Howdy, Stranger!

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

Options

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » A cartoon ahead of tomorrow’s historic Trump-May meeting in Wa

1246

Comments

  • Options
    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles
  • Options
    JobabobJobabob Posts: 3,807
    isam said:

    Jobabob said:

    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Jobabob said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Jobabob said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    chestnut said:

    rcs1000 said:

    "Trump said to eye 20% border tax on Mexican imports to pay for wall" - says the FT

    That - obviously - fails the "non-discriminatory" requirement of the WTO Treaties. The whole point about the WTO is that it establishes a common set of rules and prevents the big from bullying the little. I cannot see how the US remains a signatory to the treaties if it goes down this route.

    We will all lose from the end of the age of free trade.

    You can't have a common set of rules on tariffs etc, without common rules on minimum wages, labour regulations, business and property taxes etc etc.

    The playing field isn't level.
    So, the UK shouldn't have free trade deals with anywhere poorer than them.
    And nobody richer than the UK should have a free trade deal with us.

    It's very simple. Government policy that increases my freedom to make my own choices is good. Free trade deals do that.
    Your freedom perhaps.
    How does it not increase everyone's freedom?
    Lots of people are stupid. Should we make it easier for them to render their children stupid too by making it even easier to buy cheap processed garbage with no nutritional value?
    Lots of people are stupid.

    So we should prevent them from making stupid decisions? If they can't be trusted where to buy their chickens from, how can they be trusted to choose the right politicians?
    Children can't vote. Sadly they can be stuffed full of cheap processed crap by their parents. Damned right we should protect them as much as possible.
    So, only quinoa to be sold in the shops of Britain, a Macdonalds ban.

    What a paradise!
    If only the poor could afford to be socialists!
    Dumb post. Show me your rationale for flooding the market with shit processed food with sod all nutritional value. Why not just allow salted chicken flavoured rice paper to be sold as chicken? It would be cheap, after all. Robert would argue no need to get the government involved in regulating that.
    Well as I haven't said any of that I don't think I need to justify it
    Fair enough, accepted - then stop ascribing views to me.

  • Options
    PAWPAW Posts: 1,074
    There used to be a phrase 'bad money drives out good', it is certain that bad food drives out good.
  • Options
    MortimerMortimer Posts: 13,956
    I grew up as an interventionist. It has taken a long time for me to realise how destructive it can be. But at the same time the opposite worries me. Foreign policy is difficult.
  • Options
    RobDRobD Posts: 58,990

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles
    And there's a problem with constitution by pseudo-anonymous Letters to the Editor? :p
  • Options
    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,403
    Mortimer said:

    TOPPING said:

    Just popped in after dinner at an overpriced restaurant in Chelsea and upon a quick skim I see people are in favour of tearing up our trade deals with Africa because unit labour costs are cheaper over there.

    Have I got that right?

    OT but Rabbit on the KR is just excellent. Decent Bachhus on the wine list too.
    Will take a look thx.
  • Options
    dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 28,016
    dixiedean said:

    chestnut said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Do you know what happened the last time the world lurched into protectionism? I ask because that was a hell of a lot worse than the current situation: you know the situation where a record proportion of the population is employed.

    I would also point out that those developed countries with the fewest trade barriers (like Switzerland, which has a FTA with China) are the ones with the lowest levels of unemployment.

    You are making a big leap into assuming that Trump's discontent over a trade deal with Mexico is somehow lurching into overall protectionism.

    Perhaps, he's just looking for more suitable partners?

    A bit like Brexit.

    Nothing in Trump's rhetoric suggests he is looking for more suitable partners. He is looking to screw over weaker countries (which compared to US is everyone).
    And everything he has done so far suggests he intends to follow through on his rhetoric.
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    Didn't May vote for the Iraq war, bombing Libya and bombing Syria? While the LDs opposed them?

    Am I suffering from alternative facts, or is she?
  • Options

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    I agree on that on the latter part.
    Dropping bombs on people until they agree to adopt our systems of governance has not actually proved to be a very successful strategy in recent years.
    Indeed, we need to do more than that.

    One of my major critcisms of George W Bush was he said America didn't do nation building, he was wrong, America helped build West Germany and Japan into successful nations
  • Options
    nunununu Posts: 6,024
    TOPPING said:

    Just popped in after dinner at an overpriced restaurant in Chelsea and upon a quick skim I see people are in favour of tearing up our trade deals with Africa because unit labour costs are cheaper over there.

    Have I got that right?

    it depends. What is their side saying? That is where we are nowadays.

  • Options
    nunununu Posts: 6,024
    TOPPING said:

    Just popped in after dinner at an overpriced restaurant in Chelsea and upon a quick skim I see people are in favour of tearing up our trade deals with Africa because unit labour costs are cheaper over there.

    Have I got that right?

    it depends. What is their side saying? That is where we are nowadays.

  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,146
    Ed Miliband on Newsnight.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,672

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles
    Well, we should all write better letters to The Times.
  • Options
    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453

    Ed Miliband on Newsnight.

    who?
  • Options
    RobDRobD Posts: 58,990

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    Didn't May vote for the Iraq war, bombing Libya and bombing Syria? While the LDs opposed them?

    Am I suffering from alternative facts, or is she?
    Perhaps she's changed her view after said events?
  • Options
    isamisam Posts: 41,005

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    I agree on that on the latter part.
    Dropping bombs on people until they agree to adopt our systems of governance has not actually proved to be a very successful strategy in recent years.
    If the EU bombed certain parts of the country until we agreed to stay, some people might be happy!
  • Options
    MortimerMortimer Posts: 13,956
    Surprise surprise, Miliband prefers Merkel to May..

    The virtue signaller's virtue signaller.
  • Options
    RobDRobD Posts: 58,990
    Scott_P said:

    Ed Miliband on Newsnight.

    who?
    EICIPM :)
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,672

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    Didn't May vote for the Iraq war, bombing Libya and bombing Syria? While the LDs opposed them?

    Am I suffering from alternative facts, or is she?
    You've become downright silly recently.
  • Options
    William_HWilliam_H Posts: 346
    RobD said:

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    Didn't May vote for the Iraq war, bombing Libya and bombing Syria? While the LDs opposed them?

    Am I suffering from alternative facts, or is she?
    Perhaps she's changed her view after said events?
    Perhaps she's been convinced by Jeremy Corbyn?
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles
    No they weren't. It was just that a letter to the Times was chosen as a vehicle to make the Kong's views publicly known.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,146
    Scott_P said:

    Ed Miliband on Newsnight.

    who?
    He was the past once.

