John McDonnell faces a Labour revolt to unseat him as shadow chancellor after he said there was “a lot to learn” from Karl Marx's Das Kapital.
Shadow cabinet sources said Jeremy Corbyn’s right-hand man, who has described himself in the past as an “unapologetic Marxist”, had done nothing to help Labour’s cause with a month to go to the general election.
And while they said it was too late to mount a challenge to Mr McDonnell or Mr Corbyn before the June 8 ballot, there will be “no holding back” when Labour MPs come back to Parliament after the election.
Have the Tories ruled out 60p tax rate ? For anybody ?
Thatcher had a 60% tax rate until 1988 . People need to be constantly reminded of that.
It was a different and more complicated system. You got tax relief for things like MIRAS, being married, having children and were not taxed to nearly the same extent on benefits in kind like cars or hospitality. Simply comparing the headline rate is seriously misleading.
Some are far too quick to assume that a desire to have your country to do well is barely a step away from death marches and camps. It isn't and it's about time someone said so.
Nationalism should be left to the football pitch, or sporting events.
Any other kind of nationalism whether it's protective economic policy or immigration policy is nasty, divisive and damaging to all.
1. There is no over-arching theme that connects different contests in different countries. Brexit and Trump did not presage victories for insurgents in Europe. And Macron and Rutte's successes mean nothing for elections in the UK or anywhere else for that matter.
2. Insurgent parties, in Europe at least, have tended to finish weakly. It happened in the Netherlands, in France, in Austria. It's something to keep an eye on in other contests.
I would say that the French and Dutch elections have both delivered crushing defeats for the sitting governments. The right and left extremes have advanced in both elections.
In France, the two major parties failed to make the run-off.
The Dutch government is likely to be weaker and more unstable than it's predecessor as it moves to a four party coalition. Will Macron command a majority? It seems most likely than he won't.
These countries seem to be fractured if judged by the dispersal of votes.
One remarkable thing about the French election was how blasé we all were when Putin put the boot in on the last lap with the email hack. It's almost like we expect it now.
He probably won't bother doing to help Corbyn as V.V.P. certainly knows a lost cause when he sees one. (cf Akhmad Kadyrov)
The scrabbling for a weak spot continues. A meeting with candidates is a meeting with candidates; to say that she actually meets voters is not to say she doesn't do other stuff too. A "too many tweets" tweet, that.
It was a different and more complicated system. You got tax relief for things like MIRAS, being married, having children and were not taxed to nearly the same extent on benefits in kind like cars or hospitality. Simply comparing the headline rate is seriously misleading.
And National Insurance was far lower, and both Employee's and Employer's NI were capped in those days, at quite a low figure. You have to look at the whole picture to make a comparison.
Just running through the thread this morning, I noticed Roger's misunderstanding. Us Liberal lefties do tend to apologise and fess up when we make mistakes. As too Joff.
BTW--we have been covered by a grey cold front for days on the East Anglian coast. My wood burner has been on all the time, so please do not mention the weather.
I've been preoccupied by nesting birds and bird murderers this cold grey spring. A baby murdering magpie has killed all my fledgling pigeons; a cat has killed a nesting female robin leaving the poor dad to fend for himself, and I'm constantly being alerted by a very vocal blackbird whose taken to nearly feeding from my hands to all kinds of dangers to her nest...
I have both your problems at once: can't light a fire because there is a nest of unidentified avians tweeting away in the chimney.
The scrabbling for a weak spot continues. A meeting with candidates is a meeting with candidates; to say that she actually meets voters is not to say she doesn't do other stuff too. A "too many tweets" tweet, that.
@GuardianAnushka: May says she's not doing tv debates because she's doing debates around the country (she's addressing a room of tory candidates here)
@LJ_Skipper: Imagine being the room-meat at a press photo op and clapping your leader when they say they won't debate on TV? #GeneralElection2017
That would be the best thing that could happen to Labour. If Corbyn tries to stay on:
1. It limits the field against him. There will be at most two challengers, both of whom will come from the centre/right of the party. If there's only one (can the PLP be as organised as the Tories were in 2003/2016?), it eliminates the possibility of Corbyn even receiving a first-round victory.
2. There is no annointed successor. The left's candidate - Corbyn - is inextricably linked to all the failures of the last two years in a way that a protege wouldn't necessarily be. The man and the movement are one and the same for the voter.
3. And hence, Corbyn would lose. Picking up 62% against Owen Smith after a botched coup is one thing. Picking up more than 50% against Yvette Cooper or Kier Starmer after having overseen the worst election results since the 1930s is another. At least Kinnock made progress in 1987.
Were Corbyn to stand down, there is a risk that if the left's new candidate could gain the nominations - no guarantee there - then they would win. Corbyn and his personal team would be assigned all the blame (plus the MSM, right-wing establishment etc), leaving the new candidate relatively untainted.
Help!!! I'm really struggling to see how the percentages in this election will end up! Current polls are more or less:
C47 L29 LD10 UKIP8
It seems the consensus on here, including Tories, is that they will not stay this high until the election so let's say they drop to 44. Labour, under Corbyn, can't do anywhere near as well as Brown/EM so let's say they drop to 26. UKIP, we are led to believe, will not stand in many seats so I can't see them higher than 3. That's 11 points to re-allocate and they can't all go to the LD's!! They've got to go somewhere though so has anyone got the balls to actually predict where we might end up?!
I'm beginning to think the Tories might get close to 50%! Is this really a possibility? What odds would anyone put on it?
Just running through the thread this morning, I noticed Roger's misunderstanding. Us Liberal lefties do tend to apologise and fess up when we make mistakes. As too Joff.
BTW--we have been covered by a grey cold front for days on the East Anglian coast. My wood burner has been on all the time, so please do not mention the weather.
I've been preoccupied by nesting birds and bird murderers this cold grey spring. A baby murdering magpie has killed all my fledgling pigeons; a cat has killed a nesting female robin leaving the poor dad to fend for himself, and I'm constantly being alerted by a very vocal blackbird whose taken to nearly feeding from my hands to all kinds of dangers to her nest...
Magpies are the worst. There's a tag team in our back garden that have killed assorted pigeons, a beautiful young collared dove and a fledgling seagull that had fallen out of its nest that I was feeding, and which was just making its first attempts at flight. I've even seen them take on another magpie, one of them holding it down while the other tried to peck its gizzard out.
But Macron represents everything most French voters do not like: globalisation, banking, Bilderberg, the EU. He has been elected not because of what he believes, but because he is not Marine Le Pen.
