Sweden has reinstated border controls in a bid to gain control over the massive influx of migrants arriving in the country. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven insisted: "This is not a fence. We need to make sure that we have control ... We have to make sure we know who is coming to Sweden"...
Police began carrying out identification checks on passengers travelling on trains crossing the bridge over the Oresund strait from Denmark, an AFP correspondent reported.
The end of Schengen would be a good thing as far as the UK is concerned. However it's 'end' is likely to be just a 'suspension' not a total repeal.
Why would it be a good thing? In one way we get the best of both worlds with Schengen (and the Euro) existing but us not being a part of it. We get to go on holiday and go through passport control once when we leave the UK and change our currency once for however many continental nations we visit.
Anyone know what has happened to JEO? Casino Royale mentioned something about a possible banning yesterday. Has he actually been banned for some reason? A shame, if so.
We're not supposed to discuss banning, but his account suddenly appeared as banned, and I've no idea why: his posts that morning seemed innocuous enough, unless one was deleted. He then came back as JEO2, and I haven't seen anything from him since.
Either he or CR asked if it was a geographic issue due to where he was posting from.
If he has been banned, then it's a shame. Let's hope it's not a long one.
(And on that basis, have totally broken the rule not discuss bans ... )
Not for me to say whether bans are right or wrong. I just think it must be frustrating to be banned without any warning or explanation when you can't see what you did that was wrong. Sometimes, when people have been banned, I could see it coming a mile off. Other occasions have left me perplexed.
(And if I say much more, I'll probably be banned myself. That is, if I haven't already overstepped the mark. Hope not. Still, at least I would get a bit more work done. )
The general rule is: don't piss off OGH.
Which I'm sure I've done in the past. The difference is he knows who I am and I've been around a very long time, so seems to put up with me - so far!
None of us must ever forget it's his blog.
I have been 'banned' several times in a v sneaky way which made it appear that I wasnt
If you look at your profile it says 'roles member' but mine was changed to 'roles applicant', so my profile was still there and I could type a post, but when I pressed send, nothing happened
Funny enough, it always seemed to coincide w rowing w a particular PBer, and when I asked the Smithsons why I was banned, they had no idea that I was, and unbanned me
It's that kind of lazy thinking which infuriates me. Fascism is a specific political creed, a nasty one. Being against the EU or unlimited immigration does not make one a fascist.
As ever Orwell had it right: "The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies "something not desirable"."
FPTP may have something to do with it but is not the main reason. We are a largely pragmatic bottom up sort of a county where practicality matters more than theory. Partly as a result of that (and many other factors) we have not been prey to or have resisted the furiously murderous passions which have enveloped other European countries despite being, often, subject to the same political and economic whirlwinds. That is to Britain's credit and something to be proud of. It does sometimes feel that those who are in favour of the EU think that Britain's pride in itself is somehow a bad thing.
Aren't you making my point? I'm not that expert on Italian politics, but Mussolini is a long time ago, and parties evolve. I'd be surprised if most of the supporters of Fini's party could define, let alone support, the specific creed of fascism. As you say, they might be inhospitable to immigrants or Eurosceptics (both of which seem fair descriptions of typical UKIP voters), but that doesn't make them fascists.
I agree that Britain is more pragmatic than most European countries, and it insulates us against violence extremism, and as you say that's something to be proud of. Unfortunately that also makes us pragmatic about a level of xenophobia which would suprise most people (though not the minority of Front National voters, of course) in many Western European countries. The Sun is quite mainstream in Britain; its counterpart in Germany, Bild-Zeitung, is a rare exception, and it doesn't really have a counterpart at all in France or Denmark.
I'm not saying that the balance is bad - the benefits of pragmatism are strong. But overall the same currents of opinion that we have here are recognisable in every Western European country, and it's a mistake if we think we're either far superior or far worse - we're a bit different, but probably not as different as we think.
I'm rather more sceptical than you about how far Fini's party has evolved. In the same way, I'm not sure I entirely believe it when Marine Le Pen says that she has move the FN away from the party it was under her father.
Otherwise largely agree with what you have written there. My main difference with you is that, even if we're not as different as all that from other European countries, that does not necessarily seem to me to be a sufficient basis to join forces in an explicitly political pan-European structure of the type apparently envisaged by some of the EU political class.
On balance this should help us with inflation, but be bad news as far as government revenues are concerned. Not terribly good news for an independent Scotland. Correct my maths but 44 is a lot less than 150.
Good news overall for the UK, terrible news for Canada and some other places. Would have been an unmitigated disaster for an independent Scotland.
A disaster like that currently seen in Norway with waves of Norwegian refugees flooding into Sweden to escape the bankrupt, broken economy of their homeland?
Both the party and the leader are popular, jointly and separately.
The SNP as a party have done a magnificent job. The overall position of the NHS, Police, Education (what the newspapers try and find specific metrics to bash the SNP over) are all substantially better in totalis than the same service in England.
Nicola (who I met a few times about 15 years ago and had quite a few mutual acquaintances) has gone from being a bit of a prickly pear with limited social skills to being a warm, friendly and engaging individual and in the public mind can do little wrong.
There probably isn't a conceivable shock that could occur to derail this at the moment. The Tories will never be an option, Labour and the Liberals have not just bad but utterly abysmal records in government. This makes the leader almost irrelevant. Until people don't just want change but have actually FORGOTTEN the record of Labour and the Liberals then this cannot change.
The Tories will be the only option eventually if and when you become independent and need grown up politics.
As long as Holyrood continues be a Mickey Mouse parliament playing with pocket money there is no need to make a grown up choice.
On balance this should help us with inflation, but be bad news as far as government revenues are concerned. Not terribly good news for an independent Scotland. Correct my maths but 44 is a lot less than 150.
Good news overall for the UK, terrible news for Canada and some other places. Would have been an unmitigated disaster for an independent Scotland.
A disaster like that currently seen in Norway with waves of Norwegian refugees flooding into Sweden to escape the bankrupt, broken economy of their homeland?
Norway hasn't had an SNP-style government wanting a spending spree as the answer to everything. They have a Tory government so of course things are fine there, but apparently the Tories aren't an option in Scotland.
Yougov have just published a poll for Prospect, conducted on 19th October, showing Remain 42% to Leave 40%, with the usual differences by age, class, and political outlook.
Yougov are usually more favourable to Leave than other pollsters as shown in a thread recently.
Yougov, BMG, and Survation, tend to come up with very similar results (basically neck and neck). ICM online tend to be a little bit better for Remain, with the telephone pollsters being better still.
And someone on here had the cheek to have a go at me,just for calling her and her policy mad.
What better word to describe her and her immigration policy.
On a different site, I was compared to an architect of the Final Solution for criticising Merkel, and defending our government's handling of the migrant crisis.
Also, that's a surprisingly weak personal rating for Ruth Davidson given we're always told how great she is.
She's great in the eyes of the media bubbles in Holyrood and Westminster. Even if you do have a passing interest in Scottish politics, even if you're one of the 20,000 people who watch Scotland 2015, you could watch an entire month of the programme and the Sunday Politics Scotland and never see Ruth Davidson once.
She is the leader of a minor party which gets coverage in newspapers no-one reads (the Scotsman sells about 15,000 copies a week) and gets very limited TV coverage. I think people outside Scotland don't really get it, To the public, Sturgeon *IS* Scottish politics right now, she's utterly dominant and dominating.
A couple of genuine questions from an Englishman with Scottish ancestry (1) does NS's dominance make her more or less vulnerable to any "bad news"? (2) it is blindingly obvious that NS is extremely popular with the considerable majority of Scots (not my friends & family I have to say) but to what extent is SNP popularity dependent upon hers?
1) I think she is less vulnerable to bad news. Obviously it would depend on how bad but the run of the will stuff that has been chucked at her has slid off with barely a mark.