    Then Jeremy Corbyn came along. He may yet be the future again.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,672
    edited January 2017

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    I agree on that on the latter part.
    Dropping bombs on people until they agree to adopt our systems of governance has not actually proved to be a very successful strategy in recent years.
    Indeed, we need to do more than that.

    One of my major critcisms of George W Bush was he said America didn't do nation building, he was wrong, America helped build West Germany and Japan into successful nations
    And we built America.

    If the US and UK, and others, don't shape the world around us: China and Russia will.
  • Options
    isamisam Posts: 41,005
    Jobabob said:

    isam said:

    Jobabob said:

    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Jobabob said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Jobabob said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    chestnut said:

    rcs1000 said:

    "Trump said to eye 20% border tax on Mexican imports to pay for wall" - says the FT

    That - obviously - fails the "non-discriminatory" requirement of the WTO Treaties. The whole point about the WTO is that it establishes a common set of rules and prevents the big from bullying the little. I cannot see how the US remains a signatory to the treaties if it goes down this route.

    We will all lose from the end of the age of free trade.

    You can't have a common set of rules on tariffs etc, without common rules on minimum wages, labour regulations, business and property taxes etc etc.

    The playing field isn't level.
    So, the UK shouldn't have free trade deals with anywhere poorer than them.
    And nobody richer than the UK should have a free trade deal with us.

    It's very simple. Government policy that increases my freedom to make my own choices is good. Free trade deals do that.
    Your freedom perhaps.
    How does it not increase everyone's freedom?
    Lots of people are stupid. Should we make it easier for them to render their children stupid too by making it even easier to buy cheap processed garbage with no nutritional value?
    Lots of people are stupid.

    So we should prevent them from making stupid decisions? If they can't be trusted where to buy their chickens from, how can they be trusted to choose the right politicians?
    Children can't vote. Sadly they can be stuffed full of cheap processed crap by their parents. Damned right we should protect them as much as possible.
    So, only quinoa to be sold in the shops of Britain, a Macdonalds ban.

    What a paradise!
    If only the poor could afford to be socialists!
    Dumb post. Show me your rationale for flooding the market with shit processed food with sod all nutritional value. Why not just allow salted chicken flavoured rice paper to be sold as chicken? It would be cheap, after all. Robert would argue no need to get the government involved in regulating that.
    Well as I haven't said any of that I don't think I need to justify it
    Fair enough, accepted - then stop ascribing views to me.

    You should have stopped after 3 words

    Like what?
  • Options
    Nigelb said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Jobabob said:

    rcs1000 said:

    chestnut said:

    rcs1000 said:

    chestnut said:

    rcs1000 said:

    chestnut said:

    rcs1000 said:

    "Trump said to eye 20% border tax on Mexican imports to pay for wall" - says the FT

    That - obviously - fails the "non-discriminatory" requirement of the WTO Treaties. The whole point about the WTO is that it establishes a common set of rules and prevents the big from bullying the little. I cannot see how the US remains a signatory to the treaties if it goes down this route.

    We will all lose from the end of the age of free trade.

    You can't have a common set of rules on tariffs etc, without common rules on minimum wages, labour regulations, business and property taxes etc etc.

    The playing field isn't level.
    So, the UK shouldn't have free trade deals with anywhere poorer than them.
    And nobody richer than the UK should have a free trade deal with us.

    It's very simple. Government policy that increases my freedom to make my own choices is good. Free trade deals do that.
    Not quite, but we should choose our partners carefully, and we should be selective in the things we trade freely.

    Unlimited, unfettered, anything goes, super-liberalism is stupid.

    I've yet to hear a compelling argument why a group of people making a decision for me is better than me making a decision for myself.
    It isn't about you though, it's about 65m people.
    Yes, and those 65m people would be better served by being allowed to buy from whom they choose. The alternative, that a small number of politicians - lobbied by rich industrialists - choose to protect industries, and push up prices for consumers. Crony capitalism is not just economically efficient, it is morally wrong.
    Flooding the market with with cheap imported processed food is morally wrong.
    Allowing people to make their own decisions, which affect only themselves, is not wrong.
    Surely you're not arguing for the complete abolition of food standards ?
    That is the reductio ad absurdum argument. No one is saying there should not be any standards. But taking the logical fallacy to its other extreme we would ban everything that was considered in any way harmful starting with alcohol.
  • Options

    Ed Miliband on Newsnight.

    Don't you mean David?
  • Options
    JobabobJobabob Posts: 3,807
    Mortimer said:

    Surprise surprise, Miliband prefers Merkel to May..

    The virtue signaller's virtue signaller.

    The threat to plain English is greater than even I feared.
  • Options
    MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034

    MTimT said:

    Jobabob said:

    rcs1000 said:

    chestnut said:

    rcs1000 said:

    chestnut said:

    rcs1000 said:

    chestnut said:

    rcs1000 said:

    "Trump said to eye 20% border tax on Mexican imports to pay for wall" - says the FT

    That - obviously - fails the "non-discriminatory" requirement of the WTO Treaties. The whole point about the WTO is that it establishes a common set of rules and prevents the big from bullying the little. I cannot see how the US remains a signatory to the treaties if it goes down this route.

    We will all lose from the end of the age of free trade.

    You can't have a common set of rules on tariffs etc, without common rules on minimum wages, labour regulations, business and property taxes etc etc.

    The playing field isn't level.
    So, the UK shouldn't have free trade deals with anywhere poorer than them.
    And nobody richer than the UK should have a free trade deal with us.

    It's very simple. Government policy that increases my freedom to make my own choices is good. Free trade deals do that.
    Not quite, but we should choose our partners carefully, and we should be selective in the things we trade freely.

    Unlimited, unfettered, anything goes, super-liberalism is stupid.

    I've yet to hear a compelling argument why a group of people making a decision for me is better than me making a decision for myself.
    It isn't about you though, it's about 65m people.
    Yes, and those 65m people would be better served by being allowed to buy from whom they choose. The alternative, that a small number of politicians - lobbied by rich industrialists - choose to protect industries, and push up prices for consumers. Crony capitalism is not just economically efficient, it is morally wrong.
    Flooding the market with with cheap imported processed food is morally wrong.
    The nanny state that limits my choices and tells me what I should do is wrong.
    Including your choice of cheap Mexican vehicles? ;-)
    Not at all sure what cheap Mexican vehicles have got to do with anything I have said. I am a free-trader so have nothing against Mexican-made vehicles per se, and even better if they are cheaper for the same quality.