Exactly. Sarkozy lost to Hollande last time because he was ambiguous about Le Pen and her values. He tried to appease and ignore them. Macron took them head on: Le Pen and her values are a package. France can do better than that. It can be open and successful. Macron came from nowhere to win on that idea.
That's been the most impressive thing about Macron - he has never once pandered tot he xenophobic, nationalist right or compromised his own socially liberal outlook to get votes. He has also been honest with voters about what he wants to do - they cannot say they were no warned. Hollande and Sarkozy both made big, bold promises that were not based on reality. Macron has been far more pragmatic.
Quite; reminds one of Macmillan in 1959 - "'if this is an auction, I am not in it!" Didn't do him any harm, either.
Help!!! I'm really struggling to see how the percentages in this election will end up! Current polls are more or less:
C47 L29 LD10 UKIP8
It seems the consensus on here, including Tories, is that they will not stay this high until the election so let's say they drop to 44. Labour, under Corbyn, can't do anywhere near as well as Brown/EM so let's say they drop to 26. UKIP, we are led to believe, will not stand in many seats so I can't see them higher than 3. That's 11 points to re-allocate and they can't all go to the LD's!! They've got to go somewhere though so has anyone got the balls to actually predict where we might end up?!
I'm beginning to think the Tories might get close to 50%! Is this really a possibility? What odds would anyone put on it?
Thanks for any replies!
I think the Tories will do better than the opinion polls, and have bet accordingly. Also bet on a few individual LibDem gains.
Do we have a list of seats UKIP will actually stand in yet?
Given the focus on 'Theresa May's Team', doesn't she owe it to people to explain what her team will look like after the election?
No.
And what focus? google doesn't get very excited over searches for those words.
And last I heard, T May was all about "me me me me me". Make your mind up.
Seriously, I think politicians who are as much in the ascendant as May is now, are very much insulated from attacks which don't fit the narrative: cf. Reagan's and Blair's teflon periods. It doesn't last forever, though.
3. And hence, Corbyn would lose. Picking up 62% against Owen Smith after a botched coup is one thing. Picking up more than 50% against Yvette Cooper or Kier Starmer after having overseen the worst election results since the 1930s is another. At least Kinnock made progress in 1987.
One remarkable thing about the French election was how blasé we all were when Putin put the boot in on the last lap with the email hack. It's almost like we expect it now.
He probably won't bother doing to help Corbyn as V.V.P. certainly knows a lost cause when he sees one. (cf Akhmad Kadyrov)
3. And hence, Corbyn would lose. Picking up 62% against Owen Smith after a botched coup is one thing. Picking up more than 50% against Yvette Cooper or Kier Starmer after having overseen the worst election results since the 1930s is another. At least Kinnock made progress in 1987.
One remarkable thing about the French election was how blasé we all were when Putin put the boot in on the last lap with the email hack. It's almost like we expect it now.
He probably won't bother doing to help Corbyn as V.V.P. certainly knows a lost cause when he sees one. (cf Akhmad Kadyrov)
It only worked in the US thanks to the foolish (and probably unintended) compliance of the FBI under Comey. The fake news meme works both ways, and with any luck, democracy is to a certain extent inoculated against Putin's poison.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
3. And hence, Corbyn would lose. Picking up 62% against Owen Smith after a botched coup is one thing. Picking up more than 50% against Yvette Cooper or Kier Starmer after having overseen the worst election results since the 1930s is another. At least Kinnock made progress in 1987.
One remarkable thing about the French election was how blasé we all were when Putin put the boot in on the last lap with the email hack. It's almost like we expect it now.
He probably won't bother doing to help Corbyn as V.V.P. certainly knows a lost cause when he sees one. (cf Akhmad Kadyrov)
Putin wants to break up Europe. He can save a few roubles here because it looks like his favoured candidate, Theresa May, will win without the fancy bears.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
@MrHarryCole: Now Labour vow to tax people who free up space in struggling NHS to bail out greedy Trust managers. Free parking nice, horrific small print.
Which ultra-safe seat is Corbyn in today whipping up support for his re-election campaign this summer?
@alantravis40: Theresa May in Labour-held Harrow West (18th on Tory hitlist) today while Jeremy Corbyn in West Mids and Leamington Spa (68th Lab hitlist)
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
@MrHarryCole: Now Labour vow to tax people who free up space in struggling NHS to bail out greedy Trust managers. Free parking nice, horrific small print.
Indeed, but people don't read the small print or the subtext in general. It will be well received by voters. It won't change much but it does at least show they are still breathing, if rather laboured
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by scrapping the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
Which ultra-safe seat is Corbyn in today whipping up support for his re-election campaign this summer?
@alantravis40: Theresa May in Labour-held Harrow West (18th on Tory hitlist) today while Jeremy Corbyn in West Mids and Leamington Spa (68th Lab hitlist)
Isn't that SO's bit of the woods? Give us a on-the-spot report!
Just running through the thread this morning, I noticed Roger's misunderstanding. Us Liberal lefties do tend to apologise and fess up when we make mistakes. As too Joff.
BTW--we have been covered by a grey cold front for days on the East Anglian coast. My wood burner has been on all the time, so please do not mention the weather.
I've been preoccupied by nesting birds and bird murderers this cold grey spring. A baby murdering magpie has killed all my fledgling pigeons; a cat has killed a nesting female robin leaving the poor dad to fend for himself, and I'm constantly being alerted by a very vocal blackbird whose taken to nearly feeding from my hands to all kinds of dangers to her nest...
Magpies are the worst. There's a tag team in our back garden that have killed assorted pigeons, a beautiful young collared dove and a fledgling seagull that had fallen out of its nest that I was feeding, and which was just making its first attempts at flight. I've even seen them take on another magpie, one of them holding it down while the other tried to peck its gizzard out.
Good old nature!
I wonder how clever blackbirds are. The one I'm almost feeding from my hand chirps madly, I come out with a water pistol, he flies away....... there is invariably a cat nearby which I scare off and then he returns calmly to feed his chicks with me still in the garden when the danger has subsided. It has happened twice this morning already.
My blackbirds nest hasn't been spotted by the baby murdering magpies yet......
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
The Tories will fiddle about with NI, maybe even integrate it with Income Tax, and curtail reliefs such as those on pension contributions, to raise the money the next government will need. They won't be as blatant (honest) as raising a headline rate; instead we are in for five years of stealth taxes.
.
And this nonsense about zero deficit ! Which other country pursues moronic policy like that ? In the US, Trump is increasing the deficit.