2) Prior to NS it was assumed that the SNPs popularity was entirely down to Alex Salmond (which explained by SLab spent the entirety of the last decade attacking Alex Salmond rather than the SNP). So I don't think it is a given that the SNP's popularity is dependent on her.
Bascially, people who hate the SNP (and who really, really hate(d) Salmond) are bemused about why everyone doesn't hate the SNP so construct their attacks in incoherent ways that must look self-evident to them but causes other people to just shrug their shoulders.
Doesn't the fact that the SNP didn't miss AS, owe quite a lot to them having someone better available (from my F&F's perspective NS was always a worse propect). Who would tomorrow's NS be?
Also, that's a surprisingly weak personal rating for Ruth Davidson given we're always told how great she is.
I think it sums up the hopelessness of the Tory situation in Scotland. They've had one good female leader after another and it's done them no good whatsoever.
'One nation' Dave's approval ratings north of the border look truly abysmal.
Being English in Scotland makes you unelectable to public office in Scotland; this does not apply to Scots in England. A Scot even gets elected mayor of Newham and subsidises the local football club's cost of playing at the Olympic Stadium. There are of course many examples. I'd be interested if anyone knows of an Englishman being elected to public office in Scotland.
The SNP has a significant number of elected representatives who are English.
The SNP currently has 64 MSPs and 5 are English born.
And someone on here had the cheek to have a go at me,just for calling her and her policy mad.
What better word to describe her and her immigration policy.
On a different site, I was compared to an architect of the Final Solution for criticising Merkel, and defending our government's handling of the migrant crisis.
Yougov have just published a poll for Prospect, conducted on 19th October, showing Remain 42% to Leave 40%, with the usual differences by age, class, and political outlook.
Yougov are usually more favourable to Leave than other pollsters as shown in a thread recently.
Yougov, BMG, and Survation, tend to come up with very similar results (basically neck and neck). ICM online tend to be a little bit better for Remain, with the telephone pollsters being better still.
Take the 2014 EURO results
Give LEAVE
100% UKIP 30% Labour 50% Conservative 20% LD 100% AIFE 100% BNP, English Democrats etc etc 0% of Greens, SNP etc
Comes to 50%... These were the first numbers I used... Obv if I have the %s wrong the result will be different... Are they too skewed to LEAVE?
And someone on here had the cheek to have a go at me,just for calling her and her policy mad.
What better word to describe her and her immigration policy.
On a different site, I was compared to an architect of the Final Solution for criticising Merkel, and defending our government's handling of the migrant crisis.
Same here Sean,it happened to me on a different site,couldn't believe how many on that site wanted us(Britain) to take the same numbers as Germany.
Anyone know what has happened to JEO? Casino Royale mentioned something about a possible banning yesterday. Has he actually been banned for some reason? A shame, if so.
We're not supposed to discuss banning, but his account suddenly appeared as banned, and I've no idea why: his posts that morning seemed innocuous enough, unless one was deleted. He then came back as JEO2, and I haven't seen anything from him since.
Either he or CR asked if it was a geographic issue due to where he was posting from.
If he has been banned, then it's a shame. Let's hope it's not a long one.
(And on that basis, have totally broken the rule not discuss bans ... )
Not for me to say whether bans are right or wrong. I just think it must be frustrating to be banned without any warning or explanation when you can't see what you did that was wrong. Sometimes, when people have been banned, I could see it coming a mile off. Other occasions have left me perplexed.
(And if I say much more, I'll probably be banned myself. That is, if I haven't already overstepped the mark. Hope not. Still, at least I would get a bit more work done. )
The general rule is: don't piss off OGH.
Which I'm sure I've done in the past. The difference is he knows who I am and I've been around a very long time, so seems to put up with me - so far!
None of us must ever forget it's his blog.
More importantly (and this is true for all blogs: don't say anything that might get the blog publisher sued, or even threatened with being sued.
Also, that's a surprisingly weak personal rating for Ruth Davidson given we're always told how great she is.
She's great in the eyes of the media bubbles in Holyrood and Westminster. Even if you do have a passing interest in Scottish politics, even if you're one of the 20,000 people who watch Scotland 2015, you could watch an entire month of the programme and the Sunday Politics Scotland and never see Ruth Davidson once.
She is the leader of a minor party which gets coverage in newspapers no-one reads (the Scotsman sells about 15,000 copies a week) and gets very limited TV coverage. I think people outside Scotland don't really get it, To the public, Sturgeon *IS* Scottish politics right now, she's utterly dominant and dominating.
A couple of genuine questions from an Englishman with Scottish ancestry (1) does NS's dominance make her more or less vulnerable to any "bad news"? (2) it is blindingly obvious that NS is extremely popular with the considerable majority of Scots (not my friends & family I have to say) but to what extent is SNP popularity dependent upon hers?
1) I think she is less vulnerable to bad news. Obviously it would depend on how bad but the run of the will stuff that has been chucked at her has slid off with barely a mark.
2) Prior to NS it was assumed that the SNPs popularity was entirely down to Alex Salmond (which explained by SLab spent the entirety of the last decade attacking Alex Salmond rather than the SNP). So I don't think it is a given that the SNP's popularity is dependent on her.
Bascially, people who hate the SNP (and who really, really hate(d) Salmond) are bemused about why everyone doesn't hate the SNP so construct their attacks in incoherent ways that must look self-evident to them but causes other people to just shrug their shoulders.
Doesn't the fact that the SNP didn't miss AS, owe quite a lot to them having someone better available (from my F&F's perspective NS was always a worse propect). Who would tomorrow's NS be?
Humza Yousaf. He could do even better than Nicola.
And someone on here had the cheek to have a go at me,just for calling her and her policy mad.
What better word to describe her and her immigration policy.
On a different site, I was compared to an architect of the Final Solution for criticising Merkel, and defending our government's handling of the migrant crisis.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sparked a storm with comments comparing the country's record refugee influx to an "avalanche", adding fuel to an already heated debate on migrants.
At a conference in Berlin he said: "I don't know if we are at the stage where the avalanche has hit the valley or whether it's at the stage where it's still at the upper end of the slope."
Both the party and the leader are popular, jointly and separately.
The SNP as a party have done a magnificent job. The overall position of the NHS, Police, Education (what the newspapers try and find specific metrics to bash the SNP over) are all substantially better in totalis than the same service in England.
Nicola (who I met a few times about 15 years ago and had quite a few mutual acquaintances) has gone from being a bit of a prickly pear with limited social skills to being a warm, friendly and engaging individual and in the public mind can do little wrong.
There probably isn't a conceivable shock that could occur to derail this at the moment. The Tories will never be an option, Labour and the Liberals have not just bad but utterly abysmal records in government. This makes the leader almost irrelevant. Until people don't just want change but have actually FORGOTTEN the record of Labour and the Liberals then this cannot change.
The Tories will be the only option eventually if and when you become independent and need grown up politics.
As long as Holyrood continues be a Mickey Mouse parliament playing with pocket money there is no need to make a grown up choice.
I presume then you're agreeing with the premise that Scotland's 'grown up' Westminster vote is, and always has been, essentially meaningless.
''German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sparked a storm with comments comparing the country's record refugee influx to an "avalanche", adding fuel to an already heated debate on migrants.''
Germany is losing its mind. Not for the first time.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sparked a storm with comments comparing the country's record refugee influx to an "avalanche", adding fuel to an already heated debate on migrants.
At a conference in Berlin he said: "I don't know if we are at the stage where the avalanche has hit the valley or whether it's at the stage where it's still at the upper end of the slope."
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sparked a storm with comments comparing the country's record refugee influx to an "avalanche", adding fuel to an already heated debate on migrants.
At a conference in Berlin he said: "I don't know if we are at the stage where the avalanche has hit the valley or whether it's at the stage where it's still at the upper end of the slope."
Anyone know what has happened to JEO? Casino Royale mentioned something about a possible banning yesterday. Has he actually been banned for some reason? A shame, if so.
