trying to cope with the difficulties associated with the loss of loved ones. My thoughts are with them.

    My understanding is that the tweet produced a number of complaints to the police, if it is the same one that we have in mind. The police were not reported as actually monitoring the ether.

    Then your understanding is wrong.

    'A Police Scotland spokeswoman said "Police Scotland will continue to monitor social media and anyone found to be posting inappropriate comments will be investigated."

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/teenager-arrested-after-offensive-tweet-about-george-square-tragedy.1419340248

    Hm, my reading was that they are continuing to monitor etc etc AFTER complaints, e.g. to make sure no further problems arise.

    I wonder if any Scottish politicians or lawyers feel uneasy about that tweet from Police Scotland. There are plenty of bloody fools who have tweeted unpleasant stuff about that awful event in George, but there are even more who appear to be taking offence for the sake of it.

    Police Scotland ‏@policescotland 7h7 hours ago
    Please be aware that we will continue to monitor comments on social media & any offensive comments will be investigated #georgesquare
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    Elizabeth Windsor (@Queen_UK)
    23/12/2014 20:49
    Text from Nick Clegg: "Two sleeps till Christmas!" #Idiot
  • dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,300
    Am staggered to see that tonight is denunciation night on Twitter. Time to play shop an offensive comment on Facebook to the Scots Polis.

    Will anyone be charged with wasting police time?
  • Ishmael_XIshmael_X Posts: 3,664
    Cyclefree said:






    But yes, I think that people who own multi-million pound houses and expostulate about paying a few thousand in tax are showing a lack of conscience in that respect. How they vote is actually a separate issue (as is whether they spend time looking after people with dementia).The central point is that they are unwilling to share even a tiny part of their wealth with the society around them. Sure, they may have worked to buy it (or they may have just inherited it), and they may have paid tax in other ways, but basically, if they felt part of the society around them, they wouldn't fuss about it.

    We'll have to agree to disagree, eh?

    Thank you for responding. This line struck me - "The central point is that they are unwilling to share even a tiny part of their wealth with the society around them."

    Again you are making the assumption that the only way someone can share a part of their wealth with the society around them is through tax - a very statist assumption - and a very wrong one.

    For all you know, people may be giving away a significant part of their wealth. Just because it does not go through the state does not mean that it does not happen. You have to get away from the assumption that the only collective way in which people can do good for their fellow man or woman is by handing over their income or wealth to a bureaucrat who then takes a portion and hands what remains to someone else.

    I am not in the slightest bit affected by the mansion tax as currently proposed and have very little sympathy for very rich people moaning about being poor. I give a fair amount to charity but I do not think, for instance, that giving money to doctors - who are not, frankly, poor - a better use of my money (assuming I had to pay the tax) than, say, to refugees from Zimbabwe (a cause I have supported) or to the RNLI, for instance. Or to homeless teenagers thrown out of the house for being gay, another cause close to my heart.

    You accept that others are as compassionate and caring as Labour people - but your default assumption is that to be Labour is to be compassionate and caring or perhaps the other way around. You are wrong in that. Plenty of Labour people may be, indeed are - but there is nothing automatic about the link and the self-righteous (I am not accusing you of this BTW) assertion that there is such a link is nauseating. Nor, frankly, is it true from my observation that compassion, care or, even, conscience are correlated with money, political affiliation or place in society. If anything the strongest link is religion.

    And on that teasing note I shall leave it.

    You mean, thank God the religious are not as other men are?

    It always astonishes me how little the average Christian knows or understands about the not very difficult teachings in the new testament.
  • dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,300
    Defect call to councillors in Kent.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-30594006
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342
    dr_spyn said:

    Carnyx said:

    SeanT said:

    Carnyx said:


    dr_spyn said:

    Every move you make, every breath you take...Polis in Scotland monitor twitter for 'offensive tweets'.

    I read that offensive tweet yesterday, shrugged my shoulders and wondered why someone would want to be to be so crass. Hard to decide which is worse the attitude of self styled Twitter Police, or the actual Scottish Police.