    Key to the issue of regulation is information and informed consent/decision-making. There is clearly room for regulation where information imbalances are intractable. Pharmaceuticals is an obvious area. But, in my view, the general principle is that each person should be sovereign for their own choices that only affect themselves.
  • Options
    MortimerMortimer Posts: 13,956
    Jobabob said:

    Mortimer said:

    Surprise surprise, Miliband prefers Merkel to May..

    The virtue signaller's virtue signaller.

    The threat to plain English is greater than even I feared.
    I never quite realised just how wonkish his communication was. A total vote turn off.
  • Options
    MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles

    TSE I know you are a lawyer, but you don't sound like one from the British Common Law tradition - you sound more like Hammurabi or Napolean.

    The more you write down, the more inflexible you get, and the more you lose.
  • Options
    Jobabob said:

    Mortimer said:

    Surprise surprise, Miliband prefers Merkel to May..

    The virtue signaller's virtue signaller.

    The threat to plain English is greater than even I feared.
    I can't believe that preferring one political leader over another is now 'virtue signalling'. People may as well state 'virtue signalling' is anything I disagree with.
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    edited January 2017
    RobD said:

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    Didn't May vote for the Iraq war, bombing Libya and bombing Syria? While the LDs opposed them?

    Am I suffering from alternative facts, or is she?
    Perhaps she's changed her view after said events?
    Pity that she and her Republican fanboys didn't think a little deeper before going all liberal interventionism on the Middle East.
  • Options
    RobDRobD Posts: 58,990

    RobD said:

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    Didn't May vote for the Iraq war, bombing Libya and bombing Syria? While the LDs opposed them?

    Am I suffering from alternative facts, or is she?
    Perhaps she's changed her view after said events?
    Pity that she and her Republican fanboys did't think a little deeper before going all liberal interventionism on the Middle East.
    Hindsight and all that....
  • Options
    rcs1000 said:

    Donald Trump may do the impossible: uniting the libertarians and the Left.

    Donald Trump is already uniting some Conservatives and the Left. It's quite unbelievable.
  • Options
    rural_voterrural_voter Posts: 2,038

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    I agree on that on the latter part.
    Dropping bombs on people until they agree to adopt our systems of governance has not actually proved to be a very successful strategy in recent years.
    Indeed, we need to do more than that.

    One of my major critcisms of George W Bush was he said America didn't do nation building, he was wrong, America helped build West Germany and Japan into successful nations
    It also encouraged behind the scenes the formation of the Coal and Steel Community, the EEC and the EU. No repeat of 1939-45, please.

    I think May's been reading Peter Hitchen's blog, or her advisers have. She quoted his phrase 'half in half out' of the EU. Now she advocates the policy of non-intervention which he's supported for years.
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 19,008

    rcs1000 said:

    Do you know what happened the last time the world lurched into protectionism? I ask because that was a hell of a lot worse than the current situation: you know the situation where a record proportion of the population is employed.

    I would also point out that those developed countries with the fewest trade barriers (like Switzerland, which has a FTA with China) are the ones with the lowest levels of unemployment.

    Would you advocate that the UK saves itself the bother of having to negotiate free trade agreements by simply declaring a policy of unilateral free trade with the entire globe? Would the advantages of such an approach to consumers and even to businesses, outweigh the disadvantages?

    These are genuine questions - I've read opinions for and against such a radical approach, and am undecided. For example, I appreciate that manufacturers might find themselves competing with both cheap foreign imports and asymmetric barriers to exporting, but on the other hand they would have access to tariff-free supplies of all materials - and consumers would surely benefit from tariff-free imports, especially of food, from the rest of the world outside of the EU customs union?
    Tariffs are paid for by the country placing them: they are a tax and are paid for by the consumers and producer of that country. Their appeal is emotional rather than economic. For example, Trump's 20% tariff would be paid for by the American consumer buying the good, not the Mexican producer making it. But the American consumer hears "20% tariff against Mexico!" and feels warm and fuzzy...at least until they see the prices.

    Even if country x places tariffs against you, it is still to your advantage to not reciprocate. But because of the emotional appeal to the electorate this is politically difficult. It requires a strong leadership with economic good sense, which is pretty rare. Singapore pulled it off. and (if memory serves) has a tariff-free environment. Hopefully the UK will do likewise, but given Hannan's recent characterisation of tariffs as income (Jesus wept), it may not.

    So yes, I would advocate that the UK saves itself the bother of having to negotiate free trade agreements by simply declaring a policy of unilateral free trade with the entire globe.
  • Options
    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 31,020
    edited January 2017

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    I agree on that on the latter part.
    Dropping bombs on people until they agree to adopt our systems of governance has not actually proved to be a very successful strategy in recent years.
    Indeed, we need to do more than that.

    One of my major critcisms of George W Bush was he said America didn't do nation building, he was wrong, America helped build West Germany and Japan into successful nations
    Germany and Japan are special examples as they were an existential threat to our way of life. We did not bomb them to impose our views but to stop them imposing theirs. But generally nation building should be done by example and help not by imposition.
  • Options
    John_MJohn_M Posts: 7,503
    I can see we've had a comradely debate about food standards while I've been lollygagging.

    Further to the posts on the wheezing national grid, I can inform the panel that the demand has eased, but inexplicably, the Frogs are stealing our electricity. Don't anyone tell the Express.
  • Options
    MTimT said:

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles

    TSE I know you are a lawyer, but you don't sound like one from the British Common Law tradition - you sound more like Hammurabi or Napolean.

    The more you write down, the more inflexible you get, and the more you lose.
    Comparing me to a Frenchman is a low blow.

    In fact that's that's the most gratuitous insult I've ever received on PB.

    Whilst I understand your viewpoint, and indeed support the principle, my issue is that we've started to codify things, we should finish the job, otherwise we'll have more botch jobs like when Blair tried to abolish the role of Lord Chancellor.

    And Blair read Jurisprudence and was a QC.
  • Options
    RobD said:

    RobD said:

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    Didn't May vote for the Iraq war, bombing Libya and bombing Syria? While the LDs opposed them?