We're not supposed to discuss banning, but his account suddenly appeared as banned, and I've no idea why: his posts that morning seemed innocuous enough, unless one was deleted. He then came back as JEO2, and I haven't seen anything from him since.
Either he or CR asked if it was a geographic issue due to where he was posting from.
If he has been banned, then it's a shame. Let's hope it's not a long one.
(And on that basis, have totally broken the rule not discuss bans ... )
Not for me to say whether bans are right or wrong. I just think it must be frustrating to be banned without any warning or explanation when you can't see what you did that was wrong. Sometimes, when people have been banned, I could see it coming a mile off. Other occasions have left me perplexed.
(And if I say much more, I'll probably be banned myself. That is, if I haven't already overstepped the mark. Hope not. Still, at least I would get a bit more work done. )
The general rule is: don't piss off OGH.
Which I'm sure I've done in the past. The difference is he knows who I am and I've been around a very long time, so seems to put up with me - so far!
None of us must ever forget it's his blog.
More importantly (and this is true for all blogs: don't say anything that might get the blog publisher sued, or even threatened with being sued.
That should be a given. Mike's blog, Mike's rules - absolutely fair enough. Only thing is, from what I gather, I don't think JEO knows which rule he has broken and I'm not sure anyone else does, either.
I'm rather more sceptical than you about how far Fini's party has evolved. In the same way, I'm not sure I entirely believe it when Marine Le Pen says that she has move the FN away from the party it was under her father.
Otherwise largely agree with what you have written there. My main difference with you is that, even if we're not as different as all that from other European countries, that does not necessarily seem to me to be a sufficient basis to join forces in an explicitly political pan-European structure of the type apparently envisaged by some of the EU political class.
I'll defer to you on Fini - I have little direct knowledge. And I think you're right on the FN, though over time a repeatedly stated belief (rejecting racism, for instance) by the leadership will change the party, by attracting people who agree with it and dismaying members who don't. (In the same way, Labour membership became much more centrist under Blair, although when the problems of office dragged him down it damaged the whole idea of Labour centrism.)
And of course you're right that being a bit similar to someone doesn't mean we should instantly join them in political union. And perhaps there's a difference in underlying assumptions lurking there. Instinctively I think of Europe as being one country regrettably divided into umpteen fragments, so my default assumption is that mergers are good unless they impose such strains as to discredit them - e.g. obviously we don't have a basis to form a joint union with Belarus.
So I think we should be members of the political association covering most of Europe unless there's a compelling reason not to be. If we don't like aspects of it we should try to change them, but walking away isn't practical or desirable, any more than leaving the UN or ceasing to take an interest in global affairs.
An alternative view is that Britain is distinctively different, at risk of contamination, and should only share sovereignty to the extent absolutely necessary for practical reasons. On that basis clearly Leave is a much more tempting proposition.
I'm rather more sceptical than you about how far Fini's party has evolved. In the same way, I'm not sure I entirely believe it when Marine Le Pen says that she has move the FN away from the party it was under her father.
Otherwise largely agree with what you have written there. My main difference with you is that, even if we're not as different as all that from other European countries, that does not necessarily seem to me to be a sufficient basis to join forces in an explicitly political pan-European structure of the type apparently envisaged by some of the EU political class.
Instinctively I think of Europe as being one country regrettably divided into umpteen fragments, so my default assumption is that mergers are good unless they impose such strains as to discredit them - e.g. obviously we don't have a basis to form a joint union with Belarus.
Also, that's a surprisingly weak personal rating for Ruth Davidson given we're always told how great she is.
I think it sums up the hopelessness of the Tory situation in Scotland. They've had one good female leader after another and it's done them no good whatsoever.
'One nation' Dave's approval ratings north of the border look truly abysmal.
Being English in Scotland makes you unelectable to public office in Scotland; this does not apply to Scots in England. A Scot even gets elected mayor of Newham and subsidises the local football club's cost of playing at the Olympic Stadium. There are of course many examples. I'd be interested if anyone knows of an Englishman being elected to public office in Scotland.
The SNP has a significant number of elected representatives who are English.
The SNP currently has 64 MSPs and 5 are English born.
So Leave need to target the ABC classes in the 35-54 bracket, IMHO.
The younger (than that) won't vote.
Is there evidence that the younger ABC 18-34 don't vote? I'm 33 and have voted in every election since turning 18, I strongly suspect it is the C2DE who are much less likely to vote.
I think students generally have a poor voting record.
They need to keep polling stations open past closing time (whenever that happens to be) to have any chance of changing that.
Although differences by gender aren't huge, older women tend to be more Eurosceptic than older men, whereas the reverse is true among younger men and women.
t would be interesting to see attitudes to immigration and the EU polled side by side. I reckon they would track similar courses.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sparked a storm with comments comparing the country's record refugee influx to an "avalanche", adding fuel to an already heated debate on migrants.
At a conference in Berlin he said: "I don't know if we are at the stage where the avalanche has hit the valley or whether it's at the stage where it's still at the upper end of the slope."
Where does an avalanche rank on the swarm scale?
It's more swamp than swarm, that's for sure.
"wir müssen verrückt , buchstäblich verrückt sein, als eine Nation ...
A client in his mid-20s was sent on a first class flight to New York in order to see his girlfriend. The employee alleges: “This same client has allegedly been sent to the USA for several months all expenses paid - to keep him ‘out of the way’ while investigations take place.”
- That they were told that “postal orders were sent out every month to prison inmates; at least one of whom is inside for murder.”
@aljwhite: Some rather extraordinary evidence has been submitted to MPs by a former Kids Company employee https://t.co/7spAGxNMhi
Why have criminal charges not been laid? It is getting extremely irritating. Its almost like there was one rule for right on trendy charity sorts and one for the rest of us.
On balance this should help us with inflation, but be bad news as far as government revenues are concerned. Not terribly good news for an independent Scotland. Correct my maths but 44 is a lot less than 150.
Good news overall for the UK, terrible news for Canada and some other places. Would have been an unmitigated disaster for an independent Scotland.
A disaster like that currently seen in Norway with waves of Norwegian refugees flooding into Sweden to escape the bankrupt, broken economy of their homeland?
''Why have criminal charges not been laid? It is getting extremely irritating. Its almost like there was one rule for right on trendy charity sorts and one for the rest of us. ''
Let's face it. Many special interest groups are exempt from secular law in modern Britain.
Just back from the XIVth Century via a quick stop in 1940, gosh it's a long way but when I get back I find that the subjects being discussed now are not so different as they were then.
Anyway, if Nick Palmer is still around I should like to laugh in his general direction. The idea that Germany, or rather Germans, are more hospitable to immigrants and other cultures than the Brits is easily disproved. Just read the German press.
If we had thousands of people turning out for anti-immigrant demonstrations in Birmingham on a weekly basis the UK establishment would go into meltdown. But of course we don't and, God willing, we never will; they do have such regular demonstrations in Germany. Nor do we have County Councils writing to the PM saying enough is enough and we don't want any more immigrants.
Sometimes Dr Palmer, with his European enthusiasm, can seem to be the character from the Lord High Executioner's song, "... the idiot who embraces with enthusiastic tone, all centuries but this and every country than his own ...". Admiring what other countries do well doesn't mean that we should be blind to what they do badly or what we do well.
On balance this should help us with inflation, but be bad news as far as government revenues are concerned. Not terribly good news for an independent Scotland. Correct my maths but 44 is a lot less than 150.
Good news overall for the UK, terrible news for Canada and some other places. Would have been an unmitigated disaster for an independent Scotland.
A disaster like that currently seen in Norway with waves of Norwegian refugees flooding into Sweden to escape the bankrupt, broken economy of their homeland?
Nor do we have County Councils writing to the PM saying enough is enough and we don't want any more immigrants.
To be fair, that might be because we haven't had a diktat from David Cameron telling villages that they must take quotas of immigrants which in some cases exceed their existing populations.