    However, some families will be trying to cope with the difficulties associated with the loss of loved ones. My thoughts are with them.

    My understanding is that the tweet produced a number of complaints to the police, if it is the same one that we have in mind. The police were not reported as actually monitoring the ether.

    Then your understanding is wrong.

    'A Police Scotland spokeswoman said "Police Scotland will continue to monitor social media and anyone found to be posting inappropriate comments will be investigated."

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/teenager-arrested-after-offensive-tweet-about-george-square-tragedy.1419340248

    Hm, my reading was that they are continuing to monitor etc etc AFTER complaints, e.g. to make sure no further problems arise.

    I wonder if any Scottish politicians or lawyers feel uneasy about that tweet from Police Scotland. There are plenty of bloody fools who have tweeted unpleasant stuff about that awful event in George, but there are even more who appear to be taking offence for the sake of it.

    Police Scotland ‏@policescotland 7h7 hours ago
    Please be aware that we will continue to monitor comments on social media & any offensive comments will be investigated #georgesquare
    This gives some context, and confirms my point that the police were acting on complaints, no doubt monitoring the actual twitter feeds anout which there had been complaints, while adding the fact that the actual bail, in the one case known to me, was by an English force under, I assume, English law.

    http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/teenager-arrested-after-offensive-tweet-about-george-square-tragedy.1419340371
  • SeanT said:

    pb is being very boring tonight, and there's lots to talk about.

    Take these French *atrocities* and near-atrocities. The latest is a guy in Cannes, today, arrested en route to market, equipped with shotguns and knife etc, apparently intent on slaughter.

    http://news.sky.com/story/1396813/gunman-held-in-cannes-as-troops-deployed

    The French authorities claim that this guy is another lone nutter, motivated by "road rage", nothing to do with the drive-into-a-crowd guy in Nantes (who was merely "unbalanced") and the two other nutters, who both shouted Allahu Akhbar as they stabbed and killed, but were "unconnected".

    It's hard to work out whether the French authorities are simply lying, to avoid race war, or are genuinely bewildered, and doing their best, and dealing with random copycat cases and a series of very strange coincidences...

    Either way, this has a relevance for political BETTING, albeit distasteful.

    I just wonder how many atrocities it would take to ensure a Marine Le Pen presidency. Three? Four? She is already very popular, and the Force is with her. A few more Dijons and I think she would - remarkably - have a very good chance of winning.

    And then.... well. Light the blue touchpaper.

    Her father made it to the second round, without any of these atrocities.

    It comes down to the quality of the other candidates, if Hollande stands, then I reckon she will finish ahead of him.

    The question then is will the left vote for the right wing candidate to stop Le Pen?
  • dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,300
    Carnyx said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Carnyx said:

    SeanT said:

    Carnyx said:


    dr_spyn said:

    Every move you make, every breath you take...Polis in Scotland monitor twitter for 'offensive tweets'.

    I read that offensive tweet yesterday, shrugged my shoulders and wondered why someone would want to be to be so crass. Hard to decide which is worse the attitude of self styled Twitter Police, or the actual Scottish Police.

    However, some families will be trying to cope with the difficulties associated with the loss of loved ones. My thoughts are with them.

    My understanding is that the tweet produced a number of complaints to the police, if it is the same one that we have in mind. The police were not reported as actually monitoring the ether.

    Then your understanding is wrong.

    'A Police Scotland spokeswoman said "Police Scotland will continue to monitor social media and anyone found to be posting inappropriate comments will be investigated."

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/teenager-arrested-after-offensive-tweet-about-george-square-tragedy.1419340248

    Hm, my reading was that they are continuing to monitor etc etc AFTER complaints, e.g. to make sure no further problems arise.

    I wonder if any Scottish politicians or lawyers feel uneasy about that tweet from Police Scotland. There are plenty of bloody fools who have tweeted unpleasant stuff about that awful event in George, but there are even more who appear to be taking offence for the sake of it.