We should be running a surplus by now, as Germany has been doing for some considerable time. The horrendous debt built up as a result of Brown's policy errors and general incompetence is a millstone around our children's necks that will adversely affect their standard of living and significantly reduce our ability to respond to international turmoil in future.
And Trump is an idiot. I thought you knew that.
Trump is a Republican and, as Cheney put it: Reagan showed that deficits don't matter. Meanwhile, back in Britain, it was Gordon Brown paying off Tory debt and George Osborne increasing it.
The idea that Gordon Brown paid off "Tory debt" is laughable. He inherited a budget surplus and continued to run a surplus for the first 3 years, sticking to a manifesto promise to follow Tory spending plans. Thereafter he ran a deficit every year. Before the financial crisis hit the debt had risen by around 65% on his watch. Even if we ignore the financial crisis the truth is that Brown massively increased the debt.
Brown did not inherit a Budget Surplus. No Tory Chancellor has produced that since Lawson in the late 1980s at the peak of North Sea Oil revenues and Privatisation receipts.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by scrapping the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
Before they started charging, I used to use the car park at Kent and Canterbury hospital as free parking for the cricket ground next door. In fact there was a back entrance to the ground that opened out in to the hospital car park so it clearly wasn't just me!
Help!!! I'm really struggling to see how the percentages in this election will end up! Current polls are more or less:
C47 L29 LD10 UKIP8
It seems the consensus on here, including Tories, is that they will not stay this high until the election so let's say they drop to 44. Labour, under Corbyn, can't do anywhere near as well as Brown/EM so let's say they drop to 26. UKIP, we are led to believe, will not stand in many seats so I can't see them higher than 3. That's 11 points to re-allocate and they can't all go to the LD's!! They've got to go somewhere though so has anyone got the balls to actually predict where we might end up?!
I'm beginning to think the Tories might get close to 50%! Is this really a possibility? What odds would anyone put on it?
Thanks for any replies!
I think the Tories will do better than the opinion polls, and have bet accordingly. Also bet on a few individual LibDem gains.
Do we have a list of seats UKIP will actually stand in yet?
If UKIP only stand in a hundred or so seats, it's hard to the see the Conservatives failing to come close to 50%.
Interesting piece here. Quite a split between those wanting to have a "target" and those arguing for a more nuanced approach. The rabid leftie Allister Heath is one of those who is scornful of a target as, it seems, is Karen Bradley.
A target gives your opponents a stick to beat you with if you don't achieve it and if you do the charge will be you've fiddled the figures.
For me, the issue of immigration isn't about numbers but about the skilled (and unskilled) people our economy needs and where such people are housed during their time here.
Help!!! I'm really struggling to see how the percentages in this election will end up! Current polls are more or less:
C47 L29 LD10 UKIP8
It seems the consensus on here, including Tories, is that they will not stay this high until the election so let's say they drop to 44. Labour, under Corbyn, can't do anywhere near as well as Brown/EM so let's say they drop to 26. UKIP, we are led to believe, will not stand in many seats so I can't see them higher than 3. That's 11 points to re-allocate and they can't all go to the LD's!! They've got to go somewhere though so has anyone got the balls to actually predict where we might end up?!
I'm beginning to think the Tories might get close to 50%! Is this really a possibility? What odds would anyone put on it?
Thanks for any replies!
I think the Tories will do better than the opinion polls, and have bet accordingly. Also bet on a few individual LibDem gains.
Do we have a list of seats UKIP will actually stand in yet?
If UKIP only stand in a hundred or so seats, it's hard to the see the Conservatives failing to come close to 50%.
Similiarly Labour around 28%. It's a bit hard to get your head round that too - but mathematically it must be so.
Which ultra-safe seat is Corbyn in today whipping up support for his re-election campaign this summer?
@alantravis40: Theresa May in Labour-held Harrow West (18th on Tory hitlist) today while Jeremy Corbyn in West Mids and Leamington Spa (68th Lab hitlist)
Isn't that SO's bit of the woods? Give us a on-the-spot report!
The Tories will fiddle about with NI, maybe even integrate it with Income Tax, and curtail reliefs such as those on pension contributions, to raise the money the next government will need. They won't be as blatant (honest) as raising a headline rate; instead we are in for five years of stealth taxes.
.
And this nonsense about zero deficit ! Which other country pursues moronic policy like that ? In the US, Trump is increasing the deficit.
We should be running a surplus by now, as Germany has been doing for some considerable time. The horrendous debt built up as a result of Brown's policy errors and general incompetence is a millstone around our children's necks that will adversely affect their standard of living and significantly reduce our ability to respond to international turmoil in future.
And Trump is an idiot. I thought you knew that.
Trump is a Republican and, as Cheney put it: Reagan showed that deficits don't matter. Meanwhile, back in Britain, it was Gordon Brown paying off Tory debt and George Osborne increasing it.
The idea that Gordon Brown paid off "Tory debt" is laughable. He inherited a budget surplus and continued to run a surplus for the first 3 years, sticking to a manifesto promise to follow Tory spending plans. Thereafter he ran a deficit every year. Before the financial crisis hit the debt had risen by around 65% on his watch. Even if we ignore the financial crisis the truth is that Brown massively increased the debt.
Brown did not inherit a Budget Surplus. No Tory Chancellor has produced that since Lawson in the late 1980s at the peak of North Sea Oil revenues and Privatisation receipts.
Yes, the budget was close to balance in 1997, but still in deficit. I don't think anyone would deny, though, that Brown inherited a much better economic position than the one he passed on to his successors.
Help!!! I'm really struggling to see how the percentages in this election will end up! Current polls are more or less:
C47 L29 LD10 UKIP8
It seems the consensus on here, including Tories, is that they will not stay this high until the election so let's say they drop to 44. Labour, under Corbyn, can't do anywhere near as well as Brown/EM so let's say they drop to 26. UKIP, we are led to believe, will not stand in many seats so I can't see them higher than 3. That's 11 points to re-allocate and they can't all go to the LD's!! They've got to go somewhere though so has anyone got the balls to actually predict where we might end up?!
I'm beginning to think the Tories might get close to 50%! Is this really a possibility? What odds would anyone put on it?
Thanks for any replies!
I think the Tories will do better than the opinion polls, and have bet accordingly. Also bet on a few individual LibDem gains.
Do we have a list of seats UKIP will actually stand in yet?
If UKIP only stand in a hundred or so seats, it's hard to the see the Conservatives failing to come close to 50%.
I hope not: I'm currently green from 35% to 49.9%.