On balance this should help us with inflation, but be bad news as far as government revenues are concerned. Not terribly good news for an independent Scotland. Correct my maths but 44 is a lot less than 150.
Good news overall for the UK, terrible news for Canada and some other places. Would have been an unmitigated disaster for an independent Scotland.
A disaster like that currently seen in Norway with waves of Norwegian refugees flooding into Sweden to escape the bankrupt, broken economy of their homeland?
Also, that's a surprisingly weak personal rating for Ruth Davidson given we're always told how great she is.
I think it sums up the hopelessness of the Tory situation in Scotland. They've had one good female leader after another and it's done them no good whatsoever.
'One nation' Dave's approval ratings north of the border look truly abysmal.
Being English in Scotland makes you unelectable to public office in Scotland; this does not apply to Scots in England. A Scot even gets elected mayor of Newham and subsidises the local football club's cost of playing at the Olympic Stadium. There are of course many examples. I'd be interested if anyone knows of an Englishman being elected to public office in Scotland.
The SNP has a significant number of elected representatives who are English.
The SNP currently has 64 MSPs and 5 are English born.
That's typical SNP disingenuity/ dishonesty. How many of your examples would call themselves "English"? Your response merely adds weight to my contention.
Interesting watching Tone's last PMQs (don't ask).
A certain Jeremy Corbyn (in a fetching summer tan jacket and strident LibDem Yellow tie) stood up, from his position next to D Abbott, to ask his question about the Iraqi occupation.
On balance this should help us with inflation, but be bad news as far as government revenues are concerned. Not terribly good news for an independent Scotland. Correct my maths but 44 is a lot less than 150.
Good news overall for the UK, terrible news for Canada and some other places. Would have been an unmitigated disaster for an independent Scotland.
A disaster like that currently seen in Norway with waves of Norwegian refugees flooding into Sweden to escape the bankrupt, broken economy of their homeland?
Doesn't Norway have a pretty large piggy bank?
So basically rUK owes Scotland around £700bn.
Depends when you want to take the start date from, Mr. Dair, I am sure that another set of figures would show that Scotland does, when taking compound interest into account, owe England three gazillion pounds. However, you and I may not like it but your compatriots expressed preference, Scotland remains part of the UK. So who gives a shit about such silly made up figures.
Perhaps, as I suggested to one James Kelly on this site long ago, you should concentrate more on persuading your fellow Scots of the rightness of your cause rather than arguing with Englishmen. Mr. Kelly, of course, told me I was a fool and worse but his team didn't get the result they wanted at the referendum.
I'm rather more sceptical than you about how far Fini's party has evolved. In the same way, I'm not sure I entirely believe it when Marine Le Pen says that she has move the FN away from the party it was under her father.
Otherwise largely agree with what you have written there. My main difference with you is that, even if we're not as different as all that from other European countries, that does not necessarily seem to me to be a sufficient basis to join forces in an explicitly political pan-European structure of the type apparently envisaged by some of the EU political class.
I'll defer to you on Fini - I have little direct knowledge. And I think you're right on the FN, though over time a repeatedly stated belief (rejecting racism, for instance) by the leadership will change the party, by attracting people who agree with it and dismaying members who don't. (In the same way, Labour membership became much more centrist under Blair, although when the problems of office dragged him down it damaged the whole idea of Labour centrism.)
And of course you're right that being a bit similar to someone doesn't mean we should instantly join them in political union. And perhaps there's a difference in underlying assumptions lurking there. Instinctively I think of Europe as being one country regrettably divided into umpteen fragments, so my default assumption is that mergers are good unless they impose such strains as to discredit them - e.g. obviously we don't have a basis to form a joint union with Belarus.
So I think we should be members of the political association covering most of Europe unless there's a compelling reason not to be. If we don't like aspects of it we should try to change them, but walking away isn't practical or desirable, any more than leaving the UN or ceasing to take an interest in global affairs.
An alternative view is that Britain is distinctively different, at risk of contamination, and should only share sovereignty to the extent absolutely necessary for practical reasons. On that basis clearly Leave is a much more tempting proposition.
Yes - that's a fair summary. I don't really think of Europe as one country which has been broken up, though I do strongly believe in European civilisation which has a number of varied forms under a very large umbrella. I honestly don't know where I will end up on this question.
''What better word to describe her and her immigration policy. ''
Germany's immigration policy should be Germany's business. Except it isn't.
Germany is constructing an immigration timebomb for the UK, over which we have no say whatsoever.
It is Germany that is pushing leave into the game.
I think I may have posted this previously but it bears repeating. A large part of the motivation (rallied by France) for the Common Market was to prevent another Europe wide war by emasculating German influence (partitioning Germany having started the process). Germany's present economic and political domination of the EU has taken us to precisely the position the rest of Europe was seeking to avoid. I'm not suggesting that Europe is about to go to war. Germany has got to where it feels it belongs without force of arms.
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Nor do we have County Councils writing to the PM saying enough is enough and we don't want any more immigrants.
To be fair, that might be because we haven't had a diktat from David Cameron telling villages that they must take quotas of immigrants which in some cases exceed their existing populations.
Exceed their existing population by 10:1, according to the article someone linked to here the other day.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sparked a storm with comments comparing the country's record refugee influx to an "avalanche", adding fuel to an already heated debate on migrants.
At a conference in Berlin he said: "I don't know if we are at the stage where the avalanche has hit the valley or whether it's at the stage where it's still at the upper end of the slope."
Where does an avalanche rank on the swarm scale?
Is it the collective noun - a swarm of avalanches?
''What better word to describe her and her immigration policy. ''
Germany's immigration policy should be Germany's business. Except it isn't.
Germany is constructing an immigration timebomb for the UK, over which we have no say whatsoever.
It is Germany that is pushing leave into the game.
I think I may have posted this previously but it bears repeating. A large part of the motivation (rallied by France) for the Common Market was to prevent another Europe wide war by emasculating German influence (partitioning Germany having started the process). Germany's present economic and political domination of the EU has taken us to precisely the position the rest of Europe was seeking to avoid. I'm not suggesting that Europe is about to go to war. Germany has got to where it feels it belongs without force of arms.
De Gaulle did not want the UK to join the Common Market despite the fact it would help to balance France against German dominance.
Hurst Llama: I do read the German press. Germans have sharper distinctions than we do - we tend to rub along with a vague grumpy acceptance of whatever is happening. But Pegida is as limited a phenomenon as UKIP, except that they're mainly active in the eastern states and their sentiments are less popular than UKIP - AfD is as good a barometer as any, and a year or demos has produced support in the 5-10% range, up by 2 or 3 points over a year ago. They aren't any more typical of the average German than the most vocal anti-austerity demonstrators reflect an average family in Britain. And if we'd taken a few hundred thousand refugees in a few months, we'd probably see a few demos too.
Many people here just don't get Merkel or Germany - they can't understand why she's still popular and not being swept away by a wave of indignation. There are worse things than our vague grumpy acceptance, as Cyclefree has pointed out and Britain works pretty well on that basis. But we shouldn't elevate it to a supreme virtue either.
@aljwhite: Some rather extraordinary evidence has been submitted to MPs by a former Kids Company employee https://t.co/7spAGxNMhi
Why have criminal charges not been laid? It is getting extremely irritating. Its almost like there was one rule for right on trendy charity sorts and one for the rest of us.
Throwing money away as has been alleged is not, per se, evidence of a crime. And there is a criminal investigation going on into alleged child abuse. The Great She-Fatso was interviewed by the police a few days ago.
But I agree with your general irritation. There seems to have been absolutely no regard for any rules at all and what went on - financially and in every other way - needs to be looked at forensically and those who were meant to be in charge made to accept responsibility, real responsibility - and sooner rather than later.
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all.
''Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all. ''
Say what you like about the Daily Mail, but it is difficult to deny its influence. The articles the paper has run about rampant public sector greed have probably changed the debate about funding somewhat.