    Police Scotland ‏@policescotland 7h7 hours ago
    Please be aware that we will continue to monitor comments on social media & any offensive comments will be investigated #georgesquare
    This gives some context, and confirms my point that the police were acting on complaints, no doubt monitoring the actual twitter feeds anout which there had been complaints, while adding the fact that the actual bail, in the one case known to me, was by an English force under, I assume, English law.

    http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/teenager-arrested-after-offensive-tweet-about-george-square-tragedy.1419340371
    It was numbing to hear about yesterday's events in George Square. The police, fire and ambulance services in Glasgow were working hard in extremely trying circumstances once again. They all did a sterling job trying to rescue people, and recover the dead.

    The tone of the police tweet makes me more uneasy, but what is worse is those elements on Twitter who have gone on a witch hunt tonight with plenty of wee clipes taking screen grabs off Facebook. Then they want to the police to do something.
  • MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    SeanT said:

    pb is being very boring tonight, and there's lots to talk about.

    Take these French *atrocities* and near-atrocities. The latest is a guy in Cannes, today, arrested en route to market, equipped with shotguns and knife etc, apparently intent on slaughter.

    http://news.sky.com/story/1396813/gunman-held-in-cannes-as-troops-deployed

    The French authorities claim that this guy is another lone nutter, motivated by "road rage", nothing to do with the drive-into-a-crowd guy in Nantes (who was merely "unbalanced") and the two other nutters, who both shouted Allahu Akhbar as they stabbed and killed, but were "unconnected".

    It's hard to work out whether the French authorities are simply lying, to avoid race war, or are genuinely bewildered, and doing their best, and dealing with random copycat cases and a series of very strange coincidences...

    Either way, this has a relevance for political BETTING, albeit distasteful.

    I just wonder how many atrocities it would take to ensure a Marine Le Pen presidency. Three? Four? She is already very popular, and the Force is with her. A few more Dijons and I think she would - remarkably - have a very good chance of winning.

    And then.... well. Light the blue touchpaper.

    Some french youth will not take it lying down:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4e7n7g1xAM
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,961
    edited December 2014
    SeanT said:

    SeanT said:

    pb is being very boring tonight, and there's lots to talk about.

    Take these French *atrocities* and near-atrocities. The latest is a guy in Cannes, today, arrested en route to market, equipped with shotguns and knife etc, apparently intent on slaughter.

    http://news.sky.com/story/1396813/gunman-held-in-cannes-as-troops-deployed

    The French authorities claim that this guy is another lone nutter, motivated by "road rage", nothing to do with the drive-into-a-crowd guy in Nantes (who was merely "unbalanced") and the two other nutters, who both shouted Allahu Akhbar as they stabbed and killed, but were "unconnected".

    It's hard to work out whether the French authorities are simply lying, to avoid race war, or are genuinely bewildered, and doing their best, and dealing with random copycat cases and a series of very strange coincidences...

    Either way, this has a relevance for political BETTING, albeit distasteful.

    I just wonder how many atrocities it would take to ensure a Marine Le Pen presidency. Three? Four? She is already very popular, and the Force is with her. A few more Dijons and I think she would - remarkably - have a very good chance of winning.

    And then.... well. Light the blue touchpaper.

    Her father made it to the second round, without any of these atrocities.

    It comes down to the quality of the other candidates, if Hollande stands, then I reckon she will finish ahead of him.

    The question then is will the left vote for the right wing candidate to stop Le Pen?
    Yes, that is the question. Previously I'd have said Of Course: we saw it with Chirac winning over Le Pen Senior. The left reluctantly turned out for the Bulldozer.

    But Marine Le Pen is different. I can see her winning, if this ISIS-inspired mayhem continues.

    Indeed I can now - in all seriousness - envisage a kind of race war in Europe, between Muslim immigrants and indigenes. I put the chances at about 5%. If it starts, it will start in France.

    Inshallah, Islam will Enlighten itself before we reach such a horrible juncture.
    If it is Sarkozy v Le Pen, then she could pull it off.

    I hope the race war doesn't happen. I'm seeing some enlightenment, I went to a mosque earlier on this year, which is rare for me (in fact twice)

    And the Imam leading the congregation in October, railed against the Groomers.

