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.
The Labour membership is still very much the Church of Corbyn. They will vote for him again
No, I don't think it is - or at least I don't think a majority of it is any more. There is of course the faction of loyal believers but those who voted to 'give him a chance' in 2016 have had that wish fulfilled, and the consequences of that action played out. They won't back him again. on top of which, there was a small but meaningful number who didn't vote for Smith in 2016 because he himself was a poor candidate. That shouldn't be an issue next time if a heavyweight stands.
Are we going to see the Sturbocopter again this year?
Nicola Sturgeon has also started to really annoy non-Nationalists. You have to visit Scotland to get the full sense of the backlash, after years in which people kept their voices down for fear of social retribution. The initial Sturgeon promise of reaching out has been replaced by increasingly intemperate strutting about and a refusal to even acknowledge, with a dash of humility, that not everything is wonderful in the SNP garden. Sturgeon said any talk of a “backlash” against her is “ludicrous”. She’s gradually going the full Thatcher.
The Sturgeon hegemony is built on the idea that the journey is almost over. The SNP is almost at its destination, with just a few more touches on the accelerator needed. Now, the SNP juggernaught is stalling and potentially Ruth Davidson is about to start pushing it back down the hill. If the Unionist parties force the Nationalist vote share down and the SNP falls anywhere below 50 seats they will very obviously and publicly have begun to go backwards.
This all runs counter to the Nationalist narrative of destiny and imminent success on the constitution. The events of the last three or so years were supposed to be the prelude to independence becoming inevitable. Right now it just isn’t working out the way they intended, which is hilarious.
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...
Barcode.
So either you need an expensive system administrating barcodes, or they'll be given out like candy, which then defeats the point of them.
I'd love the idea of free parking at hospitals, but the reality doesn't match up.
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,
That's why refunding every individual case is a bad idea. We do need a solution (i.e. permits) for regular visitors though to stop them from running up three-figure sums.
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.
Extend the graph to the left if you want to look at earlier Tory numbers.
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...
Barcode.
So either you need an expensive system administrating barcodes, or they'll be given out like candy, which then defeats the point of them.
I'd love the idea of free parking at hospitals, but the reality doesn't match up.
Technology is cheap I don't know why you assume a ticket scanner equals expensive admin system
Anyway politicians and civil servants are paid fortunes, they should be able to work out a way to stop private firms making money out of people who are ill and those visiting such relatives
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,
That's why refunding every individual case is a bad idea. We do need a solution (i.e. permits) for regular visitors though to stop them from running up three-figure sums.
Now that would be sensible. One problem with permits is that you often don't know how long you need them for. My missus was in hospital for a week (and longer off and on) earlier the year, but I didn't know if she was coming out today, or needed to go in again 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 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...
Barcode.
So either you need an expensive system administrating barcodes, or they'll be given out like candy, which then defeats the point of them.
I'd love the idea of free parking at hospitals, but the reality doesn't match up.
Technology is cheap I don't know why you assume a ticket scanner equals expensive admin system
Are you seriously making the claim that anything with the NHS is 'cheap'?
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...
Barcode.
So either you need an expensive system administrating barcodes, or they'll be given out like candy, which then defeats the point of them.
I'd love the idea of free parking at hospitals, but the reality doesn't match up.
If someone can answer this without it descending into a Yoon v Zoomer slanging match, how does free hospital parking work in Scotland?
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?
1. Use pay-before-you-leave system so no refunding is necessary. Pay on entry is a nuisance anyway because it's unpredictable how long appointments etc. are going to take. 2. When hospital patients arrive at the registration desk, a member of staff puts their ticket in a validation machine so they don't have to pay for parking. These machines aren't very expensive and lots of establishments use them already. 3. Use validated ticket at barrier when exiting.
I'm not sure whether this privilege should extend to hospital visitors because free parking will encourage people to drive to hospitals, and there really aren't enough parking spaces to cope.
Are we going to see the Sturbocopter again this year?