Hurst Llama: I do read the German press. Germans have sharper distinctions than we do - we tend to rub along with a vague grumpy acceptance of whatever is happening. But Pegida is as limited a phenomenon as UKIP, except that they're mainly active in the eastern states and their sentiments are less popular than UKIP - AfD is as good a barometer as any, and a year or demos has produced support in the 5-10% range, up by 2 or 3 points over a year ago. They aren't any more typical of the average German than the most vocal anti-austerity demonstrators reflect an average family in Britain. And if we'd taken a few hundred thousand refugees in a few months, we'd probably see a few demos too.
Many people here just don't get Merkel or Germany - they can't understand why she's still popular and not being swept away by a wave of indignation. There are worse things than our vague grumpy acceptance, as Cyclefree has pointed out and Britain works pretty well on that basis. But we shouldn't elevate it to a supreme virtue either.
If the trend continues Merkel will be polling under 30% soon. I think the poll you referred to the other day was the only one that didn't follow that pattern.
''Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all. ''
Say what you like about the Daily Mail, but it is difficult to deny its influence. The articles the paper has run about rampant public sector greed have probably changed the debate about funding somewhat.
On balance this should help us with inflation, but be bad news as far as government revenues are concerned. Not terribly good news for an independent Scotland. Correct my maths but 44 is a lot less than 150.
Good news overall for the UK, terrible news for Canada and some other places. Would have been an unmitigated disaster for an independent Scotland.
A disaster like that currently seen in Norway with waves of Norwegian refugees flooding into Sweden to escape the bankrupt, broken economy of their homeland?
Doesn't Norway have a pretty large piggy bank?
So basically rUK owes Scotland around £700bn.
Is that right? I hadn't realised. You should tell someone in charge.
@aljwhite: Some rather extraordinary evidence has been submitted to MPs by a former Kids Company employee https://t.co/7spAGxNMhi
Why have criminal charges not been laid? It is getting extremely irritating. Its almost like there was one rule for right on trendy charity sorts and one for the rest of us.
Throwing money away as has been alleged is not, per se, evidence of a crime. And there is a criminal investigation going on into alleged child abuse. The Great She-Fatso was interviewed by the police a few days ago.
But I agree with your general irritation. There seems to have been absolutely no regard for any rules at all and what went on - financially and in every other way - needs to be looked at forensically and those who were meant to be in charge made to accept responsibility, real responsibility - and sooner rather than later.
Hmm... It is a breach of a fiduciary obligation, a failure to provide a proper accounting and a failure to comply with the rules that any charity has which, at the lengths we are getting to here, seems to me to amount to a conspiracy to defraud. I accept that tying that down to single individuals, particularly when the record keeping seems to have been a joke, may be technically difficult but wow, something needs to be done here.
@aljwhite: Some rather extraordinary evidence has been submitted to MPs by a former Kids Company employee https://t.co/7spAGxNMhi
Why have criminal charges not been laid? It is getting extremely irritating. Its almost like there was one rule for right on trendy charity sorts and one for the rest of us.
Throwing money away as has been alleged is not, per se, evidence of a crime. And there is a criminal investigation going on into alleged child abuse. The Great She-Fatso was interviewed by the police a few days ago.
But I agree with your general irritation. There seems to have been absolutely no regard for any rules at all and what went on - financially and in every other way - needs to be looked at forensically and those who were meant to be in charge made to accept responsibility, real responsibility - and sooner rather than later.
Hmm... It is a breach of a fiduciary obligation, a failure to provide a proper accounting and a failure to comply with the rules that any charity has which, at the lengths we are getting to here, seems to me to amount to a conspiracy to defraud. I accept that tying that down to single individuals, particularly when the record keeping seems to have been a joke, may be technically difficult but wow, something needs to be done here.
Surely other Charity Executives would be only too happy for prosecutions, if only to show that the whole sector isn't out of control and operating outside the law.
I know of at least one major children's charity that has taken a massive hit in funding thanks to the Widow Batman-Twanky's antics.
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all.
Alas, Mr. Taffys I fear that the fat cats at the top taking fecking huge salaries/allowances whilst cutting services to the plebs does say it all. However, what can be done about it? Who will stand up for the little people who are being shafted from every direction?
Hurst Llama: I do read the German press. Germans have sharper distinctions than we do - we tend to rub along with a vague grumpy acceptance of whatever is happening. But Pegida is as limited a phenomenon as UKIP, except that they're mainly active in the eastern states and their sentiments are less popular than UKIP - AfD is as good a barometer as any, and a year or demos has produced support in the 5-10% range, up by 2 or 3 points over a year ago. They aren't any more typical of the average German than the most vocal anti-austerity demonstrators reflect an average family in Britain. And if we'd taken a few hundred thousand refugees in a few months, we'd probably see a few demos too.
Many people here just don't get Merkel or Germany - they can't understand why she's still popular and not being swept away by a wave of indignation. There are worse things than our vague grumpy acceptance, as Cyclefree has pointed out and Britain works pretty well on that basis. But we shouldn't elevate it to a supreme virtue either.
If you get a chance, the World this Weekend last Sunday had an interesting and quite lengthy report from a small town in Saxony on their attitude to the whole migration issue. Worth a listen.
@aljwhite: Some rather extraordinary evidence has been submitted to MPs by a former Kids Company employee https://t.co/7spAGxNMhi
Why have criminal charges not been laid? It is getting extremely irritating. Its almost like there was one rule for right on trendy charity sorts and one for the rest of us.
Throwing money away as has been alleged is not, per se, evidence of a crime. And there is a criminal investigation going on into alleged child abuse. The Great She-Fatso was interviewed by the police a few days ago.
But I agree with your general irritation. There seems to have been absolutely no regard for any rules at all and what went on - financially and in every other way - needs to be looked at forensically and those who were meant to be in charge made to accept responsibility, real responsibility - and sooner rather than later.
When I saw the phrase "throwing money away" I initially thought you were referring to today's decision by EU leaders to give handouts to African countries to take back migrants. On that subject, they've refused, saying they weren't being given enough.
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all.
Alas, Mr. Taffys I fear that the fat cats at the top taking fecking huge salaries/allowances whilst cutting services to the plebs does say it all. However, what can be done about it? Who will stand up for the little people who are being shafted from every direction?
Exactly why do all councillors need allowances. I've no problem with idea of recoupment of salaries for time lost, and with the proper recompense of expenses necessarily incurred but some people seem to be making a living out of being a councillor.
@aljwhite: Some rather extraordinary evidence has been submitted to MPs by a former Kids Company employee https://t.co/7spAGxNMhi
Why have criminal charges not been laid? It is getting extremely irritating. Its almost like there was one rule for right on trendy charity sorts and one for the rest of us.
Throwing money away as has been alleged is not, per se, evidence of a crime. And there is a criminal investigation going on into alleged child abuse. The Great She-Fatso was interviewed by the police a few days ago.
But I agree with your general irritation. There seems to have been absolutely no regard for any rules at all and what went on - financially and in every other way - needs to be looked at forensically and those who were meant to be in charge made to accept responsibility, real responsibility - and sooner rather than later.
Hmm... It is a breach of a fiduciary obligation, a failure to provide a proper accounting and a failure to comply with the rules that any charity has which, at the lengths we are getting to here, seems to me to amount to a conspiracy to defraud. I accept that tying that down to single individuals, particularly when the record keeping seems to have been a joke, may be technically difficult but wow, something needs to be done here.
Surely other Charity Executives would be only too happy for prosecutions, if only to show that the whole sector isn't out of control and operating outside the law.
I know of at least one major children's charity that has taken a massive hit in funding thanks to the Widow Batman-Twanky's antics.
Yes, I think that is undoubtedly true. This is damaging the whole sector. I also understand that there was massive resentment at the favouritism enjoyed by this particular outfit under both previous governments and this one.
