Yesterday I paid £83 to fill my car with diesel. On Sunday I went to Tescos and spent £112 on messages which admittedly included a couple of decent bottles of wine and a nice roast for Easter. I did not buy washing powder, toothpaste or any of the incidentals that are needed for a household.
My wife has been to Tescos again today and I even bought a few things yesterday. The idea that you can live reasonably well for £53 a week after housing and heating costs is frankly ridiculous. Our costs reflect a family of 4 who would obviously get more than £53 a week but come on.
Those that claim those living on benefits have a pleasant life have either never done it or did it so long ago that they have rose tinted spectacles (or maybe those goggles the Guardian was offering yesterday).
This is not the point. The point is what obligation do we owe our fellow citizens who are not contributing and, even more so, those who have never contributed? What can we afford to pay without damaging our economy and making it uncompetitive? What proportion of earned income should be mandated to the poor? This is the debate we need to have. Arguing about the living costs of a cabinet minister is frankly trivilising and patronising the people those who do it are claiming to help.
I hope you didn't go to Tesco on Sunday, they should be closed on Easter Sunday (unless it is a poxy little one).
And you are right the noise around Duncan Smith is an insult to those who should be getting help from the better off in society.
Yesterday I paid £83 to fill my car with diesel. On Sunday I went to Tescos and spent £112 on messages which admittedly included a couple of decent bottles of wine and a nice roast for Easter. I did not buy washing powder, toothpaste or any of the incidentals that are needed for a household.
My wife has been to Tescos again today and I even bought a few things yesterday. The idea that you can live reasonably well for £53 a week after housing and heating costs is frankly ridiculous. Our costs reflect a family of 4 who would obviously get more than £53 a week but come on.
Those that claim those living on benefits have a pleasant life have either never done it or did it so long ago that they have rose tinted spectacles (or maybe those goggles the Guardian was offering yesterday).
This is not the point. The point is what obligation do we owe our fellow citizens who are not contributing and, even more so, those who have never contributed? What can we afford to pay without damaging our economy and making it uncompetitive? What proportion of earned income should be mandated to the poor? This is the debate we need to have. Arguing about the living costs of a cabinet minister is frankly trivilising and patronising the people those who do it are claiming to help.
I hope you didn't go to Tesco on Sunday, they should be closed on Easter Sunday (unless it is a poxy little one).
And you are right the noise around Duncan Smith is an insult to those who should be getting help from the better off in society.
I think David is from Scotland, and the laws on Sunday trading are different in Scotland than they are in England & Wales
Yesterday I paid £83 to fill my car with diesel. On Sunday I went to Tescos and spent £112 on messages which admittedly included a couple of decent bottles of wine and a nice roast for Easter. I did not buy washing powder, toothpaste or any of the incidentals that are needed for a household.
My wife has been to Tescos again today and I even bought a few things yesterday. The idea that you can live reasonably well for £53 a week after housing and heating costs is frankly ridiculous. Our costs reflect a family of 4 who would obviously get more than £53 a week but come on.
Those that claim those living on benefits have a pleasant life have either never done it or did it so long ago that they have rose tinted spectacles (or maybe those goggles the Guardian was offering yesterday).
This is not the point. The point is what obligation do we owe our fellow citizens who are not contributing and, even more so, those who have never contributed? What can we afford to pay without damaging our economy and making it uncompetitive? What proportion of earned income should be mandated to the poor? This is the debate we need to have. Arguing about the living costs of a cabinet minister is frankly trivilising and patronising the people those who do it are claiming to help.
I hope you didn't go to Tesco on Sunday, they should be closed on Easter Sunday (unless it is a poxy little one).
And you are right the noise around Duncan Smith is an insult to those who should be getting help from the better off in society.
I think David is from Scotland, and the laws on Sunday trading are different in Scotland than they are in England & Wales
That is cheating, living in Scotland. Do real people still do that?
Here we have the figures that Socrates has struggled for two days to produce
No you haven't. For some bizarre reason, George Eaton - who's normally not a complete fool - has forgotten to include all the other myriad of benefits which weren't available 40 years ago.
Actually the idea of raising Jobseeker's allowance to £120 and ditching all the other stuff is not a bad one. However, forgetting to include all the other stuff in the comparison is barmy.
@tim You aren't getting nostalgic for the comedy brilliance of Romney, because this kind of hopelessly out of touch stuff from the chumocracy is pure Romney gold.
You can tell Osbrowne thought it a wise master strategy to get behind the Romney campaign. He's learned those lessons well.