Nicola Sturgeon has also started to really annoy non-Nationalists. You have to visit Scotland to get the full sense of the backlash, after years in which people kept their voices down for fear of social retribution. The initial Sturgeon promise of reaching out has been replaced by increasingly intemperate strutting about and a refusal to even acknowledge, with a dash of humility, that not everything is wonderful in the SNP garden. Sturgeon said any talk of a “backlash” against her is “ludicrous”. She’s gradually going the full Thatcher.
The Sturgeon hegemony is built on the idea that the journey is almost over. The SNP is almost at its destination, with just a few more touches on the accelerator needed. Now, the SNP juggernaught is stalling and potentially Ruth Davidson is about to start pushing it back down the hill. If the Unionist parties force the Nationalist vote share down and the SNP falls anywhere below 50 seats they will very obviously and publicly have begun to go backwards.
This all runs counter to the Nationalist narrative of destiny and imminent success on the constitution. The events of the last three or so years were supposed to be the prelude to independence becoming inevitable. Right now it just isn’t working out the way they intended, which is hilarious.
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...
Barcode.
So either you need an expensive system administrating barcodes, or they'll be given out like candy, which then defeats the point of them.
I'd love the idea of free parking at hospitals, but the reality doesn't match up.
Technology is cheap I don't know why you assume a ticket scanner equals expensive admin system
Are you seriously making the claim that anything with the NHS is 'cheap'?
Ticket scanners are cheap. You just put one in each ward
@amolrajanBBC: 1/ BBC announces its plans for leaders debates. 2 Question Times with Dimbleby, 1st May vs Corbyn, 2nd Farron vs Sturgeon - no shared stage
@amolrajanBBC: 2/ Separately there will a live BBC Election Debate, hosted by @MishalHusainBBC, with 7 parties represented, but no May or Corbyn
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...
Barcode.
So either you need an expensive system administrating barcodes, or they'll be given out like candy, which then defeats the point of them.
I'd love the idea of free parking at hospitals, but the reality doesn't match up.
If someone can answer this without it descending into a Yoon v Zoomer slanging match, how does free hospital parking work in Scotland?
@amolrajanBBC: 1/ BBC announces its plans for leaders debates. 2 Question Times with Dimbleby, 1st May vs Corbyn, 2nd Farron vs Sturgeon - no shared stage
@amolrajanBBC: 2/ Separately there will a live BBC Election Debate, hosted by @MishalHusainBBC, with 7 parties represented, but no May or Corbyn
Farron vs Sturgeon....That'll really pull the punters in.
@amolrajanBBC: 1/ BBC announces its plans for leaders debates. 2 Question Times with Dimbleby, 1st May vs Corbyn, 2nd Farron vs Sturgeon - no shared stage
@amolrajanBBC: 2/ Separately there will a live BBC Election Debate, hosted by @MishalHusainBBC, with 7 parties represented, but no May or Corbyn
Ukip got more votes than Lib Dems & SNP combined last time and aren't invited?
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...
Barcode.
So either you need an expensive system administrating barcodes, or they'll be given out like candy, which then defeats the point of them.
I'd love the idea of free parking at hospitals, but the reality doesn't match up.
If someone can answer this without it descending into a Yoon v Zoomer slanging match, how does free hospital parking work in Scotland?
In principle it should all be free but I believe there are some exceptions down to pre existing PFI contracts. The new(ish) Royal in Edinburgh is one that still charges as I unfortunately discovered over 2 months 2015-16. They have pretty big car parks for staff & patients which seemed mostly full, so the contract holders must be raking it in.
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 knew you were a Eurofanatic, but not a Euro fanatic.
Oh wow it has been some years since I heard anyone seriously say we should have joined the Euro! How entertainingly bonkers.
@PaulBrandITV: Theresa May & her husband Philip will appear on The One Show tomorrow. Shouldn't plug the other side, but that will be interesting! #GE2017
France could be about to relive the Thatcher era: strikes and battles with the unions set against a booming city, a revitalised economy and a renewed sense of national vigour.
If you remove revenue from car parking you need to find it from somewhere else surely.