    He said, it was unIslamic what these chaps did, and they will go to Jahannam (hell)

    He also said, those who know about people who groom, are as guilty as those who commit the acts, if we didn't act, the country would act.

    It was quite the speech.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,578
    john_zims said:

    @kle4

    'The other guy will do worse" doesn't seem like it will work when it seems like present lot are doing poorly'

    People will remember that less than 5 years ago 'the other guy' drove the economy into the ground.

    Except somehow people don't seem to make that connection with Ed M, and he mostly seems to have gotten away with portraying himself as some kind of outsider despite being as much a Labour insider as it is possible to be. Labour as a whole are still being troubled by what happened 5 years ago, and Ed Balls too, and Ed M is not trusted, but he seems to have less personal blame attached to him.

    In any case, even if people remember that, if Cameron and co have not fixed it, people will not worry overmuch about Ed and co getting back in - even if they are crap, so what, so is Cameron.

    I'll grant you people may well be lukewarm toward Labour on the issue, they have a problem on it, but if the economy starts looking bad again, the Tories cannot afford to also have a problem on it to any degree, as they have nothing else to rely on.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    SeanT said:

    pb is being very boring tonight, and there's lots to talk about.

    Take these French *atrocities* and near-atrocities. The latest is a guy in Cannes, today, arrested en route to market, equipped with shotguns and knife etc, apparently intent on slaughter.

    http://news.sky.com/story/1396813/gunman-held-in-cannes-as-troops-deployed

    The French authorities claim that this guy is another lone nutter, motivated by "road rage", nothing to do with the drive-into-a-crowd guy in Nantes (who was merely "unbalanced") and the two other nutters, who both shouted Allahu Akhbar as they stabbed and killed, but were "unconnected".

    It's hard to work out whether the French authorities are simply lying, to avoid race war, or are genuinely bewildered, and doing their best, and dealing with random copycat cases and a series of very strange coincidences...

    Either way, this has a relevance for political BETTING, albeit distasteful.

    I just wonder how many atrocities it would take to ensure a Marine Le Pen presidency. Three? Four? She is already very popular, and the Force is with her. A few more Dijons and I think she would - remarkably - have a very good chance of winning.

    And then.... well. Light the blue touchpaper.

    " 'God is Great' in Arabic"
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    Aka 'the year it all went wrong for Ukip ' if you read PB!

    The Telegraph (@Telegraph)
    23/12/2014 21:08
    The year Ukip went mainstream - in 60 seconds telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/… via @TelegraphVideo pic.twitter.com/jNlOxWx78j
  • SeanT said:

    SeanT said:

    SeanT said:

    pb is being very boring tonight, and there's lots to talk about.

    Take these French *atrocities* and near-atrocities. The latest is a guy in Cannes, today, arrested en route to market, equipped with shotguns and knife etc, apparently intent on slaughter.



    And then.... well. Light the blue touchpaper.

    Her father made it to the second round, without any of these atrocities.

    It comes down to the quality of the other candidates, if Hollande stands, then I reckon she will finish ahead of him.

    The question then is will the left vote for the right wing candidate to stop Le Pen?
    Yes, that is the question. Previously I'd have said Of Course: we saw it with Chirac winning over Le Pen Senior. The left reluctantly turned out for the Bulldozer.

    But Marine Le Pen is different. I can see her winning, if this ISIS-inspired mayhem continues.

    Indeed I can now - in all seriousness - envisage a kind of race war in Europe, between Muslim immigrants and indigenes. I put the chances at about 5%. If it starts, it will start in France.

    Inshallah, Islam will Enlighten itself before we reach such a horrible juncture.
    If it is Sarkozy v Le Pen, then she could pull it off.

    I hope the race war doesn't happen. I'm seeing some enlightenment, I went to a mosque earlier on this year, which is rare for me (in fact twice)

    And the Imam leading the congregation in October, railed against the Groomers.

    He said, it was unIslamic what these chaps did, and they will go to Jahannam (hell)

    He also said, those who know about people who groom, are as guilty as those who commit the acts, if we didn't act, the country would act.