The Tories will fiddle about with NI, maybe even integrate it with Income Tax, and curtail reliefs such as those on pension contributions, to raise the money the next government will need. They won't be as blatant (honest) as raising a headline rate; instead we are in for five years of stealth taxes.
.
And this nonsense about zero deficit ! Which other country pursues moronic policy like that ? In the US, Trump is increasing the deficit.
We should be running a surplus by now, as Germany has been doing for some considerable time. The horrendous debt built up as a result of Brown's policy errors and general incompetence is a millstone around our children's necks that will adversely affect their standard of living and significantly reduce our ability to respond to international turmoil in future.
And Trump is an idiot. I thought you knew that.
Trump is a Republican and, as Cheney put it: Reagan showed that deficits don't matter. Meanwhile, back in Britain, it was Gordon Brown paying off Tory debt and George Osborne increasing it.
The idea that Gordon Brown paid off "Tory debt" is laughable. He inherited a budget surplus and continued to run a surplus for the first 3 years, sticking to a manifesto promise to follow Tory spending plans. Thereafter he ran a deficit every year. Before the financial crisis hit the debt had risen by around 65% on his watch. Even if we ignore the financial crisis the truth is that Brown massively increased the debt.
Brown did not inherit a Budget Surplus. No Tory Chancellor has produced that since Lawson in the late 1980s at the peak of North Sea Oil revenues and Privatisation receipts.
Brown inherited Clarke's spending plans which delivered a surplus.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
Copyright UKIP 2015
I think it's a great idea. Wonder if the people who argued against when it was the kippers selling it will buy it now. Apparently nurses have to pay to park as well?
Help!!! I'm really struggling to see how the percentages in this election will end up! Current polls are more or less:
C47 L29 LD10 UKIP8
It seems the consensus on here, including Tories, is that they will not stay this high until the election so let's say they drop to 44. Labour, under Corbyn, can't do anywhere near as well as Brown/EM so let's say they drop to 26. UKIP, we are led to believe, will not stand in many seats so I can't see them higher than 3. That's 11 points to re-allocate and they can't all go to the LD's!! They've got to go somewhere though so has anyone got the balls to actually predict where we might end up?!
I'm beginning to think the Tories might get close to 50%! Is this really a possibility? What odds would anyone put on it?
Thanks for any replies!
I think the Tories will do better than the opinion polls, and have bet accordingly. Also bet on a few individual LibDem gains.
Do we have a list of seats UKIP will actually stand in yet?
If UKIP only stand in a hundred or so seats, it's hard to the see the Conservatives failing to come close to 50%.
Similiarly Labour around 28%. It's a bit hard to get your head round that too - but mathematically it must be so.
In default of rivals, Labour must poll around that figure. In terms of seats, a result of about 48-28% would be a blowout, though. Probably about 420 Conservatives to about 150 Labour.
Help!!! I'm really struggling to see how the percentages in this election will end up! Current polls are more or less:
C47 L29 LD10 UKIP8
It seems the consensus on here, including Tories, is that they will not stay this high until the election so let's say they drop to 44. Labour, under Corbyn, can't do anywhere near as well as Brown/EM so let's say they drop to 26. UKIP, we are led to believe, will not stand in many seats so I can't see them higher than 3. That's 11 points to re-allocate and they can't all go to the LD's!! They've got to go somewhere though so has anyone got the balls to actually predict where we might end up?!
I'm beginning to think the Tories might get close to 50%! Is this really a possibility? What odds would anyone put on it?
Thanks for any replies!
I think the Tories will do better than the opinion polls, and have bet accordingly. Also bet on a few individual LibDem gains.
Do we have a list of seats UKIP will actually stand in yet?
If UKIP only stand in a hundred or so seats, it's hard to the see the Conservatives failing to come close to 50%.
Similiarly Labour around 28%. It's a bit hard to get your head round that too - but mathematically it must be so.
Certainly if UKIP collapse and the Lib Dems don't break out of the 10-12 zone it's hard to see the result for the big two being far off 50-30, as counter intuitive as both those figures feel
Just running through the thread this morning, I noticed Roger's misunderstanding. Us Liberal lefties do tend to apologise and fess up when we make mistakes. As too Joff.
BTW--we have been covered by a grey cold front for days on the East Anglian coast. My wood burner has been on all the time, so please do not mention the weather.
I've been preoccupied by nesting birds and bird murderers this cold grey spring. A baby murdering magpie has killed all my fledgling pigeons; a cat has killed a nesting female robin leaving the poor dad to fend for himself, and I'm constantly being alerted by a very vocal blackbird whose taken to nearly feeding from my hands to all kinds of dangers to her nest...
Magpies are the worst. There's a tag team in our back garden that have killed assorted pigeons, a beautiful young collared dove and a fledgling seagull that had fallen out of its nest that I was feeding, and which was just making its first attempts at flight. I've even seen them take on another magpie, one of them holding it down while the other tried to peck its gizzard out.
Good old nature!
I wonder how clever blackbirds are. The one I'm almost feeding from my hand chirps madly, I come out with a water pistol, he flies away....... there is invariably a cat nearby which I scare off and then he returns calmly to feed his chicks with me still in the garden when the danger has subsided. It has happened twice this morning already.
My blackbirds nest hasn't been spotted by the baby murdering magpies yet......
Mr. Tyson, re the Magpie problem, have you considered an air-rifle and an upstairs window? Kill the buggers, it is the only way and an air-rifle is a far more humane method than Magpie traps. As for Moggies getting into your garden, I thought you had a dog. Perhaps Trotsky(?) should be earning his keep.
The Tories will fiddle about with NI, maybe even integrate it with Income Tax, and curtail reliefs such as those on pension contributions, to raise the money the next government will need. They won't be as blatant (honest) as raising a headline rate; instead we are in for five years of stealth taxes.
.
And this nonsense about zero deficit ! Which other country pursues moronic policy like that ? In the US, Trump is increasing the deficit.
We should be running a surplus by now, as Germany has been doing for some considerable time. The horrendous debt built up as a result of Brown's policy errors and general incompetence is a millstone around our children's necks that will adversely affect their standard of living and significantly reduce our ability to respond to international turmoil in future.
And Trump is an idiot. I thought you knew that.
Trump is a Republican and, as Cheney put it: Reagan showed that deficits don't matter. Meanwhile, back in Britain, it was Gordon Brown paying off Tory debt and George Osborne increasing it.
The idea that Gordon Brown paid off "Tory debt" is laughable. He inherited a budget surplus and continued to run a surplus for the first 3 years, sticking to a manifesto promise to follow Tory spending plans. Thereafter he ran a deficit every year. Before the financial crisis hit the debt had risen by around 65% on his watch. Even if we ignore the financial crisis the truth is that Brown massively increased the debt.