    Am I suffering from alternative facts, or is she?
    Perhaps she's changed her view after said events?
    Pity that she and her Republican fanboys did't think a little deeper before going all liberal interventionism on the Middle East.
    Hindsight and all that....
    Some don't need the crutch of hindsight..
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    RobD said:

    RobD said:

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    Didn't May vote for the Iraq war, bombing Libya and bombing Syria? While the LDs opposed them?

    Am I suffering from alternative facts, or is she?
    Perhaps she's changed her view after said events?
    Pity that she and her Republican fanboys did't think a little deeper before going all liberal interventionism on the Middle East.
    Hindsight and all that....
    There were plenty here that saw it all coming, not just the LDs and Corbyn, but several million marchers 15 years ago.

    It was all there to see.
  • Options

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles
    Best careful what you wish for. I have no faith that the great and the good who would write our nice new constitution would have the best interests of the public at heart. Nor that they would have the foresight to construct something that would prove flexible and adaptable enough to deal with a rapidly changing world.
  • Options
    Talking of Japan, watched Hacksaw Ridge tonight, very impressive, definitely deserves the plaudits.

    It helps explain why invading Honshu would have cost so many lives, and why dropping the atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki probably saved more lives than they killed.
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    MTimT said:

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles

    TSE I know you are a lawyer, but you don't sound like one from the British Common Law tradition - you sound more like Hammurabi or Napolean.

    The more you write down, the more inflexible you get, and the more you lose.
    Comparing me to a Frenchman is a low blow.

    In fact that's that's the most gratuitous insult I've ever received on PB.

    Whilst I understand your viewpoint, and indeed support the principle, my issue is that we've started to codify things, we should finish the job, otherwise we'll have more botch jobs like when Blair tried to abolish the role of Lord Chancellor.

    And Blair read Jurisprudence and was a QC.
    Blair wasn't a QC
  • Options

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    Didn't May vote for the Iraq war, bombing Libya and bombing Syria? While the LDs opposed them?

    Am I suffering from alternative facts, or is she?
    You learn the most from your mistakes as you've no doubt discovered in your practice.
  • Options
    Charles said:

    MTimT said:

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles

    TSE I know you are a lawyer, but you don't sound like one from the British Common Law tradition - you sound more like Hammurabi or Napolean.

    The more you write down, the more inflexible you get, and the more you lose.
    Comparing me to a Frenchman is a low blow.

    In fact that's that's the most gratuitous insult I've ever received on PB.

    Whilst I understand your viewpoint, and indeed support the principle, my issue is that we've started to codify things, we should finish the job, otherwise we'll have more botch jobs like when Blair tried to abolish the role of Lord Chancellor.

    And Blair read Jurisprudence and was a QC.
    Blair wasn't a QC
    Ooops, was thinking of Cherie.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,146
    Imagine how Gordon Brown must have felt....
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 19,008
    Jobabob said:

    Show me your rationale for flooding the market with shit processed food with sod all nutritional value.

    Because some of the "shit processed food with sod all nutritional value" isn't shit and does have some nutritional value. A basic McDonalds/BurgerKing burger has been 99p for what, nearly 20 years now? It'll never appear on a Jamie Oliver Sunday morning twat show where nice people think cooking in pastel clothing is entertainment. But it's cheap, quick and takes the edge off a cold winter's morning.
  • Options
    viewcode said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Do you know what happened the last time the world lurched into protectionism? I ask because that was a hell of a lot worse than the current situation: you know the situation where a record proportion of the population is employed.

    I would also point out that those developed countries with the fewest trade barriers (like Switzerland, which has a FTA with China) are the ones with the lowest levels of unemployment.

    Would you advocate that the UK saves itself the bother of having to negotiate free trade agreements by simply declaring a policy of unilateral free trade with the entire globe? Would the advantages of such an approach to consumers and even to businesses, outweigh the disadvantages?

    These are genuine questions - I've read opinions for and against such a radical approach, and am undecided. For example, I appreciate that manufacturers might find themselves competing with both cheap foreign imports and asymmetric barriers to exporting, but on the other hand they would have access to tariff-free supplies of all materials - and consumers would surely benefit from tariff-free imports, especially of food, from the rest of the world outside of the EU customs union?
    Tariffs are paid for by the country placing them: they are a tax and are paid for by the consumers and producer of that country. Their appeal is emotional rather than economic. For example, Trump's 20% tariff would be paid for by the American consumer buying the good, not the Mexican producer making it. But the American consumer hears "20% tariff against Mexico!" and feels warm and fuzzy...at least until they see the prices.

    Even if country x places tariffs against you, it is still to your advantage to not reciprocate. But because of the emotional appeal to the electorate this is politically difficult. It requires a strong leadership with economic good sense, which is pretty rare. Singapore pulled it off. and (if memory serves) has a tariff-free environment. Hopefully the UK will do likewise, but given Hannan's recent characterisation of tariffs as income (Jesus wept), it may not.

    So yes, I would advocate that the UK saves itself the bother of having to negotiate free trade agreements by simply declaring a policy of unilateral free trade with the entire globe.
    An excellent post.
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548

    I'm not sure what I think about May's speech with a nod to end liberal interventionism.

    My views are far closer to Blair's and Osborne's in the UK aiming to shape the world around us, rather than isolationist.

    Didn't May vote for the Iraq war, bombing Libya and bombing Syria? While the LDs opposed them?

    Am I suffering from alternative facts, or is she?
    You learn the most from your mistakes as you've no doubt discovered in your practice.
    Some say a wise man learns from his mistakes. I say that a really wise person learns from observing others mistakes, and historical mistakes. We do not need to start with a blank sheet of paper.
  • Options
    Ishmael_ZIshmael_Z Posts: 8,981
    Charles said:

    MTimT said:

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles

    TSE I know you are a lawyer, but you don't sound like one from the British Common Law tradition - you sound more like Hammurabi or Napolean.

    The more you write down, the more inflexible you get, and the more you lose.
    Comparing me to a Frenchman is a low blow.

    In fact that's that's the most gratuitous insult I've ever received on PB.

    Whilst I understand your viewpoint, and indeed support the principle, my issue is that we've started to codify things, we should finish the job, otherwise we'll have more botch jobs like when Blair tried to abolish the role of Lord Chancellor.

    And Blair read Jurisprudence and was a QC.
    Blair wasn't a QC
    That seems to be true, but why not? I thought if you have been called to the bar and become a Minister you got an automatic upgrade.
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 19,008

    viewcode said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Do you know what happened the last time the world lurched into protectionism? I ask because that was a hell of a lot worse than the current situation: you know the situation where a record proportion of the population is employed.