Amazingly high volume of comments on what sounds like a tiny issue to me. People paying car park charges for visiting town centres, museums, sporting stadia, you name it is normal and accepted. For one-off visits I really don't think people mind
I understand the case for people who are on weekly chemo or whatever, but there are arrangements in place for many special cases f repeat visits like that.
I don't mind lobbing a few quid in a machine once or twice a year taking my accident prone children to A&E. If this is Labour's big policy they are scraping the barrel a bit!
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?
1. Use pay-before-you-leave system so no refunding is necessary. Pay on entry is a nuisance anyway because it's unpredictable how long appointments etc. are going to take. 2. When hospital patients arrive at the registration desk, a member of staff puts their ticket in a validation machine so they don't have to pay for parking. These machines aren't very expensive and lots of establishments use them already. 3. Use validated ticket at barrier when exiting.
I'm not sure whether this privilege should extend to hospital visitors because free parking will encourage people to drive to hospitals, and there really aren't enough parking spaces to cope.
Your last sentence is a perfect example of why a one size fits all solution will not and cannot be acceptable. Discouraging car driving visitors might make a lot of sense in an urban area but would not be acceptable in a rural/semi-rural area where the public transport stops at about 18:00.
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?
Nothing is free in life. Someone else will always have to pick up the tab or less money for the NHS. I'd guess in some places many of those free spaces will end up being taken by local shoppers and office workers.
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?
Nothing is free in life. Someone else will always have to pick up the tab or less money for the NHS. I'd guess in some places many of those free spaces will end up being taken by local shoppers and office workers.
I also think parking in town centres should be free, would help save the High St
If you remove revenue from car parking you need to find it from somewhere else surely.
Amazingly high volume of comments on what sounds like a tiny issue to me. People paying car park charges for visiting town centres, museums, sporting stadia, you name it is normal and accepted. For one-off visits I really don't think people mind
I understand the case for people who are on weekly chemo or whatever, but there are arrangements in place for many special cases f repeat visits like that.
I don't mind lobbing a few quid in a machine once or twice a year taking my accident prone children to A&E. If this is Labour's big policy they are scraping the barrel a bit!
My concern is not that they are scraping the barrel but that they can't see the flaw in their plan.... Its a perfect example of a good idea on paper, utterly insane in practice...
So either you need an expensive system administrating barcodes, or they'll be given out like candy, which then defeats the point of them.
I'd love the idea of free parking at hospitals, but the reality doesn't match up.
Jesus. We are meant to be arguing about the accession of Turkey to the EU or T May's exposure to the general public, not about this. But:
I already check in to my hospital by showing a barcode to a machine, though there is the option of talking to a real live receptionist. So all that is needed is to teach the machine or person to say "hello Mr Z, please take a seat and here is your token" rather than "hello Mr Z, please take a seat". Job done. My oncology dept already does this (via the human receptionist); it works flawlessly. Alternatively work it like airport carparks so a camera recognises a numberplate on the way in.
France could be about to relive the Thatcher era: strikes and battles with the unions set against a booming city, a revitalised economy and a renewed sense of national vigour.
...except that those financial institutions who have been establishing offices in EU land prior to Independence Day final date of leaving the EU have been picking a variety cities - basically anywhere but Paris!
Now that would be sensible. One problem with permits is that you often don't know how long you need them for. My missus was in hospital for a week (and longer off and on) earlier the year, but I didn't know if she was coming out today, or needed to go in again etc, etc.
I guess you'd err on the side of being too generous and accept there'd be some people using hospital permits for a trip to the shops. We'd be talking about a small number though.
What a strange world politicos inhabit, an election overseas that will have zero impact on anybody's life in the UK is celebrated like a lottery win.
On that note it seems I'm the only person on here that doesn't make money betting on politics. I guess I don't lose any either.
I do think it would help 1 or 2 on here to leave the laptop for an hour or so and engage with other people.
Please bear in mind that this is intended first and foremost to be a political betting site .... the clue's in the name. Should this activity concern you then perhaps you should look elsewhere.
I've always been puzzled by the people on here who proudly proclaim they don't bet, but to actively sneer at the people who bet on politics on a political Betting website is a whole new frontier of strange.