Brown did not inherit a Budget Surplus. No Tory Chancellor has produced that since Lawson in the late 1980s at the peak of North Sea Oil revenues and Privatisation receipts.
Yes, the budget was close to balance in 1997, but still in deficit. I don't think anyone would deny, though, that Brown inherited a much better economic position than the one he passed on to his successors.
Brown inherited an economy recovering from the total implosion of the Conservative government's economic policy. He passed on an economy recovering (before Osborne flat-lined it) from the global economic meltdown. In hindsight it is perhaps ironic that the economic policy disaster visited upon us by the Conservatives was aimed at taking us deeper into Europe and joining what would become the Euro.
The Tories will fiddle about with NI, maybe even integrate it with Income Tax, and curtail reliefs such as those on pension contributions, to raise the money the next government will need. They won't be as blatant (honest) as raising a headline rate; instead we are in for five years of stealth taxes.
.
And this nonsense about zero deficit ! Which other country pursues moronic policy like that ? In the US, Trump is increasing the deficit.
We should be running a surplus by now, as Germany has been doing for some considerable time. The horrendous debt built up as a result of Brown's policy errors and general incompetence is a millstone around our children's necks that will adversely affect their standard of living and significantly reduce our ability to respond to international turmoil in future.
And Trump is an idiot. I thought you knew that.
Trump is a Republican and, as Cheney put it: Reagan showed that deficits don't matter. Meanwhile, back in Britain, it was Gordon Brown paying off Tory debt and George Osborne increasing it.
The idea that Gordon Brown paid off "Tory debt" is laughable. He inherited a budget surplus and continued to run a surplus for the first 3 years, sticking to a manifesto promise to follow Tory spending plans. Thereafter he ran a deficit every year. Before the financial crisis hit the debt had risen by around 65% on his watch. Even if we ignore the financial crisis the truth is that Brown massively increased the debt.
Brown did not inherit a Budget Surplus. No Tory Chancellor has produced that since Lawson in the late 1980s at the peak of North Sea Oil revenues and Privatisation receipts.
He didn't inherit a surplus but as you can see the budget account was balancing and went into the black - until Brown cut loose .
Mr. P, it's very similar in its stupidity to the VAT on private school fees nonsense.
If it drives people to leave private healthcare, then provision for health funding declines and demand rises...
but if it forces more "rich" people to use the NHS and state education system, then those "rich" people might be more interested in, (and amenable to) ensuring that they are well-funded and fit for purpose?
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
A hospital I visit quite often is a very short walk from shops and a local school. Free hospital parking might sound like a good idea, but it is bound to be abused in such circumstances.
It is a victory for the EU vision and a defeat for isolationist authoritarian nationalism, as espoused by Chairman May and the UKIP-Tory party, despite their probable landslide victory on 8/6/17.
I think you could have gone wider and included the US and Saudi Arabia Theresa May's new best friends. Again too early to tell but I wonder if this could be a shot in the arm for Corbyn and Farron?
Why would it be? In the case of Corbyn, he's hardly the most pro-European leader out there!
I'd also caution against thinking that an election result in France is going to have much impact on sentiment towards the EU in Britain. The idea that the British people are going to awake from their slumber and march headlong into the ranks of the European federalists is a pipe dream. That sentiment has never widely been held in Britain - even in the days of Blair, whose was possibly the most pro-European government since Heath's, he could not get the Euro introduced.
That's not to say that I'm disappointed by the result. I am relieved that the FN lost. Moreover, it is not in any of our interests to have a Europe collapsing in front of our eyes. But people are too hasty to ascribe the fact that France just rejected a far-right leader as leading to some kind of eruption of pro-EU sentiment in Britain.
One can nevertheless hope that seeing so many Brexiters, from Farage downwards, hoping for the LePen victory that the French had the good sense to turn away from might prompt a bit of self reflection.
Whilst we often observe that the French system has similarities with AV, the biggest difference is the period of reflection (and realignment) that it allows between vote one and vote two.
Apparently it's bad form to remind Leavers that those who expressed a preference overwhelmingly backed Marine Le Pen as best for Britain.
Leave means never having to say you're sorry.
That you have to say "those who expressed a preference" gives the lie to your spin.
.. or it could be a desire to give the complete facts rather than spin it.
The complete facts include that an absolute majority of Leave voters polled said either "neither" or "don't know"...
Brown inherited an economy recovering from the total implosion of the Conservative government's economic policy. He passed on an economy recovering (before Osborne flat-lined it) from the global economic meltdown. In hindsight it is perhaps ironic that the economic policy disaster visited upon us by the Conservatives was aimed at taking us deeper into Europe and joining what would become the Euro.
The Tories will fiddle about with NI, maybe even integrate it with Income Tax, and curtail reliefs such as those on pension contributions, to raise the money the next government will need. They won't be as blatant (honest) as raising a headline rate; instead we are in for five years of stealth taxes.
.
And this nonsense about zero deficit ! Which other country pursues moronic policy like that ? In the US, Trump is increasing the deficit.
.
Trump is a Republican and, as Cheney put it: Reagan showed that deficits don't matter. Meanwhile, back in Britain, it was Gordon Brown paying off Tory debt and George Osborne increasing it.
The idea that Gordon Brown paid off "Tory debt" is laughable. He inherited a budget surplus and continued to run a surplus for the first 3 years, sticking to a manifesto promise to follow Tory spending plans. Thereafter he ran a deficit every year. Before the financial crisis hit the debt had risen by around 65% on his watch. Even if we ignore the financial crisis the truth is that Brown massively increased the debt.
Brown did not inherit a Budget Surplus. No Tory Chancellor has produced that since Lawson in the late 1980s at the peak of North Sea Oil revenues and Privatisation receipts.
Yes, the budget was close to balance in 1997, but still in deficit. I don't think anyone would deny, though, that Brown inherited a much better economic position than the one he passed on to his successors.
Brown inherited an economy recovering from the total implosion of the Conservative government's economic policy. He passed on an economy recovering (before Osborne flat-lined it) from the global economic meltdown. In hindsight it is perhaps ironic that the economic policy disaster visited upon us by the Conservatives was aimed at taking us deeper into Europe and joining what would become the Euro.