''What better word to describe her and her immigration policy. ''
Germany's immigration policy should be Germany's business. Except it isn't.
Germany is constructing an immigration timebomb for the UK, over which we have no say whatsoever.
It is Germany that is pushing leave into the game.
I think I may have posted this previously but it bears repeating. A large part of the motivation (rallied by France) for the Common Market was to prevent another Europe wide war by emasculating German influence (partitioning Germany having started the process). Germany's present economic and political domination of the EU has taken us to precisely the position the rest of Europe was seeking to avoid. I'm not suggesting that Europe is about to go to war. Germany has got to where it feels it belongs without force of arms.
De Gaulle did not want the UK to join the Common Market despite the fact it would help to balance France against German dominance.
De Gaulle always cared more about his own position than anything else. In any case the UK didn't want to play originally and I'm not sure what point you're making.
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all.
Alas, Mr. Taffys I fear that the fat cats at the top taking fecking huge salaries/allowances whilst cutting services to the plebs does say it all. However, what can be done about it? Who will stand up for the little people who are being shafted from every direction?
Something of an exageration to claim that councillors are fat cats taking huge salaries/allowances.
I wonder if Mr HurstLlama is aware of councillors' actual salaries and allowances and their work load, especially at County Council level?
''However, what can be done about it? Who will stand up for the little people who are being shafted from every direction? ''
For me the only way is to starve the public sector far more and give people more money directly to buy their own services, either through tax cuts or vouchers.
Hurst Llama: I do read the German press. Germans have sharper distinctions than we do - we tend to rub along with a vague grumpy acceptance of whatever is happening. But Pegida is as limited a phenomenon as UKIP, except that they're mainly active in the eastern states and their sentiments are less popular than UKIP - AfD is as good a barometer as any, and a year or demos has produced support in the 5-10% range, up by 2 or 3 points over a year ago. They aren't any more typical of the average German than the most vocal anti-austerity demonstrators reflect an average family in Britain. And if we'd taken a few hundred thousand refugees in a few months, we'd probably see a few demos too.
Many people here just don't get Merkel or Germany - they can't understand why she's still popular and not being swept away by a wave of indignation. There are worse things than our vague grumpy acceptance, as Cyclefree has pointed out and Britain works pretty well on that basis. But we shouldn't elevate it to a supreme virtue either.
If the trend continues Merkel will be polling under 30% soon. I think the poll you referred to the other day was the only one that didn't follow that pattern.
This is obviously another area where NP's expertise is limited.
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all.
Alas, Mr. Taffys I fear that the fat cats at the top taking fecking huge salaries/allowances whilst cutting services to the plebs does say it all. However, what can be done about it? Who will stand up for the little people who are being shafted from every direction?
Exactly why do all councillors need allowances. I've no problem with idea of recoupment of salaries for time lost, and with the proper recompense of expenses necessarily incurred but some people seem to be making a living out of being a councillor.
There are plenty of people making a very good living out of being councillors, Mr. Cole, especially when one can sit on more than one council (as a fellow up the road from me does) and when can claim various "in work" benefits alongside. It has become a travesty of what local government should be. Then one can look at the salaries paid to the "leaders" of the police and the NHS.
However, why is going to change the system? Who can people vote for?
The employee goes on to claim that the young men continued to be employed after the charity warehouse in which they worked shut down. They claim: “One of them - recently released from prison for knife crime - was there while waiting to be sent to China, because Camila believed him to be ‘spiritual’ and would benefit from a year there studying martial arts. KC were renting his accommodation as well as ‘employing’ him.”
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all.
Alas, Mr. Taffys I fear that the fat cats at the top taking fecking huge salaries/allowances whilst cutting services to the plebs does say it all. However, what can be done about it? Who will stand up for the little people who are being shafted from every direction?
Exactly why do all councillors need allowances. I've no problem with idea of recoupment of salaries for time lost, and with the proper recompense of expenses necessarily incurred but some people seem to be making a living out of being a councillor.
Councillor allowances are in place of individual claims for loss of work time, general office expenses and travel expenses. The average County Councillor seems to spend about two days a week on the task and receives an allowance of little over £10,000 pa.
You can understand why, being under appreciated for what they do, fewer and fewer people want to be councillors nowadays.
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all.
Alas, Mr. Taffys I fear that the fat cats at the top taking fecking huge salaries/allowances whilst cutting services to the plebs does say it all. However, what can be done about it? Who will stand up for the little people who are being shafted from every direction?
Something of an exageration to claim that councillors are fat cats taking huge salaries/allowances.
I wonder if Mr HurstLlama is aware of councillors' actual salaries and allowances and their work load, especially at County Council level?
Each Oxfordshire County Councillor receives a basic £10,000 allowance. The Leader enjoys an additional special responsibility allowance of £29,000 making a total of around £40,000 for this gentleman. These are the amounts as of December 2014.
I don't know when the whopping 19% increase took place....but it doesn't matter - it is/was indefensible.
In my own Borough Council in Surrey, we froze all allowances for three years and then increased them for the last two by less than inflation at 1% and 1.5% as recommended by the independent panel.
As far as Councillors and allowances are concerned, it's the small clique of Cabinet members around the Council leader who rake off the most. This seems to be the case in authorities as politically diverse as Newham and Surrey. The average voting fodder backbench Councillor doesn't get that much.
Whether having the likes of David Hodge or Sir Robin Wales is healthy or not for local democracy I don't know but the current system effectively makes being a local representative almost impossible for very many people. Local democracy atrophies as a result. I wouldn't have a system of unpaid Councillors as that would be
@aljwhite: Some rather extraordinary evidence has been submitted to MPs by a former Kids Company employee https://t.co/7spAGxNMhi
Why have criminal charges not been laid? It is getting extremely irritating. Its almost like there was one rule for right on trendy charity sorts and one for the rest of us.
Throwing money away as has been alleged is not, per se, evidence of a crime. And there is a criminal investigation going on into alleged child abuse. The Great She-Fatso was interviewed by the police a few days ago.
But I agree with your general irritation. There seems to have been absolutely no regard for any rules at all and what went on - financially and in every other way - needs to be looked at forensically and those who were meant to be in charge made to accept responsibility, real responsibility - and sooner rather than later.
Hmm... It is a breach of a fiduciary obligation, a failure to provide a proper accounting and a failure to comply with the rules that any charity has which, at the lengths we are getting to here, seems to me to amount to a conspiracy to defraud. I accept that tying that down to single individuals, particularly when the record keeping seems to have been a joke, may be technically difficult but wow, something needs to be done here.
Oh I agree. But getting all the evidence needed and against specific individuals will need a lot of hard, detailed, forensic work. The charity went down in July so it's been barely 4 months. That's not a lot of time to get a case together for a criminal prosecution. I don't even know whether anyone is actually looking. What, if anything, are the Charity Commission doing? The SFO aren't involved, to my knowledge. The liquidators of the charity - or whoever is responsible? What, if anything, is the government doing to get the £3 mio back? Then there is HMRC who may have been deprived of tax/NI if the reports of people being employed and paid in cash are true. There are a lot of agencies who could potentially be involved so some co-ordination is needed.
My guess is that no-one is doing anything very much or is waiting to see what happens with the criminal investigation and the Parliamentary report and whatever may be going on behind the scenes.
We may have a case of Everyone thinking that Something is being done by Someone Else resulting in Nothing being done by Anyone.
@aljwhite: Some rather extraordinary evidence has been submitted to MPs by a former Kids Company employee https://t.co/7spAGxNMhi
It is getting extremely irritating. Its almost like there was one rule for right on trendy charity sorts and one for the rest of us.
Throwing money away as has been alleged is not, per se, evidence of a crime. And there is a criminal investigation going on into alleged child abuse. The Great She-Fatso was interviewed by the police a few days ago.