    I would also point out that those developed countries with the fewest trade barriers (like Switzerland, which has a FTA with China) are the ones with the lowest levels of unemployment.

    Would you advocate that the UK saves itself the bother of having to negotiate free trade agreements by simply declaring a policy of unilateral free trade with the entire globe? Would the advantages of such an approach to consumers and even to businesses, outweigh the disadvantages?

    These are genuine questions - I've read opinions for and against such a radical approach, and am undecided. For example, I appreciate that manufacturers might find themselves competing with both cheap foreign imports and asymmetric barriers to exporting, but on the other hand they would have access to tariff-free supplies of all materials - and consumers would surely benefit from tariff-free imports, especially of food, from the rest of the world outside of the EU customs union?
    Tariffs are paid for by the country placing them: they are a tax and are paid for by the consumers and producer of that country. Their appeal is emotional rather than economic. For example, Trump's 20% tariff would be paid for by the American consumer buying the good, not the Mexican producer making it. But the American consumer hears "20% tariff against Mexico!" and feels warm and fuzzy...at least until they see the prices.

    Even if country x places tariffs against you, it is still to your advantage to not reciprocate. But because of the emotional appeal to the electorate this is politically difficult. It requires a strong leadership with economic good sense, which is pretty rare. Singapore pulled it off. and (if memory serves) has a tariff-free environment. Hopefully the UK will do likewise, but given Hannan's recent characterisation of tariffs as income (Jesus wept), it may not.

    So yes, I would advocate that the UK saves itself the bother of having to negotiate free trade agreements by simply declaring a policy of unilateral free trade with the entire globe.
    An excellent post.
    Thank you
  • Options
    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,568

    Boris Johnson signals shift in UK policy on Syria's Assad

    Foreign secretary says UK accepts Syrian leader should be allowed to run for re-election in event of peace deal

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/26/boris-johnson-signals-shift-in-uk-policy-on-syria-bashar-al-assad

    Hahahahahahah
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,073
    Charles said:

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles
    No they weren't. It was just that a letter to the Times was chosen as a vehicle to make the Kong's views publicly known.
    The Kong???
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,292
    edited January 2017
    My 'repulsive' university tutor offered me a top degree if I slept with him, says Labour feminist firebrand Harriet Harman

    She said her course tutor, Professor T V Sathyamurthy, told her she was a borderline candidate and would either obtain an upper or lower second – a 2:1 or 2:2.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4162044/Harriet-Harman-accuses-professor-sex-bribe.html
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,147

    Boris Johnson signals shift in UK policy on Syria's Assad

    Foreign secretary says UK accepts Syrian leader should be allowed to run for re-election in event of peace deal

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/26/boris-johnson-signals-shift-in-uk-policy-on-syria-bashar-al-assad

    Hahahahahahah
    Is he calling on people to demonstrate in support outside the Russian embassy yet?
  • Options
    Kilmarnock East & Hurlford (East Ayshire) result:
    SNP: 48.7% (+2.1)
    LAB: 29.4% (-16.6)
    CON: 20.1% (+12.7)
    LBT: 1.8% (+1.8)
  • Options
    MarkSeniorMarkSenior Posts: 4,699
    SNP hold Killie East

    SNP 1461
    Lab 881
    Con 602
    Libertarian 53
  • Options
    isamisam Posts: 41,005
    QT audience member (Remainer)

    "It's almost a trend in the SNP not to want to accept the outcomes of referendums"


  • Options
    TykejohnnoTykejohnno Posts: 7,362

    My 'repulsive' university tutor offered me a top degree if I slept with him, says Labour feminist firebrand Harriet Harman

    She said her course tutor, Professor T V Sathyamurthy, told her she was a borderline candidate and would either obtain an upper or lower second – a 2:1 or 2:2.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4162044/Harriet-Harman-accuses-professor-sex-bribe.html

    Don't read the comment section if easily offended ;-)
  • Options
    PAWPAW Posts: 1,074
    How could a lecturer promise that. I don't say a tutor does not bring forward exculpatory remarks on a student's behalf, such as a period of illness, but they barely make a difference.
  • Options

    My 'repulsive' university tutor offered me a top degree if I slept with him, says Labour feminist firebrand Harriet Harman

    She said her course tutor, Professor T V Sathyamurthy, told her she was a borderline candidate and would either obtain an upper or lower second – a 2:1 or 2:2.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4162044/Harriet-Harman-accuses-professor-sex-bribe.html

    I doubt it.
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    PAW said:

    How could a lecturer promise that. I don't say a tutor does not bring forward exculpatory remarks on a student's behalf, such as a period of illness, but they barely make a difference.

    A seducer has been known to speak alternative facts to get his way!
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,292
    edited January 2017

    My 'repulsive' university tutor offered me a top degree if I slept with him, says Labour feminist firebrand Harriet Harman

    She said her course tutor, Professor T V Sathyamurthy, told her she was a borderline candidate and would either obtain an upper or lower second – a 2:1 or 2:2.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4162044/Harriet-Harman-accuses-professor-sex-bribe.html

    Don't read the comment section if easily offended ;-)
    As a young post-doc I had a student approach me in the pub upon when she offered me a good time in return for a good grade on the "module" I was teaching that term...in addition to obviously been a professional about such an approach, what she failed to notice was future Mrs urquhart having returned from the loos and standing right behind her!
  • Options
    Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019
    O/T I've had a couple of thoughts about food costs.

    There are a number of systems that kick in when someone is classified as 'long term unemployed'. A lot of these systems require the unemployed person to attend schemes and programs where attendance is mandatory. Why not add one that covers food purchasing, healthy nutrition, and meal preparation and planning? This would educate in really practical skills and on completion a free slow cooker would be far better than any certificate

    This may sound patronising but having gone through a number of very lean years, I know the value of knowing how to cook tasty nutritious food on a limited budget and having to watch fuel costs.
  • Options
    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,568
    edited January 2017

    Boris Johnson signals shift in UK policy on Syria's Assad

    Foreign secretary says UK accepts Syrian leader should be allowed to run for re-election in event of peace deal

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/26/boris-johnson-signals-shift-in-uk-policy-on-syria-bashar-al-assad

    Hahahahahahah
    Is he calling on people to demonstrate in support outside the Russian embassy yet?
    I was accused of being a Russian troll by PB's great and good for expressing exactly Boris's current statements.