    It was quite the speech.
    I sincerely hope you are right. I had drinks with a lefty friend last night. He writes - for a living - about Moroccan, Tunisian, and Egyptian folk music (inter alia), he travels widely in Islamic countries, he has LOTS of Muslim friends. Yet he was spitting bile about modern Islam (and ISIS) even as he lamented what this meant for his friendships in Fez, Tunis, Cairo and Sinai.

    He was vitriolic.

    If liberal-left westerners like him are being turned into raging "Islamophobes" then we are not far from a crisis point.
    A lot of my political convos with my friends, even my lefty friends (and one of them is wanting to be a Labour candidate) have contained the phrase

    "I wish more Muslims were like you"
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,567
    dr_spyn said:

    Defect call to councillors in Kent.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-30594006

    Impressively desperate. I wonder if anyone in the history of the internet has ever defected merely because someone sent them an email.
    Bobajob_ said:

    LOL. Classic PB - either Ed is crap and has no chance, or Labour are getting back in and it's time to secure one's holdings in Swiss bank accounts etc etc.

    Happy Christmas PBTories!

    lol!

  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342
    dr_spyn said:

    Carnyx said:


    [snip]
    This gives some context, and confirms my point that the police were acting on complaints, no doubt monitoring the actual twitter feeds anout which there had been complaints, while adding the fact that the actual bail, in the one case known to me, was by an English force under, I assume, English law.

    http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/teenager-arrested-after-offensive-tweet-about-george-square-tragedy.1419340371

    It was numbing to hear about yesterday's events in George Square. The police, fire and ambulance services in Glasgow were working hard in extremely trying circumstances once again. They all did a sterling job trying to rescue people, and recover the dead.

    The tone of the police tweet makes me more uneasy, but what is worse is those elements on Twitter who have gone on a witch hunt tonight with plenty of wee clipes taking screen grabs off Facebook. Then they want to the police to do something.
    So you don't want people to tell the polis if they see a crime being perpetrated?
  • Latest survation poll (changes since early Nov)

    LAB 33% (+2)
    CON 30% (+3)
    UKIP 21% (-3)
    LD 10% (+1)
    OTHERS 6% (-3)
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,121
    edited December 2014

    Latest survation poll (changes since early Nov)

    LAB 33% (+2)
    CON 30% (+3)
    UKIP 21% (-3)
    LD 10% (+1)
    OTHERS 6% (-3)

    Another poll for Xmas week? Yay - another "mini-ELBOW" for these three polls then :)

    BTW Broken sleazy UKIP and Others on the slide?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342
    SeanT said:

    Carnyx said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Carnyx said:

    SeanT said:

    Carnyx said:


    dr_spyn said:

    Every move you make, every breath you take...Polis in Scotland monitor twitter for 'offensive tweets'.

    I read that offensive tweet yesterday, shrugged my shoulders and wondered why someone would want to be to be so crass. Hard to decide which is worse the attitude of self styled Twitter Police, or the actual Scottish Police.

    However, some families will be trying to cope with the difficulties associated with the loss of loved ones. My thoughts are with them.

    My understanding is that the tweet produced a number of complaints to the police, if it is the same one that we have in mind. The police were not reported as actually monitoring the ether.

    Then your understanding is wrong.

    'A Police Scotland spokeswoman said "Police Scotland will continue to monitor social media and anyone found to be posting inappropriate comments will be investigated."

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/teenager-arrested-after-offensive-tweet-about-george-square-tragedy.1419340248

    Hm, my reading was that they are continuing to monitor etc etc AFTER complaints, e.g. to make sure no further problems arise.

    I wonder if any Scottish politicians or lawyers feel uneasy about that tweet from Police Scotland. There are plenty of bloody fools who have tweeted unpleasant stuff about that awful event in George, but there are even more who appear to be taking offence for the sake of it.

    Police Scotland ‏@policescotland 7h7 hours ago
    Please be aware that we will continue to monitor comments on social media & any offensive comments will be investigated #georgesquare

    http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/teenager-arrested-after-offensive-tweet-about-george-square-tragedy.1419340371
    "No doubt", "some context" - you clearly have no real idea, and the only evidence we have is that Scottish Police are indeed "monitoring social media", as that is what they have said, in tweets, and in statements.