The economy was growing a lot more strongly in May 1997 than in May 2010, and had certainly not suffered a slump of 7% in output.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
Help!!! I'm really struggling to see how the percentages in this election will end up! Current polls are more or less:
C47 L29 LD10 UKIP8
It seems the consensus on here, including Tories, is that they will not stay this high until the election so let's say they drop to 44. Labour, under Corbyn, can't do anywhere near as well as Brown/EM so let's say they drop to 26. UKIP, we are led to believe, will not stand in many seats so I can't see them higher than 3. That's 11 points to re-allocate and they can't all go to the LD's!! They've got to go somewhere though so has anyone got the balls to actually predict where we might end up?!
I'm beginning to think the Tories might get close to 50%! Is this really a possibility? What odds would anyone put on it?
Thanks for any replies!
I think the Tories will do better than the opinion polls, and have bet accordingly. Also bet on a few individual LibDem gains.
Do we have a list of seats UKIP will actually stand in yet?
If UKIP only stand in a hundred or so seats, it's hard to the see the Conservatives failing to come close to 50%.
I hope not: I'm currently green from 35% to 49.9%.
Just to clear this up: are the opinion polls for GB, but in the betting % refers to UK?
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
Refund patients & those visiting patients when they enter the hospital
Mr. P, it's very similar in its stupidity to the VAT on private school fees nonsense.
If it drives people to leave private healthcare, then provision for health funding declines and demand rises...
but if it forces more "rich" people to use the NHS and state education system, then those "rich" people might be more interested in, (and amenable to) ensuring that they are well-funded and fit for purpose?
They only have as much of a vote as anyone else, and it's the least rich of the rich who get forced out. There is, I suppose, the myth that middle-class parents in these circs get onto school governor boards and jolly well force up standards, but I think it's a myth.
Don't know if this has been posted before, but Tories in Bridgend, (labour maj 1900) are apparently upset about imposition of candidate upon them. (similar thing happened in Newport West too - lab maj 3500)
Brown inherited an economy recovering from the total implosion of the Conservative government's economic policy. He passed on an economy recovering (before Osborne flat-lined it) from the global economic meltdown. In hindsight it is perhaps ironic that the economic policy disaster visited upon us by the Conservatives was aimed at taking us deeper into Europe and joining what would become the Euro.
Complete and utter bollocks.
and yet completely true. Perhaps you were too busy "singing in the bath" to notice.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
That's what out local leisure centre does - users get a ticket to put in the machine at the exit. It's not difficult to find ways to stop people abusing hospital car parks.
Re: hospital parking, given where hospitals tend to be situated and the bus links to them, the abuse of the system would be tremendous. Reimbursing every single visitor creates an expensive bureaucracy and people who own cars can probably cope with paying one or two parking charges.
Maybe the best solution is keeping the charges and providing permits on a case-by-case basis to regular visitors of a patient who's in there for the long haul?
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
Refund patients & those visiting patients when they enter the hospital
Seems expensive to administer. You'll need a manned office 24/7 with staff to do that.
Trump is a Republican and, as Cheney put it: Reagan showed that deficits don't matter. Meanwhile, back in Britain, it was Gordon Brown paying off Tory debt and George Osborne increasing it.
The idea that Gordon Brown paid off "Tory debt" is laughable. He inherited a budget surplus and continued to run a surplus for the first 3 years, sticking to a manifesto promise to follow Tory spending plans. Thereafter he ran a deficit every year. Before the financial crisis hit the debt had risen by around 65% on his watch. Even if we ignore the financial crisis the truth is that Brown massively increased the debt.
Brown did not inherit a Budget Surplus. No Tory Chancellor has produced that since Lawson in the late 1980s at the peak of North Sea Oil revenues and Privatisation receipts.
He didn't inherit a surplus but as you can see the budget account was balancing and went into the black - until Brown cut loose .
If you look at that graph you link to, you will see it shows that when Brown "cut loose" he was still level with or below the Conservative figures. If you go back to its source and look at the GDP percentage figures, Brown's alleged profligacy is far below the Conservatives'.
Brown inherited an economy recovering from the total implosion of the Conservative government's economic policy. He passed on an economy recovering (before Osborne flat-lined it) from the global economic meltdown. In hindsight it is perhaps ironic that the economic policy disaster visited upon us by the Conservatives was aimed at taking us deeper into Europe and joining what would become the Euro.
Complete and utter bollocks.
and yet completely true. Perhaps you were too busy "singing in the bath" to notice.
If it's true you might want to say what the budget deficit and debt levels were in 1997 as a proportion of GDP - and what they were in 2010 for comparison. Bear in mind we had no recession between 1993 and 2007.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
That's what out local leisure centre does - users get a ticket to put in the machine at the exit. It's not difficult to find ways to stop people abusing hospital car parks.
The users of a leisure centre is a bit different to users of a hospital.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
Copyright UKIP 2015
I think it's [free parking at all hospitals] a great idea. ...
Well, I do not. As has already been demonstrated up-thread free parking in hospital car parks will be abused and spaces will be taken up by people who are neither ill nor visiting the sick.
The provision of parking spaces at hospitals for those who need them is not amenable to a simple, one size fits all solution. Additionally hospital car parks should not be allowed to become a source of revenue for the hospital and a car park service provider because that leads to a three way conflict of interest.
Flexibility and intelligence is needed in providing the best that can be provided for the benefit of the sick and their families (e.g. at the RSCH their is a separate, free, car park for patients of the oncology unit). That would require some of the vastly overpaid hospital administrators to actually think, so I doubt it will happen.
Brown inherited an economy recovering from the total implosion of the Conservative government's economic policy. He passed on an economy recovering (before Osborne flat-lined it) from the global economic meltdown. In hindsight it is perhaps ironic that the economic policy disaster visited upon us by the Conservatives was aimed at taking us deeper into Europe and joining what would become the Euro.
Complete and utter bollocks.
and yet completely true. Perhaps you were too busy "singing in the bath" to notice.
The economy in the late 90s was balanced and growing strongly. It all went wrong when we failed to join the Euro and Blair handed the Treasury to Brown as if giving a lego set to a child.
Was there ever a more Pyrrhic victory than John Major securing that fatal opt-out?
Trump is a Republican and, as Cheney put it: Reagan showed that deficits don't matter. Meanwhile, back in Britain, it was Gordon Brown paying off Tory debt and George Osborne increasing it.
The idea that Gordon Brown paid off "Tory debt" is laughable. He inherited a budget surplus and continued to run a surplus for the first 3 years, sticking to a manifesto promise to follow Tory spending plans. Thereafter he ran a deficit every year. Before the financial crisis hit the debt had risen by around 65% on his watch. Even if we ignore the financial crisis the truth is that Brown massively increased the debt.