Thankfully most people on here aren't thick enough to think the ratio between benefits and wages is the same thing as the purchasing power of benefits.
Yesterday I paid £83 to fill my car with diesel. On Sunday I went to Tescos and spent £112 on messages which admittedly included a couple of decent bottles of wine and a nice roast for Easter. I did not buy washing powder, toothpaste or any of the incidentals that are needed for a household.
My wife has been to Tescos again today and I even bought a few things yesterday. The idea that you can live reasonably well for £53 a week after housing and heating costs is frankly ridiculous. Our costs reflect a family of 4 who would obviously get more than £53 a week but come on.
Those that claim those living on benefits have a pleasant life have either never done it or did it so long ago that they have rose tinted spectacles (or maybe those goggles the Guardian was offering yesterday).
This is not the point. The point is what obligation do we owe our fellow citizens who are not contributing and, even more so, those who have never contributed? What can we afford to pay without damaging our economy and making it uncompetitive? What proportion of earned income should be mandated to the poor? This is the debate we need to have. Arguing about the living costs of a cabinet minister is frankly trivilising and patronising the people those who do it are claiming to help.
I hope you didn't go to Tesco on Sunday, they should be closed on Easter Sunday (unless it is a poxy little one).
And you are right the noise around Duncan Smith is an insult to those who should be getting help from the better off in society.
I think David is from Scotland, and the laws on Sunday trading are different in Scotland than they are in England & Wales
That is cheating, living in Scotland. Do real people still do that?
It has been a while since I read up on Scotland's trading laws, but IIRC, you can't compel workers to work on Sunday, but shops can open longer on Sunday in Scotland and there aren't the restrictions on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day that there are in England & Wales.
Here we have the figures that Socrates has struggled for two days to produce
No you haven't. For some bizarre reason, George Eaton - who's normally not a complete fool - has forgotten to include all the other myriad of benefits which weren't available 40 years ago.
Actually the idea of raising Jobseeker's allowance to £120 and ditching all the other stuff is not a bad one. However, forgetting to include all the other stuff in the comparison is barmy.
There's also the fact that total spend on on unemployment benefits, even adjusted for price rises and population growth, is much higher than it was when unemployment was two points higher in the early 1990s. Whether through eligibility or expenditure per person, we must be being more generous overall.
Pork - my main observation was that the leftards on here are usually falling all over themselves to point out polling showing X,Y and Z is popular therefore it must be done - however on this benefit topic they are avoiding the polling evidence like the plague...
tim. Given that it is tiring to continuously point out the same points about me using the same terms as the BBC's article for this stuff, and that JSA is not paid to pensioners, you are just demonstrating my logic in not debating you any more. You are both unpleasant and too thick to hear what is being told to you, so are not worth engaging with.
This is the fourth time I've told you so it really is going to be the last time. I know you are going to respond to this by continuously trying to bait me. I even sympathise with this, as I know you don't have a female companion, real friends, or even anyone that likes you on this forum, so you will be desperate to continue our communication, but you'll have to accept it.
If you start having a basic respect for others on here, or start being intellectually honest, I'm happy to change my mind.
IDS actually strikes me as a chap who actually COULD live on £53 a week. He's had a military career so I'd assume he'd have the discipline necessary to do it from this. And that is precisely what he said, not that he WOULD live on £53/week.
There's also the fact that total spend on on unemployment benefits, even adjusted for price rises and population growth, is much higher than it was when unemployment was two points higher in the early 1990s. Whether through eligibility or expenditure per person, we must be being more generous overall.
More women in the workforce, idiot.
Yet, unemployment is c.2.5 m now, while it peaked at 3m in 1992.
There's also the fact that total spend on on unemployment benefits, even adjusted for price rises and population growth, is much higher than it was when unemployment was two points higher in the early 1990s. Whether through eligibility or expenditure per person, we must be being more generous overall.
More women in the workforce, idiot.
Why would the male/female ratio affect unemployment benefit ? Child benefit is a seperate entity and outwith unemployment. No, really I'm looking for an answer.
TSE is right and yes, Scotland is still largely inhabited.
Most years we do a Christmas shopping trip to the Metro Centre in Newcastle. I always find Sunday trading laws in England quite bizarre. How on earth did Thatcher miss such nonsense?
We still have silly rules about when we are allowed to buy our wine but otherwise shops are open when they think they can make a profit as they need to be these days. Shops have enormous disadvantages to the internet for trading. They are also a major employer of the low skilled workers our schools specialise in. Why make life harder for them? It's nuts.