    No apology necessary chaps.
  • Options
    John_MJohn_M Posts: 7,503
    rcs1000 said:

    Charles said:

    TGOHF said:

    Hmmm

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights, sources suggest

    Theresa May is preparing to abandon plans for a British Bill of Rights after Britain leaves the European Union, Government sources have suggested.

    Ministers have confirmed that the Government's plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been shelved until after Brexit.

    However sources told The Daily Telegraph that the plans may now be abandoned entirely because Brexit will significantly strengthen the sovereignty of British courts.

    They also highlighted the Brexit judgement by the Supreme Court earlier this week which made clear that Britain will no longer be subject to European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/26/theresa-may-preparing-abandon-plans-british-bill-rights-sources/

    Once free of the ECJ we don't need a bill of rights and we've done without one for a millennium . Seems logical.
    Nah, what we've done is partly codified parts of the constitution and left swathes of it unwritten.

    We need to ensure of all it is written down.

    Just remember prior to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the grounds for the Monarch granting/denying an early general election was based on a letter to The Times in the 50s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles
    No they weren't. It was just that a letter to the Times was chosen as a vehicle to make the Kong's views publicly known.
    The Kong???
    The Kong, of the Skull Island Kongs. A noble family.
  • Options
    Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669

    My 'repulsive' university tutor offered me a top degree if I slept with him, says Labour feminist firebrand Harriet Harman

    She said her course tutor, Professor T V Sathyamurthy, told her she was a borderline candidate and would either obtain an upper or lower second – a 2:1 or 2:2.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4162044/Harriet-Harman-accuses-professor-sex-bribe.html

    Don't read the comment section if easily offended ;-)
    As a young post-doc I had a student approach me in the pub upon when she offered me a good time in return for a good grade on the "module" I was teaching that term...in addition to obviously been a professional about such an approach, what she failed to notice was future Mrs urquhart having returned from the loos and standing right behind her!
    They say between 2 it's great, but between 3 it's incredible. You nearly got to find out!
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,073
    Blue_rog said:

    O/T I've had a couple of thoughts about food costs.

    There are a number of systems that kick in when someone is classified as 'long term unemployed'. A lot of these systems require the unemployed person to attend schemes and programs where attendance is mandatory. Why not add one that covers food purchasing, healthy nutrition, and meal preparation and planning? This would educate in really practical skills and on completion a free slow cooker would be far better than any certificate

    This may sound patronising but having gone through a number of very lean years, I know the value of knowing how to cook tasty nutritious food on a limited budget and having to watch fuel costs.

    Risotto. It's a one pound meal that can be absolutely delicious.
  • Options
    ThreeQuidderThreeQuidder Posts: 6,133

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    (Richard Tyndall where are you? I need your support here.)

    Free trade leads to freer people.

    Countries that sends goods and services across borders are less likely to send soldiers across those borders.

    Hurrah for free trade.
    Woah, you and @Richard_Tyndall agreeing on something. Hell has frozen over.
    Richard and I agree on a lot of things.

    The death penalty, same sex marriage to name but two things.

    He'll also appreciate the Douglas Adams themed thread I'm writing for the weekend after next.
    So long and thanks for all the CFP?
  • Options

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    (Richard Tyndall where are you? I need your support here.)

    Free trade leads to freer people.

    Countries that sends goods and services across borders are less likely to send soldiers across those borders.

    Hurrah for free trade.
    Woah, you and @Richard_Tyndall agreeing on something. Hell has frozen over.
    Richard and I agree on a lot of things.

    The death penalty, same sex marriage to name but two things.

    He'll also appreciate the Douglas Adams themed thread I'm writing for the weekend after next.
    So long and thanks for all the CFP?
    Due to a terrible miscalculation of scale the entire battle fleet was accidentally swallowed by a small dog.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,073

    My 'repulsive' university tutor offered me a top degree if I slept with him, says Labour feminist firebrand Harriet Harman

    She said her course tutor, Professor T V Sathyamurthy, told her she was a borderline candidate and would either obtain an upper or lower second – a 2:1 or 2:2.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4162044/Harriet-Harman-accuses-professor-sex-bribe.html

    Don't read the comment section if easily offended ;-)
    As a young post-doc I had a student approach me in the pub upon when she offered me a good time in return for a good grade on the "module" I was teaching that term...in addition to obviously been a professional about such an approach, what she failed to notice was future Mrs urquhart having returned from the loos and standing right behind her!
    I hope you said "Whoot! Threesome!"
  • Options
    TykejohnnoTykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    Tim_B said:

    My 'repulsive' university tutor offered me a top degree if I slept with him, says Labour feminist firebrand Harriet Harman

    She said her course tutor, Professor T V Sathyamurthy, told her she was a borderline candidate and would either obtain an upper or lower second – a 2:1 or 2:2.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4162044/Harriet-Harman-accuses-professor-sex-bribe.html

    Don't read the comment section if easily offended ;-)
    As a young post-doc I had a student approach me in the pub upon when she offered me a good time in return for a good grade on the "module" I was teaching that term...in addition to obviously been a professional about such an approach, what she failed to notice was future Mrs urquhart having returned from the loos and standing right behind her!
    They say between 2 it's great, but between 3 it's incredible. You nearly got to find out!
    How do we know he didn't ;-)
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,403
    John_M said:

    I can see we've had a comradely debate about food standards while I've been lollygagging.

    Further to the posts on the wheezing national grid, I can inform the panel that the demand has eased, but inexplicably, the Frogs are stealing our electricity. Don't anyone tell the Express.

    I was bemused by that. I thought the connector only worked one way with us importing nuclear generated electricity from France. It is interesting if it now works in both directions.
  • Options
    Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019
    rcs1000 said:

    Blue_rog said:

    O/T I've had a couple of thoughts about food costs.

    There are a number of systems that kick in when someone is classified as 'long term unemployed'. A lot of these systems require the unemployed person to attend schemes and programs where attendance is mandatory. Why not add one that covers food purchasing, healthy nutrition, and meal preparation and planning? This would educate in really practical skills and on completion a free slow cooker would be far better than any certificate

    This may sound patronising but having gone through a number of very lean years, I know the value of knowing how to cook tasty nutritious food on a limited budget and having to watch fuel costs.