If you remove revenue from car parking you need to find it from somewhere else surely.
Amazingly high volume of comments on what sounds like a tiny issue to me. People paying car park charges for visiting town centres, museums, sporting stadia, you name it is normal and accepted. For one-off visits I really don't think people mind
I understand the case for people who are on weekly chemo or whatever, but there are arrangements in place for many special cases f repeat visits like that.
I don't mind lobbing a few quid in a machine once or twice a year taking my accident prone children to A&E. If this is Labour's big policy they are scraping the barrel a bit!
My concern is not that they are scraping the barrel but that they can't see the flaw in their plan.... Its a perfect example of a good idea on paper, utterly insane in practice...
You think that the technical and logisitical challenge of providing free car parking to visitors and patients at a hospital is beyond humanity?
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?
Nothing is free in life. Someone else will always have to pick up the tab or less money for the NHS. I'd guess in some places many of those free spaces will end up being taken by local shoppers and office workers.
I also think parking in town centres should be free, would help save the High St
It would, but then we would have higher business rates (and council tax).
@amolrajanBBC: 1/ BBC announces its plans for leaders debates. 2 Question Times with Dimbleby, 1st May vs Corbyn, 2nd Farron vs Sturgeon - no shared stage
@amolrajanBBC: 2/ Separately there will a live BBC Election Debate, hosted by @MishalHusainBBC, with 7 parties represented, but no May or Corbyn
Farron vs Sturgeon....That'll really pull the punters in.
May and Corbyn is Friday night. Pub profits will rocket in June.
My concern is not that they are scraping the barrel but that they can't see the flaw in their plan.... Its a perfect example of a good idea on paper, utterly insane in practice...
Parking is a problem across the board, not just for hospitals; we have a hell of a lot of cars, people use them more than is ideal, and there is no easy solution to the problem. It's the sort of thing that politicians should leave to local government and individual institutions to do what is best for their circumstances.
So today we have Labour with a stupid policy on hospital parking, and the Tories look like they are about to repeat the same stupid mistake on immigration targets. Come on Lib Dems, it's your turn for announcing some fatuous policy that a school child can pick holes in.
What a strange world politicos inhabit, an election overseas that will have zero impact on anybody's life in the UK is celebrated like a lottery win.
On that note it seems I'm the only person on here that doesn't make money betting on politics. I guess I don't lose any either.
I do think it would help 1 or 2 on here to leave the laptop for an hour or so and engage with other people.
Please bear in mind that this is intended first and foremost to be a political betting site .... the clue's in the name. Should this activity concern you then perhaps you should look elsewhere.
I've always been puzzled by the people on here who proudly proclaim they don't bet, but to actively sneer at the people who bet on politics on a political Betting website is a whole new frontier of strange.
LBC airing the recording of Vincent Cable re Lib Dems suggesting supporting some Labour candidates. Where is his common sense. That should ensure he is not elected at Twickenham and serve him right. Farron must be pulling his hair out, no wonder he stumbled on the bus this morning!. What an accident prone campaign they are conducting. They probably have the best overall policies but their manner of performance resembles the kindergarden. Heaven help their spokesperson in any debate. Will Cable's ego allow him to withdraw the comment?
@RobbieGibb: The Andrew Neil Interviews - Theresa May 22nd, Paul Nuttall 23rd, Tim Farron 24th, Nicola Sturgeon 25th, Jeremy Corbyn 26th - BBC One, 7pm
Will be interesting to see who represents Con and Lab in BBC debate.
BBC report says it will include Con and Lab though not May or Corbyn.
Con presumably Hammond, Johnson, Rudd or Fallon?
Will Lab go for McDonnell?
Safe pair of hands needed for Labour, so it has to be Abbott.
No, McDonnell is probably the best call for them. Tories should go for Fallon - not hugely likable, but tough and won't do anything silly. Angela Rudd is a bit untested, Johnson will say something off-script, and I can't see it being Hammond's format.
My concern is not that they are scraping the barrel but that they can't see the flaw in their plan.... Its a perfect example of a good idea on paper, utterly insane in practice...