TSE is right and yes, Scotland is still largely inhabited.
Most years we do a Christmas shopping trip to the Metro Centre in Newcastle. I always find Sunday trading laws in England quite bizarre. How on earth did Thatcher miss such nonsense?
We still have silly rules about when we are allowed to buy our wine but otherwise shops are open when they think they can make a profit as they need to be these days. Shops have enormous disadvantages to the internet for trading. They are also a major employer of the low skilled workers our schools specialise in. Why make life harder for them? It's nuts.
IIRC, Mrs Thatcher did try to reform the Sunday Trading laws, however a bizarre alliance of Christian Tory MPs who wanted to keep Sunday special and left leaning Labour MPs who didn't want the worker exploited on Sundays blocked her attempts to reform Sunday Trading laws.
It was when superstores unilaterally started opening on Sundays in the early 90s was the law reformed.
And that is precisely what he said, not that he WOULD live on £53/week.
Not sure you can always trust the precision of IDS. Positively Archeresque..
'His claim that he studied at the University of Perugia (founded 1308) was later found to be false after an investigation by the BBC. His office subsequently admitted that he attended the Italian Università per Stranieri (founded 1921) in Perugia for a year but he didn't obtain any qualifications or finish his exams.... Duncan-Smith's biography, on the Conservative Party website, claimed he was "educated at Dunchurch College of Management" but following questioning by the BBC his office confirmed that he did not get any qualifications there either, stating that he completed six separate courses lasting a few days each, adding up to about a month in total.'
That rings a bell. I really can't see her wanting to put up with that kind of nonsense.
Our Tesco superstores are open 24 hours, 363 days a year. They choose to close on Christmas and new Year. Needless to say, this causes panic buying of bread etc on a mass scale.
TSE is right and yes, Scotland is still largely inhabited.
Most years we do a Christmas shopping trip to the Metro Centre in Newcastle. I always find Sunday trading laws in England quite bizarre. How on earth did Thatcher miss such nonsense?
We still have silly rules about when we are allowed to buy our wine but otherwise shops are open when they think they can make a profit as they need to be these days. Shops have enormous disadvantages to the internet for trading. They are also a major employer of the low skilled workers our schools specialise in. Why make life harder for them? It's nuts.
I remember the introduction of the UK Sunday Trading laws, after many years of illegality by trading on Sundays, my business became legal.
The internet gives online such a massive advantage over retail shops that the reduction in shop work is all but inevitable. Rates and rents are in most town (and out of town) centres a disincentive for all but the bravest of new entrants. The obsession of media with the 'health of the High Street' as an economic indicator leaves them reporting on the last century. It is a shock if retail sales hold up, they should be sinking fast with all the freely available alternatives. We need a new use for our town centres that is compatible with modern life, and it is unlikely to be retailing.
I'm glad most of Scotland is still empty, the world would be a better place with less human intervention.
There's also the fact that total spend on on unemployment benefits, even adjusted for price rises and population growth, is much higher than it was when unemployment was two points higher in the early 1990s. Whether through eligibility or expenditure per person, we must be being more generous overall.
More women in the workforce, idiot.
Yet, unemployment is c.2.5 m now, while it peaked at 3m in 1992.
Sean, give it up. You can point out that unemployment is half a million less. You can point out that the participation rate is within a percentage point or two from 1992, depending on how you measure it. You can point out the expenditure is much, much greater. It won't matter. He won't accept it. He'll just refuse to concede the point, move on to some other unsubstantiated claim. Then two days later he'll bring up the same originally defeated claim again. And all this will be interspersed with insults to you and hate speech towards people of certain backgrounds.
As annoying as he is, we need to just learn not to feed the troll.
Socrates is assuming that the workforce remained constant as a percentage of the population in his calculations Nonsense of course. Unemployment measures those looking for work,and there are many more women in the workforce now that 20-30 years ago.
You don't get owt if your partner or spouse has a job. So the number of people living in HOMOs or on their own must have increased rather than any male/female split in order for your statement to be true.
"It was when superstores unilaterally started opening on Sundays in the early 90s was the law reformed."
I don't remember that. I remember the battle between the let-'em-open and the Sunday-should- be-special/can't-ask-workers-to-work-on a Sunday brigades, but I have no memory at all of Tescos and the like defying the law as it then stood. What emerged seemed to be a compromise between the two positions (OK, you can open but not for long). Are you sure we had this out break of lawlessness by major businesses?
It is indisputable that the best bits of Scotland are the empty bits. One of the great joys of living in Dundee is that within one hour's drive I can walk in the hills for an entire day and not see anybody.