But I agree with your general irritation. There seems to have been absolutely no regard for any rules at all and what went on - financially and in every other way - needs to be looked at forensically and those who were meant to be in charge made to accept responsibility, real responsibility - and sooner rather than later.
When I saw the phrase "throwing money away" I initially thought you were referring to today's decision by EU leaders to give handouts to African countries to take back migrants. On that subject, they've refused, saying they weren't being given enough.
@aljwhite: Some rather extraordinary evidence has been submitted to MPs by a former Kids Company employee https://t.co/7spAGxNMhi
Why have criminal charges not been laid? It is getting extremely irritating. Its almost like there was one rule for right on trendy charity sorts and one for the rest of us.
Throwing money away as has been alleged is not, per se, evidence of a crime. And there is a criminal investigation going on into alleged child abuse. The Great She-Fatso was interviewed by the police a few days ago.
But I agree with your general irritation. There seems to have been absolutely no regard for any rules at all and what went on - financially and in every other way - needs to be looked at forensically and those who were meant to be in charge made to accept responsibility, real responsibility - and sooner rather than later.
When I saw the phrase "throwing money away" I initially thought you were referring to today's decision by EU leaders to give handouts to African countries to take back migrants. On that subject, they've refused, saying they weren't being given enough.
Robert Fox was making a similar point to William Hague in the Evening Standard tonight. This crisis is going to go on for decades.
What we've experienced so far isn't even an entree: the 2010s (so far) needs to be put into context of a forecast global population increase from 6 to 11 billion, and a continent which may have a large part of it in perpetual war.
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all.
Alas, Mr. Taffys I fear that the fat cats at the top taking fecking huge salaries/allowances whilst cutting services to the plebs does say it all. However, what can be done about it? Who will stand up for the little people who are being shafted from every direction?
Something of an exageration to claim that councillors are fat cats taking huge salaries/allowances.
I wonder if Mr HurstLlama is aware of councillors' actual salaries and allowances and their work load, especially at County Council level?
Yes, I am aware, thank you. They are available, at least for my County Council online and so freely available - £11K p.a. plus subsistence and expenses plus any special responsibility payments (average at about £14k p.a.). I am also aware that some councillors, such as my man up the road, sits on the local as well as the county council and seems to make a very satisfactory living.
However, the real scandal is perhaps with the ridiculous salaries, and pensions, that are paid to officials. I say ridiculous because the are far in excess of any actual responsibility or risk or, save for a few specialist posts requirement for knowledge. How a salary of over £100K* a year is necessary to find a competent Town Clerk I do not know.
*The Figure for our local council's Chief Executive
As far as Councillors and allowances are concerned, it's the small clique of Cabinet members around the Council leader who rake off the most. This seems to be the case in authorities as politically diverse as Newham and Surrey. The average voting fodder backbench Councillor doesn't get that much.
Whether having the likes of David Hodge or Sir Robin Wales is healthy or not for local democracy I don't know but the current system effectively makes being a local representative almost impossible for very many people. Local democracy atrophies as a result. I wouldn't have a system of unpaid Councillors as that would be
Stodge
How much do you think the cabinet member responsible for Children's Services across a County or metropolitan area should receive in allowances per annum?
How much of their time do you think this role should take up?
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all.
Alas, Mr. Taffys I fear that the fat cats at the top taking fecking huge salaries/allowances whilst cutting services to the plebs does say it all. However, what can be done about it? Who will stand up for the little people who are being shafted from every direction?
Exactly why do all councillors need allowances. I've no problem with idea of recoupment of salaries for time lost, and with the proper recompense of expenses necessarily incurred but some people seem to be making a living out of being a councillor.
Councillor allowances are in place of individual claims for loss of work time, general office expenses and travel expenses. The average County Councillor seems to spend about two days a week on the task and receives an allowance of little over £10,000 pa.
You can understand why, being under appreciated for what they do, fewer and fewer people want to be councillors nowadays.
Two days a week for £10k plus subsistence and expenses. That is about £100 per day clear. Not a bad rate of pay for what a councillor has to do.
If the trend continues Merkel will be polling under 30% soon. I think the poll you referred to the other day was the only one that didn't follow that pattern.
This is obviously another area where NP's expertise is limited.
Ah, excellent, a betting opportunity. How about £10 with either or both of you (Reggie and Andy) that the CDU level in average polls on this website of all polls
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
Oxford CC, where councillors voted themselves a very generous 19% increase in their allowances whilst cutting services. Says it all.
Alas, Mr. Taffys I fear that the fat cats at the top taking fecking huge salaries/allowances whilst cutting services to the plebs does say it all. However, what can be done about it? Who will stand up for the little people who are being shafted from every direction?
Exactly why do all councillors need allowances. I've no problem with idea of recoupment of salaries for time lost, and with the proper recompense of expenses necessarily incurred but some people seem to be making a living out of being a councillor.
Councillor allowances are in place of individual claims for loss of work time, general office expenses and travel expenses. The average County Councillor seems to spend about two days a week on the task and receives an allowance of little over £10,000 pa.
You can understand why, being under appreciated for what they do, fewer and fewer people want to be councillors nowadays.
Two days a week for £10k plus subsistence and expenses. That is about £100 per day clear. Not a bad rate of pay for what a councillor has to do.
Unless you work a very regular and predictable 9-5 job close to the council offices, with a very understanding employer, or work part-time, or not at all, I don't know who finds the time to be a councillor.
Sometimes Tory Britain can seem a very brutal place. A girl is sent to jail for 8 years for wearing a prosthetic penis because the sentencing guidelines prohibit the use of common sense or compassion.
''What better word to describe her and her immigration policy. ''
Germany's immigration policy should be Germany's business. Except it isn't.
Germany is constructing an immigration timebomb for the UK, over which we have no say whatsoever.
It is Germany that is pushing leave into the game.
I think I may have posted this previously but it bears repeating. A large part of the motivation (rallied by France) for the Common Market was to prevent another Europe wide war by emasculating German influence (partitioning Germany having started the process). Germany's present economic and political domination of the EU has taken us to precisely the position the rest of Europe was seeking to avoid. I'm not suggesting that Europe is about to go to war. Germany has got to where it feels it belongs without force of arms.
The plan all along was to create a United States of Europe. At the time it was clear that there was no appetite for such a project so World War 2 was used as an excuse to create the Coal and Steel Community. The idea was to build on this to eventually reach full political union. The UK were excluded as they favoured intergovernmentalism and therefore posed a risk of derailing the project.
Sometimes Tory Britain can seem a very brutal place. A girl is sent to jail for 8 years for wearing a prosthetic penis because the sentencing guidelines prohibit the use of common sense or compassion.
A rapist was sent to jail for 8 years for raping a woman under false pretences and you're outraged?
Police have reopened 350 cases that may have been botched by a senior forensic officer - after he lied about his qualifications to get the job. Stephen Beattie, 51, worked for Staffordshire Police as a scenes of crime officer between 1996 and 2002 before taking up a role with Cleveland Police.
The bungling cop told both forces he was a level two fire investigator and a highly experienced officer, but a major police watchdog inquiry found he had no academic qualifications in arson investigation and completely exaggerated his levels of expertise.
Sometimes Tory Britain can seem a very brutal place. A girl is sent to jail for 8 years for wearing a prosthetic penis because the sentencing guidelines prohibit the use of common sense or compassion.
I agree that the sentence is ridiculous but it would have happened under Labour between 1997 and 2010. Those responsible for the death of Baby P got shorter sentences than this woman.
Comments
Why would it be a good thing? In one way we get the best of both worlds with Schengen (and the Euro) existing but us not being a part of it. We get to go on holiday and go through passport control once when we leave the UK and change our currency once for however many continental nations we visit.