Parking is a problem across the board, not just for hospitals; we have a hell of a lot of cars, people use them more than is ideal, and there is no easy solution to the problem. It's the sort of thing that politicians should leave to local government and individual institutions to do what is best for their circumstances.
So today we have Labour with a stupid policy on hospital parking, and the Tories look like they are about to repeat the same stupid mistake on immigration targets. Come on Lib Dems, it's your turn for announcing some fatuous policy that a school child can pick holes in.
The immigration targets are required for the core Brexit voter.... Anyone with half a brain knows they'll never be hit but hey.....
@AndrewCooper__: Scottish local election results: Lab -11%, Con +12%. @ScotTories on course to beat Labour in GE votes & seats for the first time since 1955 pic.twitter.com/C2KMl63vvJ
Will be interesting to see who represents Con and Lab in BBC debate.
BBC report says it will include Con and Lab though not May or Corbyn.
Con presumably Hammond, Johnson, Rudd or Fallon?
Will Lab go for McDonnell?
Safe pair of hands needed for Labour, so it has to be Abbott.
No, McDonnell is probably the best call for them. Tories should go for Fallon - not hugely likable, but tough and won't do anything silly. Angela Rudd is a bit untested, Johnson will say something off-script, and I can't see it being Hammond's format.
US media on the beginning of the banking exodus, and this is before the EU applies the thumbscrews. The FT reported over the weekend that Wall Street had not factored in the politics of Brexit in previous assessments that not much would change.
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?
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?
Yes
Doubt the blues will be over 50% when NI is factored in, but its certainly not outside the range of possible outcomes.
Will be interesting to see who represents Con and Lab in BBC debate.
BBC report says it will include Con and Lab though not May or Corbyn.
Con presumably Hammond, Johnson, Rudd or Fallon?
Will Lab go for McDonnell?
Safe pair of hands needed for Labour, so it has to be Abbott.
No, McDonnell is probably the best call for them. Tories should go for Fallon - not hugely likable, but tough and won't do anything silly. Angela Rudd is a bit untested, Johnson will say something off-script, and I can't see it being Hammond's format.
Party Chair?
Maybe. I'm not sure McLoughlin is really good enough, though. If I were May, I'd trust Fallon to close it down with no big surprises and no real interest from the public. Ditto, Corbyn has to go for a loyalist who's a competent media performer, and that's only McDonnell in all honesty.
Early SNP policy to make it free. There were issues with PFI funded hospitals as these had the parking revenue streams baked into the contracts. Including, very controversially, parking charges for staff. If you come on or off shift in the night in a middle of nowhere place where hospitals get built these days, public transport isn't an option.
Will be interesting to see who represents Con and Lab in BBC debate.
BBC report says it will include Con and Lab though not May or Corbyn.
Con presumably Hammond, Johnson, Rudd or Fallon?
Will Lab go for McDonnell?
Safe pair of hands needed for Labour, so it has to be Abbott.
No, McDonnell is probably the best call for them. Tories should go for Fallon - not hugely likable, but tough and won't do anything silly. Angela Rudd is a bit untested, Johnson will say something off-script, and I can't see it being Hammond's format.
Party Chair?
Maybe. I'm not sure McLoughlin is really good enough, though. If I were May, I'd trust Fallon to close it down with no big surprises and no real interest from the public. Ditto, Corbyn has to go for a loyalist who's a competent media performer, and that's only McDonnell in all honesty.
What about Rebecca what's it? As she is cult-leader-in-waiting.
Will be interesting to see who represents Con and Lab in BBC debate.
BBC report says it will include Con and Lab though not May or Corbyn.
Con presumably Hammond, Johnson, Rudd or Fallon?
Will Lab go for McDonnell?
Safe pair of hands needed for Labour, so it has to be Abbott.
No, McDonnell is probably the best call for them. Tories should go for Fallon - not hugely likable, but tough and won't do anything silly. Angela Rudd is a bit untested, Johnson will say something off-script, and I can't see it being Hammond's format.
Party Chair?