Probably demonstrates my misanthropy better than most things.
"It was when superstores unilaterally started opening on Sundays in the early 90s was the law reformed."
I don't remember that. I remember the battle between the let-'em-open and the Sunday-should- be-special/can't-ask-workers-to-work-on a Sunday brigades, but I have no memory at all of Tescos and the like defying the law as it then stood. What emerged seemed to be a compromise between the two positions (OK, you can open but not for long). Are you sure we had this out break of lawlessness by major businesses?
Although some shops had defied the law, the 1994 Sunday Trading Act allowed all smaller shops in England and Wales to open all day. Larger ones are still restricted to six hours of business between 10am and 6pm and cannot open on Easter Sunday.
Isn't this Donkey with a red rosette country, no matter what candidate Labour puts up, they'd win?
Probably.
But the entertainment lies in the Donkeys scrapping to decide which Donkey gets chosen....
Lets face it, the last Donkey became a Board Member of a Wearside Football Club - not something a Tyneside born MP would have been caught dead doing.....
"It was when superstores unilaterally started opening on Sundays in the early 90s was the law reformed."
I don't remember that. I remember the battle between the let-'em-open and the Sunday-should- be-special/can't-ask-workers-to-work-on a Sunday brigades, but I have no memory at all of Tescos and the like defying the law as it then stood. What emerged seemed to be a compromise between the two positions (OK, you can open but not for long). Are you sure we had this out break of lawlessness by major businesses?
Although some shops had defied the law, the 1994 Sunday Trading Act allowed all smaller shops in England and Wales to open all day. Larger ones are still restricted to six hours of business between 10am and 6pm and cannot open on Easter Sunday.
"It was when superstores unilaterally started opening on Sundays in the early 90s was the law reformed."
I don't remember that. I remember the battle between the let-'em-open and the Sunday-should- be-special/can't-ask-workers-to-work-on a Sunday brigades, but I have no memory at all of Tescos and the like defying the law as it then stood. What emerged seemed to be a compromise between the two positions (OK, you can open but not for long). Are you sure we had this out break of lawlessness by major businesses?
Although some shops had defied the law, the 1994 Sunday Trading Act allowed all smaller shops in England and Wales to open all day. Larger ones are still restricted to six hours of business between 10am and 6pm and cannot open on Easter Sunday.
GIN - one point: although it sounds as though you're in good hands now, I think it's worth asking them why it took so long to get back to you with the test result. That isn't normal SOP, and as the result wasn't a simple all-clear they should have gotten on with it. I'm sure you won't scream at them, but asking them to review their alert procedure for non-negative results might be helpful to someone else.
>> But the entertainment lies in the Donkeys scrapping to decide which Donkey gets chosen....
Seat for life this one - a prime cut of real estate. Only reason a red MP would lose this seat is via the boundary commission - what is the size of the electorate anyway ? 15-20 voters ?
"It was when superstores unilaterally started opening on Sundays in the early 90s was the law reformed."
I don't remember that. I remember the battle between the let-'em-open and the Sunday-should- be-special/can't-ask-workers-to-work-on a Sunday brigades, but I have no memory at all of Tescos and the like defying the law as it then stood. What emerged seemed to be a compromise between the two positions (OK, you can open but not for long). Are you sure we had this out break of lawlessness by major businesses?
Although some shops had defied the law, the 1994 Sunday Trading Act allowed all smaller shops in England and Wales to open all day. Larger ones are still restricted to six hours of business between 10am and 6pm and cannot open on Easter Sunday.
I've avoided talking much about the bedroom tax, but have Labour promised to reverse the vile, kick the poor in the knackers tax?
It will be put about that the 'Bedroom Tax' is in fact a tax on nocturnal activities. Every spurt of high energy activity will be recorded and taxed at rate of £10.00 per spurt. The objective is to reduce population of chavs and scroungers by making it too expensive for them to engage in activities related to procreation. The bathroom tax is to follow for single people who thought they could evade the bedroom tax by single handedly changing the location of their lonely self satisfying moments of gratification.
I've avoided talking much about the bedroom tax, but have Labour promised to reverse the vile, kick the poor in the knackers tax?
It will be put about that the 'Bedroom Tax' is in fact a tax on nocturnal activities. Every spurt of high energy activity will be recorded and taxed at rate of £10.00 per spurt. The objective is to reduce population of chavs and scroungers by making it too expensive for them to engage in activities related to procreation. The bathroom tax is to follow for single people who thought they could evade the bedroom tax by single handedly changing the location of their lonely self satisfying moments of gratification.