Brown did not inherit a Budget Surplus. No Tory Chancellor has produced that since Lawson in the late 1980s at the peak of North Sea Oil revenues and Privatisation receipts.
He didn't inherit a surplus but as you can see the budget account was balancing and went into the black - until Brown cut loose .
If you look at that graph you link to, you will see it shows that when Brown "cut loose" he was still level with or below the Conservative figures. If you go back to its source and look at the GDP percentage figures, Brown's alleged profligacy is far below the Conservatives'.
No he was not "level with" Conservative figures. He was level during a boom with Conservative figures at the height of a bust! Only an idiot who doesn't understand the concept of boom and bust, or an imbecile who believes they've been eliminated, thinks running a bust-time deficit during boom-time is a good idea.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
Refund patients & those visiting patients when they enter the hospital
Seems expensive to administer. You'll need a manned office 24/7 with staff to do that.
Don't know if this has been posted before, but Tories in Bridgend, (labour maj 1900) are apparently upset about imposition of candidate upon them. (similar thing happened in Newport West too - lab maj 3500)
Seems to me it's part of the deal of being a Con or Lab member that central office will override local party from time to time. e.g. there will always be people that the national party wants to get into parliament and needs to find a seat for them. So in these cases while some members are upset, others will just accept it. And as far as Bridgend is concerned I imagine the Tory will win even if the local members sit on their hands till election day.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
Refund patients & those visiting patients when they enter the hospital
Seems expenseive to administer. You'll need a manned office 24/7 with staff to do that.
No, you just need a human being, like the receptionist who signs them in, to give them a free token which works in a pay-on-exit machine. The oncology dept at my hospital does that (except it's only a partial rebate, not the whole thing).
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
Refund patients & those visiting patients when they enter the hospital
Seems expensive to administer. You'll need a manned office 24/7 with staff to do that.
Would've thought a machine could do it
That wouldn't work. Anyone could just pop into the hospital and pick up a token.
@rowenamason: Director Ken Loach was there for Corbyn chat with student nurses - says he's "just getting a few shots", wdnt say if a full film about JC
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
That's what out local leisure centre does - users get a ticket to put in the machine at the exit. It's not difficult to find ways to stop people abusing hospital car parks.
The users of a leisure centre is a bit different to users of a hospital.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
Agreed. Had to pay the best part of £100 in charges a couple of weeks back while my wife was in the maternity ward - it's a disgraceful charge and paying for it by hiking private insurance premiums is a smart move.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
Refund patients & those visiting patients when they enter the hospital
Seems expenseive to administer. You'll need a manned office 24/7 with staff to do that.
No, you just need a human being, like the receptionist who signs them in, to give them a free token which works in a pay-on-exit machine. The oncology dept at my hospital does that (except it's only a partial rebate, not the whole thing).
And whats stopping someone regularly popping in, and giving a false name, will they be there 11 o'clock at night when I drop my missus off at A&E (which I did regularly this year)...etc etc...
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
Refund patients & those visiting patients when they enter the hospital
Seems expensive to administer. You'll need a manned office 24/7 with staff to do that.
Would've thought a machine could do it
That wouldn't work. Anyone could just pop into the hospital and pick up a token.
Machines are quite clever these days. It could disgorge parking tokens only after reading a valid barcode off an appointment letter.
@rowenamason: Director Ken Loach was there for Corbyn chat with student nurses - says he's "just getting a few shots", wdnt say if a full film about JC
Paul greengrass (of Bourne films fame) tried to do the same for Ed miliband.
Only an idiot who doesn't understand the concept of boom and bust, or an imbecile who believes they've been eliminated, thinks running a bust-time deficit during boom-time is a good idea.
Those are your die-hard Labour supporters, people who still think Brown was a good chancellor. They are beyond reason.
Trump is a Republican and, as Cheney put it: Reagan showed that deficits don't matter. Meanwhile, back in Britain, it was Gordon Brown paying off Tory debt and George Osborne increasing it.
The idea that Gordon Brown paid off "Tory debt" is laughable. He inherited a budget surplus and continued to run a surplus for the first 3 years, sticking to a manifesto promise to follow Tory spending plans. Thereafter he ran a deficit every year. Before the financial crisis hit the debt had risen by around 65% on his watch. Even if we ignore the financial crisis the truth is that Brown massively increased the debt.
Brown did not inherit a Budget Surplus. No Tory Chancellor has produced that since Lawson in the late 1980s at the peak of North Sea Oil revenues and Privatisation receipts.
He didn't inherit a surplus but as you can see the budget account was balancing and went into the black - until Brown cut loose .
If you look at that graph you link to, you will see it shows that when Brown "cut loose" he was still level with or below the Conservative figures. If you go back to its source and look at the GDP percentage figures, Brown's alleged profligacy is far below the Conservatives'.
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
Refund patients & those visiting patients when they enter the hospital
Seems expenseive to administer. You'll need a manned office 24/7 with staff to do that.
No, you just need a human being, like the receptionist who signs them in, to give them a free token which works in a pay-on-exit machine. The oncology dept at my hospital does that (except it's only a partial rebate, not the whole thing).
And whats stopping someone regularly popping in, and giving a false name, will they be there 11 o'clock at night when I drop my missus off at A&E (which I did regularly this year)...etc etc...
@rowenamason: Director Ken Loach was there for Corbyn chat with student nurses - says he's "just getting a few shots", wdnt say if a full film about JC
I think Labour's pledge to scrap hospital parking charges will go down well. Not enough to save their bottoms but it might firm up a few waverers. It's a very unpopular charge.
At my local hospital it's getting a parking space at all which is the issue. I would not expect this problem to be alleviated by the (I agree) very unpopular charge. In fact, being as how hospitals tend to be on the outskirts of cities and well served by buses, they are natural free park-and-ride schemes if you stop charging.
The hospital in my local town is in easy walk of the town centre. Having said that, the car park is usually full. Making it free won't change that.
Well, it will mean more park-and-riders at the expense of patients (because park and riders who need to be in by 9 are the early birds.
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
Refund patients & those visiting patients when they enter the hospital
Seems expensive to administer. You'll need a manned office 24/7 with staff to do that.
Would've thought a machine could do it
That wouldn't work. Anyone could just pop into the hospital and pick up a token.
Machines are quite clever these days. It could disgorge parking tokens only after reading a valid barcode off an appointment letter.
What about A&E, what about visitors?