Maybe. I'm not sure McLoughlin is really good enough, though. If I were May, I'd trust Fallon to close it down with no big surprises and no real interest from the public. Ditto, Corbyn has to go for a loyalist who's a competent media performer, and that's only McDonnell in all honesty.
McLoughlin probably appeals to precisely the demographic the Tories need for maximum Labour damage this election.
France could be about to relive the Thatcher era: strikes and battles with the unions set against a booming city, a revitalised economy and a renewed sense of national vigour.
he will crumble at the first signs of unrest, just like all the others.
Mr. P, it is quite remarkable how May's opponents have contrived to shoot themselves in the foot, groin and various other anatomical areas.
Masterly inactivity is typically used in a sarcastic way, but, frankly, if your adversaries are committed to self-immolation, it's a perfectly valid strategy to go on a hill walk and return home to find you've won a glorious victory.
France could be about to relive the Thatcher era: strikes and battles with the unions set against a booming city, a revitalised economy and a renewed sense of national vigour.
he will crumble at the first signs of unrest, just like all the others.
All these predictions of failure for Macron remind me of the incredible sulk himself, Ted Heath. It's ironic.
Will be interesting to see who represents Con and Lab in BBC debate.
BBC report says it will include Con and Lab though not May or Corbyn.
Con presumably Hammond, Johnson, Rudd or Fallon?
Will Lab go for McDonnell?
Safe pair of hands needed for Labour, so it has to be Abbott.
No, McDonnell is probably the best call for them. Tories should go for Fallon - not hugely likable, but tough and won't do anything silly. Angela Rudd is a bit untested, Johnson will say something off-script, and I can't see it being Hammond's format.
Party Chair?
Maybe. I'm not sure McLoughlin is really good enough, though. If I were May, I'd trust Fallon to close it down with no big surprises and no real interest from the public. Ditto, Corbyn has to go for a loyalist who's a competent media performer, and that's only McDonnell in all honesty.
McLoughlin probably appeals to precisely the demographic the Tories need for maximum Labour damage this election.
I see Sir Vince Cable and Sarah Olney have done a huge favour for Theresa May and Zac Goldsmith.
And Joy Morrissey.
I actually know the LD candidate in Ealing C & Acton a little IRL. Waiting for a response on Facebook as to whether he knew his party think of him as a "paper candidate"...
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.
All the best for your recovery Cycle
Hi tyson.
I read your post the other day and the best of luck in your new home in Norwich. I remember you saying it was a Tory free zone some time ago when such places existed. I hope you don't find it too much of a culture shift to bridge the divide between Renaissance Florence and Brexity Britain.
Has Prime Minister ever been so lucky in her opponents? Its like they are all taking turns to take pot shots at their own feet. Lynton Crosby can predict my lottery numbers this week for all the luck he is having.
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, ,
Two last points on this subject from me: Payment for services in the NHS is already fairly arbitrary. I don't pay for prescription charges due to a medical condition that has not resulted in one prescription from a non-hospital pharmacy since I was diagnosed with it. I'm not complaining as it saves me about £100 a year for a different condition. The NHS is free at the point of use as long as it is not your teeth or eyes that have a problem or anything that requires drugs (unless you are in hospital, in which case they are free).
The second point is why are we taking this seriously? Do we really expect the proposal to be enacted by a Labour government any time soon?
I see Sir Vince Cable and Sarah Olney have done a huge favour for Theresa May and Zac Goldsmith.
I hope Dr Tania wins. I think Zac is a total cock, mind. So I'm not sure what I want to happen in Richmond Park.
I agree with both of those.
I can't stand Cable, and seeing him ousted by the fragrant Dr Mathias was my personal Portillo moment of 2015.
I just think you may be being over generous to Goldsmith. Then again Olney is an idiot. If I could afford to live in Richmond Park it would be a tough call.