Having read the text of George Osborne's speech today, is there really anything that a right minded person could not agree with. Are Labour really going to put in their manifesto that they intend to increase benefits at the expense of those in work.
I am also amazed at the poor journalism in this matter. Rather that letting Labour spokesman just come on air and say how terrible this policy is, why haven't they challenged them more on what their policy would be, why it is right for benefits to increase faster that than wages, and whether they intend to reverse the reduction is housing benefits for those in undercrowded accommodation if they return to power.
"He was fixated on money - jurors heard during his trial that one of the many possible reasons for setting fire to the house might have been because he wanted all of his children in one place so he would get the most benefits payments."
Tom Chivers is misinformed if he believes that the pronunciation of British as Briddish involves the use of a glottal stop.
A glottal stop is articulated when a speaker blocks the flow of air through the vocal tract by closing the gap in the vocal chords with a soft fold of flesh known as the glottis.
A speaker can know when he or she is using a glottal stop by halting articulation of the full word at the consonantal stop and finding that it is not possible to breath until the stop is released.
The phoneme for a glottal stop is Ɂ
Try saying "UhɁOh" ["Uh-Oh"] or "BiɁer" ["Bitter"] and stopping at the "Ɂ".
If George said "Briddish" rather than "British" then he most certainly was not using a glottal stop.
tim, how can we believe your predictions of electoral outcomes or your assessments of political policies and personalities if you can't get simple details on the use of language correct?
Good job that Sunderland haven't been drawn against Lazio in any European Competition, al least we are spared headlines about Di Canio's march on Rome....
Police Federation complain about vilification (no, really...)
"Police Fed statement on PC Kelly Jones (suing over kerb trip): to vilify this officer is wrong, she is an easy target"
Should have talked to the Norfolk Chief Constable:
"It prompted criticism from Norfolk chief constable Phil Gormley who said her attitude did not represent the “approach and attitude of the overwhelming majority” of police officers and staff. Today the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said Pc Jones was going ahead with the claim with their support."
Police Federation complain about vilification (no, really...)
"Police Fed statement on PC Kelly Jones (suing over kerb trip): to vilify this officer is wrong, she is an easy target"
Should have talked to the Norfolk Chief Constable:
"It prompted criticism from Norfolk chief constable Phil Gormley who said her attitude did not represent the “approach and attitude of the overwhelming majority” of police officers and staff. Today the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said Pc Jones was going ahead with the claim with their support."
"So we have to take Prime Minister Miliband seriously. And we have to take seriously the likelihood that his government will be a disaster. It is not just the parallel with 1974, or even the much-cited example of what has happened in France since last year.
François Hollande, whose election was hailed by Miliband as evidence that, in these straitened times, the left is finally answering the public mood, has become more unpopular even faster than the other François, Mitterrand, did when he tried “socialism in one country” in 1981."
Pork - my main observation was that the leftards on here are usually falling all over themselves to point out polling showing X,Y and Z is popular therefore it must be done - however on this benefit topic they are avoiding the polling evidence like the plague...
Whereas the rightards on here proved how little they know about polling and what matters most with the Romney campaign where another hopelessly out of touch cretin thought attacking huge sections of society would win him an election.
Osbrowne is even more of a toxic liability than Romney, which is quite an achievement.
Ed Miliband, champion of the squeezed middle, defending benefits for all...
@benatipsosmori: Doing BBC Newschannel on benefit cuts - 78% say want some people to have benefits cut, 72% say politicians should bring benefits bill down
No wonder chris_g00 and Richard Tyndall and others don't post here any longer. What a tiresome and dreary discussion that's filled with zero intelligence from the Left.
Reading LabourList or whatever carries more IQ pixels = far too many lefties are really letting themselves down on PB if this is their level of *debate*.
"“We’re definitely looking at [a graduate tax]. I think there’s been some work going on at IPPR looking at the options too. We’ve said £6000 [as a cap] before, and we’re looking at all of these issues for the manifesto, and what can be done.”
"I didn't know Miliband is thinking of bringing in a graduate tax. What madness."
Why? I've always thought that a graduate tax is an elegant solution to a very difficult problem. It would get rid of the psychology of debt that deters many people from low-income backgrounds from applying for university, for starters.
Pork - my main observation was that the leftards on here are usually falling all over themselves to point out polling showing X,Y and Z is popular therefore it must be done - however on this benefit topic they are avoiding the polling evidence like the plague...