    Risotto. It's a one pound meal that can be absolutely delicious.
    Absolutely! And most pasta meals (something derived from peasant meals) are quick and easy to prepare and taste delicious. Also nutritionally sound and healthy if prepared from scratch. A pasta sauce should take no longer to prepare than the time it takes to cook the (dried) pasta!
  • Options
    Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669

    Tim_B said:

    My 'repulsive' university tutor offered me a top degree if I slept with him, says Labour feminist firebrand Harriet Harman

    She said her course tutor, Professor T V Sathyamurthy, told her she was a borderline candidate and would either obtain an upper or lower second – a 2:1 or 2:2.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4162044/Harriet-Harman-accuses-professor-sex-bribe.html

    Don't read the comment section if easily offended ;-)
    As a young post-doc I had a student approach me in the pub upon when she offered me a good time in return for a good grade on the "module" I was teaching that term...in addition to obviously been a professional about such an approach, what she failed to notice was future Mrs urquhart having returned from the loos and standing right behind her!
    They say between 2 it's great, but between 3 it's incredible. You nearly got to find out!
    How do we know he didn't ;-)
    Benefit of the doubt - I always think pure thoughts. :wink:
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,168
    edited January 2017

    Kilmarnock East & Hurlford (East Ayshire) result:
    SNP: 48.7% (+2.1)
    LAB: 29.4% (-16.6)
    CON: 20.1% (+12.7)
    LBT: 1.8% (+1.8)

    Another Tory surge north of the border!
  • Options
    HYUFD said:

    Kilmarnock East & Hurlford (East Ayshire) result:
    SNP: 48.7% (+2.1)
    LAB: 29.4% (-16.6)
    CON: 20.1% (+12.7)
    LBT: 1.8% (+1.8)

    Another Tory surge north of the border!
    People moving to Tory from SLab. In Kilmarnock. They are utterly effed in May. Better stock up on the popcorn to watch them getting horsed out of Glasgow CC.
  • Options
    rcs1000 said:

    My 'repulsive' university tutor offered me a top degree if I slept with him, says Labour feminist firebrand Harriet Harman

    She said her course tutor, Professor T V Sathyamurthy, told her she was a borderline candidate and would either obtain an upper or lower second – a 2:1 or 2:2.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4162044/Harriet-Harman-accuses-professor-sex-bribe.html

    Don't read the comment section if easily offended ;-)
    As a young post-doc I had a student approach me in the pub upon when she offered me a good time in return for a good grade on the "module" I was teaching that term...in addition to obviously been a professional about such an approach, what she failed to notice was future Mrs urquhart having returned from the loos and standing right behind her!
    I hope you said "Whoot! Threesome!"
    Before I could utter a word, Mrs urquhart informed the young lady if she would like to reconsider making such an offer (or words to that effect).
  • Options
    wasdwasd Posts: 276
    DavidL said:

    John_M said:

    I can see we've had a comradely debate about food standards while I've been lollygagging.

    Further to the posts on the wheezing national grid, I can inform the panel that the demand has eased, but inexplicably, the Frogs are stealing our electricity. Don't anyone tell the Express.

    I was bemused by that. I thought the connector only worked one way with us importing nuclear generated electricity from France. It is interesting if it now works in both directions.
    Arbitrage?
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,147
    https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/world/europe/british-alignment-with-trump-threatens-european-order.html

    British officials apparently relying on John McCain to be the voice of reason in the US...
  • Options
    GeoffMGeoffM Posts: 6,071

    HYUFD said:

    Kilmarnock East & Hurlford (East Ayshire) result:
    SNP: 48.7% (+2.1)
    LAB: 29.4% (-16.6)
    CON: 20.1% (+12.7)
    LBT: 1.8% (+1.8)

    Another Tory surge north of the border!
    People moving to Tory from SLab. In Kilmarnock. They are utterly effed in May. Better stock up on the popcorn to watch them getting horsed out of Glasgow CC.
    I'm not sure what Glasgow Cricket Club has to do with it but it looks like a nice enough ground.

    glasgowaccies.cc
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,168

    HYUFD said:

    Kilmarnock East & Hurlford (East Ayshire) result:
    SNP: 48.7% (+2.1)
    LAB: 29.4% (-16.6)
    CON: 20.1% (+12.7)
    LBT: 1.8% (+1.8)

    Another Tory surge north of the border!
    People moving to Tory from SLab. In Kilmarnock. They are utterly effed in May. Better stock up on the popcorn to watch them getting horsed out of Glasgow CC.
    Indeed, though not exactly a triumph for the SNP either
    https://mobile.twitter.com/NCPoliticsUK/status/824762105987465221
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,830
    @Richard Tyndall
    That is the reductio ad absurdum argument. No one is saying there should not be any standards. But taking the logical fallacy to its other extreme we would ban everything that was considered in any way harmful starting with alcohol

    Precisely my point; both reductio are silly. But I would argue that modern society is sufficiently complex that the asymmetry in information between a specialist manufacturer and the average consumer demands regulation. The real argument lies somewhere in the middle.
    While I have libertarian sympathies - I would legalise (with regulation) the supply of most recreational drugs for example - libertarian dogma often just seems silly
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,830

    Boris Johnson signals shift in UK policy on Syria's Assad

    Foreign secretary says UK accepts Syrian leader should be allowed to run for re-election in event of peace deal

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/26/boris-johnson-signals-shift-in-uk-policy-on-syria-bashar-al-assad

    Hahahahahahah
    Is he calling on people to demonstrate in support outside the Russian embassy yet?
    I was accused of being a Russian troll by PB's great and good for expressing exactly Boris's current statements.

    No apology necessary chaps.
    I think we all agree on that.
    :-)
  • Options
    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,568
    Blue_rog said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Blue_rog said:

    O/T I've had a couple of thoughts about food costs.

    There are a number of systems that kick in when someone is classified as 'long term unemployed'. A lot of these systems require the unemployed person to attend schemes and programs where attendance is mandatory. Why not add one that covers food purchasing, healthy nutrition, and meal preparation and planning? This would educate in really practical skills and on completion a free slow cooker would be far better than any certificate

    This may sound patronising but having gone through a number of very lean years, I know the value of knowing how to cook tasty nutritious food on a limited budget and having to watch fuel costs.