    Meanwhile the much-lauded Scottish legal system, so much fairer and nicer than the EVIL English whatever yadda yadda, has just put a man in prison for A YEAR, after he did a nasty Nazi rant..... on a Facebook page.

    A Year. In Jail. For Ranting. On Facebook.

    http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/local/sick-north-east-facebook-troll-jailed-for-mocking-tragic-toddler-1.750896


    Scotland, we salute you. The cutting edge of modern political correctness.

    Have a look at the actual reports form earlier this year.
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    Ishmael_X said:

    Cyclefree said:






    But yes, I think that people who own multi-million pound houses and expostulate about paying a few thousand in tax are showing a lack of conscience in that respect. How they vote is actually a separate issue (as is whether they spend time looking after people with dementia).The central point is that they are unwilling to share even a tiny part of their wealth with the society around them. Sure, they may have worked to buy it (or they may have just inherited it), and they may have paid tax in other ways, but basically, if they felt part of the society around them, they wouldn't fuss about it.

    We'll have to agree to disagree, eh?

    Thank you for responding. This line struck me - "The central point is that they are unwilling to share even a tiny part of their wealth with the society around them."

    Again you are making the assumption that the only way someone can share a part of their wealth with the society around them is through tax - a very statist assumption - and a very wrong one.

    For all you know, people may be giving away a significant part of their wealth. Just because it does not go through the state does not mean that it does not happen. You have to get away from the assumption that the only collective way in which people can do good for their fellow man or woman is by handing over their income or wealth to a bureaucrat who then takes a portion and hands what remains to someone else.

    You accept that others are as compassionate and caring as Labour people - but your default assumption is that to be Labour is to be compassionate and caring or perhaps the other way around. You are wrong in that. Plenty of Labour people may be, indeed are - but there is nothing automatic about the link and the self-righteous (I am not accusing you of this BTW) assertion that there is such a link is nauseating. Nor, frankly, is it true from my observation that compassion, care or, even, conscience are correlated with money, political affiliation or place in society. If anything the strongest link is religion.

    And on that teasing note I shall leave it.

    You mean, thank God the religious are not as other men are?

    It always astonishes me how little the average Christian knows or understands about the not very difficult teachings in the new testament.
    It is a cause to lament that few Christians are as well behaved as Jesus, a cause to celebrate that few Muslims are as badly behaved as Mohammed.
  • New Thread
  • HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    Had a chat with my brother in law this evening. He works at the Rolls Royce factory near Chichester. He tells me that the demand for the cars in China, which has been a very big market for them, has fallen off a cliff. Apparently the Chinese have imposed a new luxury goods tax at a very high rate and now even the rich cannot afford a new Roller. Presumably this tax will be hitting Mercedes and other luxury car makers too, not good for European exports and can only widen the trade gap still further.

    However, the good news is that Rolls Royce are bringing out a new model, a convertible which will be hitting the show rooms next August/September. Brother in law says it is going to be the cats pyjamas of luxury motors. So if you like convertibles, personally I don't, and are thinking of buying a new car next year it might be worthwhile holding on until the late summer.
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548

    Had a chat with my brother in law this evening. He works at the Rolls Royce factory near Chichester. He tells me that the demand for the cars in China, which has been a very big market for them, has fallen off a cliff. Apparently the Chinese have imposed a new luxury goods tax at a very high rate and now even the rich cannot afford a new Roller. Presumably this tax will be hitting Mercedes and other luxury car makers too, not good for European exports and can only widen the trade gap still further.

    However, the good news is that Rolls Royce are bringing out a new model, a convertible which will be hitting the show rooms next August/September. Brother in law says it is going to be the cats pyjamas of luxury motors. So if you like convertibles, personally I don't, and are thinking of buying a new car next year it might be worthwhile holding on until the late summer.

    I may need to buy a lottery ticket then!
This discussion has been closed.