Whereas the rightards on here proved how little they know about polling and what matters most with the Romney campaign where another hopelessly out of touch cretin thought attacking huge sections of society would win him an election.
Osbrowne is even more of a toxic liability than Romney, which is quite an achievement.
Non comparable.
Osborne is a minister, he can do things, so he has the tools to alter perception, if he knows how to use the tools.
Romney was a candidate, and therefore could only use hot air.
"I didn't know Miliband is thinking of bringing in a graduate tax. What madness."
Why? I've always thought that a graduate tax is an elegant solution to a very difficult problem. It would get rid of the psychology of debt that deters many people from low-income backgrounds from applying for university, for starters.
Either people should be responsible for paying for their own degrees, or it should be a collective responsibility. Why on Earth should middle earners with degrees have to pay for other people's choices, when Alan Sugar doesn't?
No wonder chris_g00 and Richard Tyndall and others don't post here any longer. What a tiresome and dreary discussion that's filled with zero intelligence from the Left.
Reading LabourList or whatever carries more IQ pixels = far too many lefties are really letting themselves down on PB if this is their level of *debate*.
There's plenty of good left wing posters on here: Neil, Southam, Nick Palmer, Edmund, etc.
Both that public and my own personal photo were taken at the back of the car-park of the huge French-style Tesco Extra in Crewe (ie parking on the ground and shopping on the first floor, reached via a 'travellator').
There was the signal box, an old-style 'arm' signal and a large yellow-cab-at-each-end-of-a-dark-greenyblue-middle-bit 1960/early '70's era diesel which was running (though not actually doing anything!). A little further back were some coaches and freight wagons in a truly dilapidated (indeed collapsed) state - I wondered if they were Northern Line commuter carriages, they were so bad?
Your knowledge of Heritage Lines is waaaaaaaaaay better than my own, but I cannot see that they have much track and there was no evidence of any steam locos. Nor, in fact, of an engine shed, but this might have been the far end of whatever track they have and the diesel might have been waiting to go back to mummy (the driver (?) was in the cab at that end of the engine, so I suppose that's likely).
Googling 'Crewe signal box' under 'Images' (which is where I found that piccie) suggests that the box might have originally been inside what looks like the original station, rather than located where it is now.
Comments
And you are right the noise around Duncan Smith is an insult to those who should be getting help from the better off in society.
Actually the idea of raising Jobseeker's allowance to £120 and ditching all the other stuff is not a bad one. However, forgetting to include all the other stuff in the comparison is barmy.
You can tell Osbrowne thought it a wise master strategy to get behind the Romney campaign.
He's learned those lessons well.
I wonder if the rather staggering Youtube clip of Philpot on Jeremy Kyle will reappear now...
RIP those poor children.
This is the fourth time I've told you so it really is going to be the last time. I know you are going to respond to this by continuously trying to bait me. I even sympathise with this, as I know you don't have a female companion, real friends, or even anyone that likes you on this forum, so you will be desperate to continue our communication, but you'll have to accept it.
If you start having a basic respect for others on here, or start being intellectually honest, I'm happy to change my mind.
Socrates may be right or wrong, but there is no call for calling him 'stupid' or 'idiot' every other post.
It doesn't add to the gaiety of the nation
TSE is right and yes, Scotland is still largely inhabited.
Most years we do a Christmas shopping trip to the Metro Centre in Newcastle. I always find Sunday trading laws in England quite bizarre. How on earth did Thatcher miss such nonsense?
We still have silly rules about when we are allowed to buy our wine but otherwise shops are open when they think they can make a profit as they need to be these days. Shops have enormous disadvantages to the internet for trading. They are also a major employer of the low skilled workers our schools specialise in. Why make life harder for them? It's nuts.
Our man in Norris Green.
It was when superstores unilaterally started opening on Sundays in the early 90s was the law reformed.
'His claim that he studied at the University of Perugia (founded 1308) was later found to be false after an investigation by the BBC. His office subsequently admitted that he attended the Italian Università per Stranieri (founded 1921) in Perugia for a year but he didn't obtain any qualifications or finish his exams.... Duncan-Smith's biography, on the Conservative Party website, claimed he was "educated at Dunchurch College of Management" but following questioning by the BBC his office confirmed that he did not get any qualifications there either, stating that he completed six separate courses lasting a few days each, adding up to about a month in total.'
That rings a bell. I really can't see her wanting to put up with that kind of nonsense.
Our Tesco superstores are open 24 hours, 363 days a year. They choose to close on Christmas and new Year. Needless to say, this causes panic buying of bread etc on a mass scale.