    Risotto. It's a one pound meal that can be absolutely delicious.
    Absolutely! And most pasta meals (something derived from peasant meals) are quick and easy to prepare and taste delicious. Also nutritionally sound and healthy if prepared from scratch. A pasta sauce should take no longer to prepare than the time it takes to cook the (dried) pasta!
    Neither pasta nor risotto are nutritious meals.
  • Options
    isamisam Posts: 41,005
    Ted Malloch absolutely hilarious on this week!
  • Options
    TykejohnnoTykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    isam said:

    Ted Malloch absolutely hilarious on this week!

    He's the new US ambassador to the EU who hates it ;-)
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,292
    edited January 2017
    This week's TGT one of the best in the series imo.
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,147
    isam said:

    Ted Malloch absolutely hilarious on this week!

    Milking the spotlight for all it's worth while he can still get away with tipping himself for jobs in the Trump administration.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,168

    Blue_rog said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Blue_rog said:

    O/T I've had a couple of thoughts about food costs.

    There are a number of systems that kick in when someone is classified as 'long term unemployed'. A lot of these systems require the unemployed person to attend schemes and programs where attendance is mandatory. Why not add one that covers food purchasing, healthy nutrition, and meal preparation and planning? This would educate in really practical skills and on completion a free slow cooker would be far better than any certificate

    This may sound patronising but having gone through a number of very lean years, I know the value of knowing how to cook tasty nutritious food on a limited budget and having to watch fuel costs.

    Risotto. It's a one pound meal that can be absolutely delicious.
    Absolutely! And most pasta meals (something derived from peasant meals) are quick and easy to prepare and taste delicious. Also nutritionally sound and healthy if prepared from scratch. A pasta sauce should take no longer to prepare than the time it takes to cook the (dried) pasta!
    Neither pasta nor risotto are nutritious meals.
    They have carbohydrate, protein and vegetables, if you do a proper meal with them
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,147
    Fillon says he'll pull out if he's placed under investigation over payments to his wife, which presumably means he's very confident he's safe.
  • Options
    Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,037
    May's hair looks like a Lego minifig.
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,147
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/newt-gingrich-margaret-thatcher-is-the-real-model-for-the-trump-presidency/2017/01/26/b8930e72-e407-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html

    Newt Gingrich: Margaret Thatcher is the real model for the Trump presidency

    Trump’s inaugural address last Friday had the directness and confrontational tone of a Thatcher speech.
  • Options
    justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Kilmarnock East & Hurlford (East Ayshire) result:
    SNP: 48.7% (+2.1)
    LAB: 29.4% (-16.6)
    CON: 20.1% (+12.7)
    LBT: 1.8% (+1.8)

    Another Tory surge north of the border!
    People moving to Tory from SLab. In Kilmarnock. They are utterly effed in May. Better stock up on the popcorn to watch them getting horsed out of Glasgow CC.
    Indeed, though not exactly a triumph for the SNP either
    https://mobile.twitter.com/NCPoliticsUK/status/824762105987465221
    Probably quite a bit of churn with former tactical Tory voters returning home whilst Labour voters switch to SNP.
  • Options

    Blue_rog said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Blue_rog said:

    O/T I've had a couple of thoughts about food costs.

    There are a number of systems that kick in when someone is classified as 'long term unemployed'. A lot of these systems require the unemployed person to attend schemes and programs where attendance is mandatory. Why not add one that covers food purchasing, healthy nutrition, and meal preparation and planning? This would educate in really practical skills and on completion a free slow cooker would be far better than any certificate

    This may sound patronising but having gone through a number of very lean years, I know the value of knowing how to cook tasty nutritious food on a limited budget and having to watch fuel costs.

    Risotto. It's a one pound meal that can be absolutely delicious.
    Absolutely! And most pasta meals (something derived from peasant meals) are quick and easy to prepare and taste delicious. Also nutritionally sound and healthy if prepared from scratch. A pasta sauce should take no longer to prepare than the time it takes to cook the (dried) pasta!
    Neither pasta nor risotto are nutritious meals.
    Yet the Italians have the second longest life expectancies in Europe, after Spain.
  • Options
    DavidL said:

    John_M said:

    I can see we've had a comradely debate about food standards while I've been lollygagging.

    Further to the posts on the wheezing national grid, I can inform the panel that the demand has eased, but inexplicably, the Frogs are stealing our electricity. Don't anyone tell the Express.

    I was bemused by that. I thought the connector only worked one way with us importing nuclear generated electricity from France. It is interesting if it now works in both directions.
    The French have been having problems with their nukes recently and have had to take a bunch offline. They're struggling a bit a the moment.
  • Options

    Blue_rog said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Blue_rog said:

    O/T I've had a couple of thoughts about food costs.

    There are a number of systems that kick in when someone is classified as 'long term unemployed'. A lot of these systems require the unemployed person to attend schemes and programs where attendance is mandatory. Why not add one that covers food purchasing, healthy nutrition, and meal preparation and planning? This would educate in really practical skills and on completion a free slow cooker would be far better than any certificate

    This may sound patronising but having gone through a number of very lean years, I know the value of knowing how to cook tasty nutritious food on a limited budget and having to watch fuel costs.

    Risotto. It's a one pound meal that can be absolutely delicious.
    Absolutely! And most pasta meals (something derived from peasant meals) are quick and easy to prepare and taste delicious. Also nutritionally sound and healthy if prepared from scratch. A pasta sauce should take no longer to prepare than the time it takes to cook the (dried) pasta!
    Neither pasta nor risotto are nutritious meals.
    Yet the Italians have the second longest life expectancies in Europe, after Spain.
    It's the olive oil and all that red wine wot does it!
  • Options
    Ally_BAlly_B Posts: 185

    DavidL said:

    John_M said:

    I can see we've had a comradely debate about food standards while I've been lollygagging.

    Further to the posts on the wheezing national grid, I can inform the panel that the demand has eased, but inexplicably, the Frogs are stealing our electricity. Don't anyone tell the Express.

    I was bemused by that. I thought the connector only worked one way with us importing nuclear generated electricity from France. It is interesting if it now works in both directions.
    The French have been having problems with their nukes recently and have had to take a bunch offline. They're struggling a bit a the moment.
    When the original connector was installed it was thought that there would be bi-directional flows because the time difference meant that the peak demand in the two countries would differ. However the French went nuclear in a big way and that meant they 'always' had a surplus of cheap electricity to sell into our market so ithe flow is usually into the UK unless, as the previous poster says, their nukes are offline. (The original French interconnector was at Dungeness, the latest one is near Folkestone and also designed for bi-directional flows).
This discussion has been closed.