It's possible, of course it is, but hospitals are big messy places with huge number of people coming and going, you'll have to charge them and then refund somehow, and then that gets even more messy,
Peter Whittle (UKIP Deputy Leader) said on Sunday Politics (London section) that UKIP were standing candidates in the vast majority of London seats - can't quote precise wording but impression given was there would only be the odd one or two where they didn't stand.
The BBC then did a film report on Westminster North which stated there would be no UKIP candidate in that seat.
Comments
Any other kind of nationalism whether it's protective economic policy or immigration policy is nasty, divisive and damaging to all.
All the best for your recovery Cycle
In France, the two major parties failed to make the run-off.
The Dutch government is likely to be weaker and more unstable than it's predecessor as it moves to a four party coalition. Will Macron command a majority? It seems most likely than he won't.
These countries seem to be fractured if judged by the dispersal of votes.
He probably won't bother doing to help Corbyn as V.V.P. certainly knows a lost cause when he sees one. (cf Akhmad Kadyrov)
@LJ_Skipper: Imagine being the room-meat at a press photo op and clapping your leader when they say they won't debate on TV? #GeneralElection2017
1. It limits the field against him. There will be at most two challengers, both of whom will come from the centre/right of the party. If there's only one (can the PLP be as organised as the Tories were in 2003/2016?), it eliminates the possibility of Corbyn even receiving a first-round victory.
2. There is no annointed successor. The left's candidate - Corbyn - is inextricably linked to all the failures of the last two years in a way that a protege wouldn't necessarily be. The man and the movement are one and the same for the voter.
3. And hence, Corbyn would lose. Picking up 62% against Owen Smith after a botched coup is one thing. Picking up more than 50% against Yvette Cooper or Kier Starmer after having overseen the worst election results since the 1930s is another. At least Kinnock made progress in 1987.
Were Corbyn to stand down, there is a risk that if the left's new candidate could gain the nominations - no guarantee there - then they would win. Corbyn and his personal team would be assigned all the blame (plus the MSM, right-wing establishment etc), leaving the new candidate relatively untainted.
C47
L29
LD10
UKIP8
It seems the consensus on here, including Tories, is that they will not stay this high until the election so let's say they drop to 44. Labour, under Corbyn, can't do anywhere near as well as Brown/EM so let's say they drop to 26. UKIP, we are led to believe, will not stand in many seats so I can't see them higher than 3. That's 11 points to re-allocate and they can't all go to the LD's!! They've got to go somewhere though so has anyone got the balls to actually predict where we might end up?!
I'm beginning to think the Tories might get close to 50%! Is this really a possibility? What odds would anyone put on it?
Thanks for any replies!
Good old nature!
Didn't do him any harm, either.
18 still a Sell in my opinion. I've just topped up (or topped down, I suppose you could say.)
DYOR, spreads are dangerous and not for the faint-hearted, etc etc.
Do we have a list of seats UKIP will actually stand in yet?
And what focus? google doesn't get very excited over searches for those words.
And last I heard, T May was all about "me me me me me". Make your mind up.
Seriously, I think politicians who are as much in the ascendant as May is now, are very much insulated from attacks which don't fit the narrative: cf. Reagan's and Blair's teflon periods. It doesn't last forever, though.
https://twitter.com/iandunt/status/861512496263421952
https://twitter.com/iandunt/status/861515400839876611
The Labour membership is still very much the Church of Corbyn. They will vote for him again
https://twitter.com/malcolmbruce/status/860985943251144704
"I haven't lost faith in him," one man tells me. "I've lost faith in the general public."
LOL. Classic. Isn't this basically the famous Bertolt Brecht quote?
The fake news meme works both ways, and with any luck, democracy is to a certain extent inoculated against Putin's poison.
https://twitter.com/tamcohen/status/861524159708483584
Project Fearhttps://twitter.com/vote_leave/status/705458954466435073
If it drives people to leave private healthcare, then provision for health funding declines and demand rises...
My blackbirds nest hasn't been spotted by the baby murdering magpies yet......
Interesting piece here. Quite a split between those wanting to have a "target" and those arguing for a more nuanced approach. The rabid leftie Allister Heath is one of those who is scornful of a target as, it seems, is Karen Bradley.
A target gives your opponents a stick to beat you with if you don't achieve it and if you do the charge will be you've fiddled the figures.
For me, the issue of immigration isn't about numbers but about the skilled (and unskilled) people our economy needs and where such people are housed during their time here.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/28/emmanuel-macron-ill-renegotiate-le-touquet-border-treaty
I think it's a great idea. Wonder if the people who argued against when it was the kippers selling it will buy it now. Apparently nurses have to pay to park as well?
https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=https://www.economicshelp.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/net-borrowing-totalJ511-600x471.png&imgrefurl=http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/5922/economics/uk-budget-deficit-2/&h=471&w=600&tbnid=iPkw2K-kFbIDNM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=203&usg=__xkNmAJoS8sWZxFyh_OayIpIx0kw=&vet=10ahUKEwjTkZGPjODTAhVKDcAKHYy7AdoQ9QEIKjAA..i&docid=hH-dgShxU01jwM&client=firefox-b-ab&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTkZGPjODTAhVKDcAKHYy7AdoQ9QEIKjAA
Of course some kind of numberplate recognition deal, with numberplates as per agreement when the appointment is made, would work. Or, everyone pays through the nose but patients get given a free token at the end of their appointment.
(similar thing happened in Newport West too - lab maj 3500)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-39778661
Maybe the best solution is keeping the charges and providing permits on a case-by-case basis to regular visitors of a patient who's in there for the long haul?
http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/5922/economics/uk-budget-deficit-2/
The provision of parking spaces at hospitals for those who need them is not amenable to a simple, one size fits all solution. Additionally hospital car parks should not be allowed to become a source of revenue for the hospital and a car park service provider because that leads to a three way conflict of interest.
Flexibility and intelligence is needed in providing the best that can be provided for the benefit of the sick and their families (e.g. at the RSCH their is a separate, free, car park for patients of the oncology unit). That would require some of the vastly overpaid hospital administrators to actually think, so I doubt it will happen.
Was there ever a more Pyrrhic victory than John Major securing that fatal opt-out?
https://twitter.com/HeartScotNews/status/861531173331374081
It's possible, of course it is, but hospitals are big messy places with huge number of people coming and going, you'll have to charge them and then refund somehow, and then that gets even more messy,
The BBC then did a film report on Westminster North which stated there would be no UKIP candidate in that seat.
http://www.iaindale.com/posts/2017/05/07/general-election-2017-seat-by-seat-predictions-final-totals-we-re-heading-for-a-conservative-majority-of-130ish
Next!