We really know how to live up here.
The internet gives online such a massive advantage over retail shops that the reduction in shop work is all but inevitable. Rates and rents are in most town (and out of town) centres a disincentive for all but the bravest of new entrants. The obsession of media with the 'health of the High Street' as an economic indicator leaves them reporting on the last century. It is a shock if retail sales hold up, they should be sinking fast with all the freely available alternatives. We need a new use for our town centres that is compatible with modern life, and it is unlikely to be retailing.
I'm glad most of Scotland is still empty, the world would be a better place with less human intervention.
As annoying as he is, we need to just learn not to feed the troll.
I don't remember that. I remember the battle between the let-'em-open and the Sunday-should- be-special/can't-ask-workers-to-work-on a Sunday brigades, but I have no memory at all of Tescos and the like defying the law as it then stood. What emerged seemed to be a compromise between the two positions (OK, you can open but not for long). Are you sure we had this out break of lawlessness by major businesses?
Well, quite.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holborn_station_Piccadilly_roundel.JPG
It is indisputable that the best bits of Scotland are the empty bits. One of the great joys of living in Dundee is that within one hour's drive I can walk in the hills for an entire day and not see anybody.
Probably demonstrates my misanthropy better than most things.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8224062.stm
Edit: Note, I was 15 in 1994, so I maybe misremembering.
But the entertainment lies in the Donkeys scrapping to decide which Donkey gets chosen....
Lets face it, the last Donkey became a Board Member of a Wearside Football Club - not something a Tyneside born MP would have been caught dead doing.....
Here's the Geordie eye test
TSEPB @TSEofPB
Geordie Eye Test
pic.twitter.com/JsxQ6kAFwW
>> But the entertainment lies in the Donkeys scrapping to decide which Donkey gets chosen....
Seat for life this one - a prime cut of real estate. Only reason a red MP would lose this seat is via the boundary commission - what is the size of the electorate anyway ? 15-20 voters ?
One for you - I took an almost identical picture the other day, but I've no idea how to post it here:
http://train-photos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/14946.jpg
In the top 30 smallest in England.
So less work to do as well - plenty of time for back room machinations.
Even the left is starting to get restive about Ed's blank sheet of paper
So its a job that will keep on getting easier..
Remember when you were a serious troll ?
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/mick-philpott-portrait-of-an-abusive-aggressive-and-manipulative-individual-8557284.html
@Charles
I don't believe I'm old enough to remember an old wooden sign like that! Hope it's still in good condition!
I am also amazed at the poor journalism in this matter. Rather that letting Labour spokesman just come on air and say how terrible this policy is, why haven't they challenged them more on what their policy would be, why it is right for benefits to increase faster that than wages, and whether they intend to reverse the reduction is housing benefits for those in undercrowded accommodation if they return to power.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22000196
"He was fixated on money - jurors heard during his trial that one of the many possible reasons for setting fire to the house might have been because he wanted all of his children in one place so he would get the most benefits payments."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22001256
Paulo Di Canio has vowed "Sunderland will conquer Europe"......starting with Poland first one presumes.
Has been a while since I read up on Benito Mussolini.
Not just orange, but mockney
Tom Chivers is misinformed if he believes that the pronunciation of British as Briddish involves the use of a glottal stop.
A glottal stop is articulated when a speaker blocks the flow of air through the vocal tract by closing the gap in the vocal chords with a soft fold of flesh known as the glottis.
A speaker can know when he or she is using a glottal stop by halting articulation of the full word at the consonantal stop and finding that it is not possible to breath until the stop is released.
The phoneme for a glottal stop is Ɂ
Try saying "UhɁOh" ["Uh-Oh"] or "BiɁer" ["Bitter"] and stopping at the "Ɂ".
If George said "Briddish" rather than "British" then he most certainly was not using a glottal stop.
tim, how can we believe your predictions of electoral outcomes or your assessments of political policies and personalities if you can't get simple details on the use of language correct?
Tsk! Tsk!
Abyssinia will be annexed. Resistance is futile.
Declan Kidney has been removed as Ireland coach after a five-year reign.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22007454
"Police Fed statement on PC Kelly Jones (suing over kerb trip): to vilify this officer is wrong, she is an easy target"
Should have talked to the Norfolk Chief Constable:
"It prompted criticism from Norfolk chief constable Phil Gormley who said her attitude did not represent the “approach and attitude of the overwhelming majority” of police officers and staff. Today the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said Pc Jones was going ahead with the claim with their support."