If you look at your profile it says 'roles member' but mine was changed to 'roles applicant', so my profile was still there and I could type a post, but when I pressed send, nothing happened
Funny enough, it always seemed to coincide w rowing w a particular PBer, and when I asked the Smithsons why I was banned, they had no idea that I was, and unbanned me
Otherwise largely agree with what you have written there. My main difference with you is that, even if we're not as different as all that from other European countries, that does not necessarily seem to me to be a sufficient basis to join forces in an explicitly political pan-European structure of the type apparently envisaged by some of the EU political class.
As long as Holyrood continues be a Mickey Mouse parliament playing with pocket money there is no need to make a grown up choice.
What better word to describe her and her immigration policy.
The SNP currently has 64 MSPs and 5 are English born.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Grahame
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Don
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_McMillan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shona_Robison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Russell_(politician)
Germany's immigration policy should be Germany's business. Except it isn't.
Germany is constructing an immigration timebomb for the UK, over which we have no say whatsoever.
It is Germany that is pushing leave into the game.
Give LEAVE
100% UKIP
30% Labour
50% Conservative
20% LD
100% AIFE
100% BNP, English Democrats etc etc
0% of Greens, SNP etc
Comes to 50%... These were the first numbers I used... Obv if I have the %s wrong the result will be different... Are they too skewed to LEAVE?
Would the turnout be similar?
Don;t worry. The more shrill the insult, the more the other side is feeling the pressure.
Germany is losing its mind. Not for the first time.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/11/putin-tv-russia-s-got-a-dirty-bomb.html
As ever, be aware of the sauce.
It's more swamp than swarm, that's for sure.
Mike's blog, Mike's rules - absolutely fair enough. Only thing is, from what I gather, I don't think JEO knows which rule he has broken and I'm not sure anyone else does, either.
And of course you're right that being a bit similar to someone doesn't mean we should instantly join them in political union. And perhaps there's a difference in underlying assumptions lurking there. Instinctively I think of Europe as being one country regrettably divided into umpteen fragments, so my default assumption is that mergers are good unless they impose such strains as to discredit them - e.g. obviously we don't have a basis to form a joint union with Belarus.
So I think we should be members of the political association covering most of Europe unless there's a compelling reason not to be. If we don't like aspects of it we should try to change them, but walking away isn't practical or desirable, any more than leaving the UN or ceasing to take an interest in global affairs.
An alternative view is that Britain is distinctively different, at risk of contamination, and should only share sovereignty to the extent absolutely necessary for practical reasons. On that basis clearly Leave is a much more tempting proposition.
"wir müssen verrückt , buchstäblich verrückt sein, als eine Nation ...
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE DEFINITION OF A 'PROPER SCOT' AS WE HAVE BEEN TOLD ON HERE BEFORE IS SOMEONE WHO SUPPORTS SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE.
Let's face it. Many special interest groups are exempt from secular law in modern Britain.
First class flights, we're on a winner BATMAN!
Anyway, if Nick Palmer is still around I should like to laugh in his general direction. The idea that Germany, or rather Germans, are more hospitable to immigrants and other cultures than the Brits is easily disproved. Just read the German press.
If we had thousands of people turning out for anti-immigrant demonstrations in Birmingham on a weekly basis the UK establishment would go into meltdown. But of course we don't and, God willing, we never will; they do have such regular demonstrations in Germany. Nor do we have County Councils writing to the PM saying enough is enough and we don't want any more immigrants.
Sometimes Dr Palmer, with his European enthusiasm, can seem to be the character from the Lord High Executioner's song, "... the idiot who embraces with enthusiastic tone, all centuries but this and every country than his own ...". Admiring what other countries do well doesn't mean that we should be blind to what they do badly or what we do well.
A certain Jeremy Corbyn (in a fetching summer tan jacket and strident LibDem Yellow tie) stood up, from his position next to D Abbott, to ask his question about the Iraqi occupation.
Little did he imagine that one day...
Yep. Record employment, outperforming rivals by a street, world's fifth largest economy, all time high tax receipts, choice on Europe....
Same old tories.
Perhaps, as I suggested to one James Kelly on this site long ago, you should concentrate more on persuading your fellow Scots of the rightness of your cause rather than arguing with Englishmen. Mr. Kelly, of course, told me I was a fool and worse but his team didn't get the result they wanted at the referendum.
Thanks for the chat, anyway.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-england-32639375
Not sure that's the warmest of body language between them even then.
I also noted that of course Oxford East is solid Labour, so when the PM cc'd his letter to "Oxfordshire MPs" he presumably cc'd it to the Labour chappie too and not just his fellow Oxon Tories?
Knowing that the letter was, presumably, going to a Labour MP who could have had a field day with it, it's an even more bizarre correspondence. (And it seems it was the Tory Council leader who put it in the public domain, not the Labour chap)
In every category I see that women are more undecided about the referendum than men.
Just saying.
Is it the collective noun - a swarm of avalanches?
"This Sucker Could Go Down"
De Gaulle did not want the UK to join the Common Market despite the fact it would help to balance France against German dominance.
Many people here just don't get Merkel or Germany - they can't understand why she's still popular and not being swept away by a wave of indignation. There are worse things than our vague grumpy acceptance, as Cyclefree has pointed out and Britain works pretty well on that basis. But we shouldn't elevate it to a supreme virtue either.
But I agree with your general irritation. There seems to have been absolutely no regard for any rules at all and what went on - financially and in every other way - needs to be looked at forensically and those who were meant to be in charge made to accept responsibility, real responsibility - and sooner rather than later.
Lol.
Say what you like about the Daily Mail, but it is difficult to deny its influence. The articles the paper has run about rampant public sector greed have probably changed the debate about funding somewhat.
I know of at least one major children's charity that has taken a massive hit in funding thanks to the Widow Batman-Twanky's antics.
I wonder if Mr HurstLlama is aware of councillors' actual salaries and allowances and their work load, especially at County Council level?
For me the only way is to starve the public sector far more and give people more money directly to buy their own services, either through tax cuts or vouchers.
But then I'm a thatcherite tory.
To be fair, many of the greedy public sector workers highlighted by the Mail are bureaucrats, and not elected officials.
However, why is going to change the system? Who can people vote for?
You can understand why, being under appreciated for what they do, fewer and fewer people want to be councillors nowadays.
I don't know when the whopping 19% increase took place....but it doesn't matter - it is/was indefensible.
In my own Borough Council in Surrey, we froze all allowances for three years and then increased them for the last two by less than inflation at 1% and 1.5% as recommended by the independent panel.
As far as Councillors and allowances are concerned, it's the small clique of Cabinet members around the Council leader who rake off the most. This seems to be the case in authorities as politically diverse as Newham and Surrey. The average voting fodder backbench Councillor doesn't get that much.
Whether having the likes of David Hodge or Sir Robin Wales is healthy or not for local democracy I don't know but the current system effectively makes being a local representative almost impossible for very many people. Local democracy atrophies as a result. I wouldn't have a system of unpaid Councillors as that would be
My guess is that no-one is doing anything very much or is waiting to see what happens with the criminal investigation and the Parliamentary report and whatever may be going on behind the scenes.
We may have a case of Everyone thinking that Something is being done by Someone Else resulting in Nothing being done by Anyone.
What we've experienced so far isn't even an entree: the 2010s (so far) needs to be put into context of a forecast global population increase from 6 to 11 billion, and a continent which may have a large part of it in perpetual war.
However, the real scandal is perhaps with the ridiculous salaries, and pensions, that are paid to officials. I say ridiculous because the are far in excess of any actual responsibility or risk or, save for a few specialist posts requirement for knowledge. How a salary of over £100K* a year is necessary to find a competent Town Clerk I do not know.
*The Figure for our local council's Chief Executive
How much do you think the cabinet member responsible for Children's Services across a County or metropolitan area should receive in allowances per annum?
How much of their time do you think this role should take up?
How many councillors do you think want this task?
http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/
will not drop below 30% any time between now and, say, February 1?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34803222
Although he is talking about 'by December', which - assuming this isn't all choreographed - is a very short period of time.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/stats/index.html