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/pc-kelly-jones-presses-ahead-with-trip-injury-claim-8556941.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/prime-minister-milibandthe-prospect-is-disastrous-8557032.html
Ouch for both of them.
That's a shame. He seemed like one of the most decent blokes in rugby.
Edit: Sorry Antifrank
If that article had been written by someone other than John Rentoul, the answer to your question might be something other than "neither".
Free speech under threat as advertising company "agrees" to remove UKIP poster
Clear Channel, one of the largest advertising companies in the UK, has reportedly agreed to stifle free political expression by removing a UKIP poster
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/3098/free_speech_under_threat_as_advertising_company_agrees_to_remove_ukip_poster
"So we have to take Prime Minister Miliband seriously. And we have to take seriously the likelihood that his government will be a disaster. It is not just the parallel with 1974, or even the much-cited example of what has happened in France since last year.
François Hollande, whose election was hailed by Miliband as evidence that, in these straitened times, the left is finally answering the public mood, has become more unpopular even faster than the other François, Mitterrand, did when he tried “socialism in one country” in 1981."
@oflynnexpress: RT @errrJack: BREAKING: UKIP wins appeal to keep poster in Levenshulme. http://www.thecommentator.com/article/3129/clear_channel_announces_ukip_poster_will_not_be_removed
Osbrowne is even more of a toxic liability than Romney, which is quite an achievement.
Paulo Di Canio has vowed "Sunderland will conquer Europe"......starting with Poland first one presumes.</blockquote>
That's not fair: he's a fascist, not a nazi. Presumably Albania will be first.</blockquote>
I was thinking it might have been Abyssinia. </blockquote>
Abyssinia isn't in Europe.</blockquote>
It should be.
Has been a while since I read up on Benito Mussolini. </blockquote>
Didn't he start with Libya first and only then Abyssinia?
Anyway that particular screw up was the Norfolk branch of the family, not mine!
@benatipsosmori: Doing BBC Newschannel on benefit cuts - 78% say want some people to have benefits cut, 72% say politicians should bring benefits bill down
Oh.
Reading LabourList or whatever carries more IQ pixels = far too many lefties are really letting themselves down on PB if this is their level of *debate*.
"“We’re definitely looking at [a graduate tax]. I think there’s been some work going on at IPPR looking at the options too. We’ve said £6000 [as a cap] before, and we’re looking at all of these issues for the manifesto, and what can be done.”
http://labourlist.org/2013/03/ed-miliband-interview-part-one-on-immigration-tuition-fees-housing-lord-ahmed-and-much-more/
Why? I've always thought that a graduate tax is an elegant solution to a very difficult problem. It would get rid of the psychology of debt that deters many people from low-income backgrounds from applying for university, for starters.
Doing BBC Newschannel on benefit cuts - 78% say want some people to have benefits cut, 72% say politicians should bring benefits bill down
Osborne is a minister, he can do things, so he has the tools to alter perception, if he knows how to use the tools.
Romney was a candidate, and therefore could only use hot air.
" I've always thought that a graduate tax is an elegant solution to a very difficult problem"
The implication from the article is that it is almost impossible to design an effective system of collection.
I think the more interesting point from that quote is that the £6k fees cap may not be in the Labour manifesto.
Not in England:
"According to Ucas, there has been a sharper fall in application rates for young people from wealthier backgrounds, compared with poorer teenagers
Applicants from both rich and poor backgrounds are making "much the same choice" of courses as in previous years."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jul/09/university-applications-drop-tuition-fees
Libya was seized by Italy after a short war in 1911-2 with the Ottoman Empire.
Both that public and my own personal photo were taken at the back of the car-park of the huge French-style Tesco Extra in Crewe (ie parking on the ground and shopping on the first floor, reached via a 'travellator').
There was the signal box, an old-style 'arm' signal and a large yellow-cab-at-each-end-of-a-dark-greenyblue-middle-bit 1960/early '70's era diesel which was running (though not actually doing anything!).
A little further back were some coaches and freight wagons in a truly dilapidated (indeed collapsed) state - I wondered if they were Northern Line commuter carriages, they were so bad?
Your knowledge of Heritage Lines is waaaaaaaaaay better than my own, but I cannot see that they have much track and there was no evidence of any steam locos. Nor, in fact, of an engine shed, but this might have been the far end of whatever track they have and the diesel might have been waiting to go back to mummy (the driver (?) was in the cab at that end of the engine, so I suppose that's likely).
Googling 'Crewe signal box' under 'Images' (which is where I found that piccie) suggests that the box might have originally been inside what looks like the original station, rather than located where it is now.