Comments
Nicola Sturgeon has also started to really annoy non-Nationalists. You have to visit Scotland to get the full sense of the backlash, after years in which people kept their voices down for fear of social retribution. The initial Sturgeon promise of reaching out has been replaced by increasingly intemperate strutting about and a refusal to even acknowledge, with a dash of humility, that not everything is wonderful in the SNP garden. Sturgeon said any talk of a “backlash” against her is “ludicrous”. She’s gradually going the full Thatcher.
The Sturgeon hegemony is built on the idea that the journey is almost over. The SNP is almost at its destination, with just a few more touches on the accelerator needed. Now, the SNP juggernaught is stalling and potentially Ruth Davidson is about to start pushing it back down the hill. If the Unionist parties force the Nationalist vote share down and the SNP falls anywhere below 50 seats they will very obviously and publicly have begun to go backwards.
This all runs counter to the Nationalist narrative of destiny and imminent success on the constitution. The events of the last three or so years were supposed to be the prelude to independence becoming inevitable. Right now it just isn’t working out the way they intended, which is hilarious.
https://reaction.life/snp-nicola-sturgeon-cant-process-thought-theyve-stalled-slide/
I'd love the idea of free parking at hospitals, but the reality doesn't match up.
Anyway politicians and civil servants are paid fortunes, they should be able to work out a way to stop private firms making money out of people who are ill and those visiting such relatives
2. When hospital patients arrive at the registration desk, a member of staff puts their ticket in a validation machine so they don't have to pay for parking. These machines aren't very expensive and lots of establishments use them already.
3. Use validated ticket at barrier when exiting.
I'm not sure whether this privilege should extend to hospital visitors because free parking will encourage people to drive to hospitals, and there really aren't enough parking spaces to cope.
@amolrajanBBC: 2/ Separately there will a live BBC Election Debate, hosted by @MishalHusainBBC, with 7 parties represented, but no May or Corbyn
owever, is there a downside to this popular policy? Residents near Edinburgh's Western General are certainly unhappy.
Since charges were abolished at the hospital, the car park has been constantly full and staff have resorted to parking in nearby residential streets.
By prioritising car drivers, Corbyn has apparently managed to piss off the bicycling wing of the loony left with this announcement...
Oh wow it has been some years since I heard anyone seriously say we should have joined the Euro! How entertainingly bonkers.
Nurse!
Should I be worried..?
Amazingly high volume of comments on what sounds like a tiny issue to me. People paying car park charges for visiting town centres, museums, sporting stadia, you name it is normal and accepted. For one-off visits I really don't think people mind
I understand the case for people who are on weekly chemo or whatever, but there are arrangements in place for many special cases f repeat visits like that.
I don't mind lobbing a few quid in a machine once or twice a year taking my accident prone children to A&E. If this is Labour's big policy they are scraping the barrel a bit!
It's an omen...
BBC report says it will include Con and Lab though not May or Corbyn.
Con presumably Hammond, Johnson, Rudd or Fallon?
Will Lab go for McDonnell?
I already check in to my hospital by showing a barcode to a machine, though there is the option of talking to a real live receptionist. So all that is needed is to teach the machine or person to say "hello Mr Z, please take a seat and here is your token" rather than "hello Mr Z, please take a seat". Job done. My oncology dept already does this (via the human receptionist); it works flawlessly. Alternatively work it like airport carparks so a camera recognises a numberplate on the way in.
https://twitter.com/singharj/status/861526255799345152
Independence Dayfinal date of leaving the EU have been picking a variety cities - basically anywhere but Paris!So today we have Labour with a stupid policy on hospital parking, and the Tories look like they are about to repeat the same stupid mistake on immigration targets. Come on Lib Dems, it's your turn for announcing some fatuous policy that a school child can pick holes in.
But the true genius of the plan is now apparent
@OliverCooper: Vince Cable and Sarah Olney recorded plotting for the Lib Dems to help Jeremy Corbyn into power. order-order.com/2017/05/08/cab…
Labour and Lib Dems are guaranteed a minimum of one huge cock-up, every day of the campaign.
All the Tories have to do is sit back and wait for it.
Heaven help their spokesperson in any debate.
Will Cable's ego allow him to withdraw the comment?
No, McDonnell is probably the best call for them. Tories should go for Fallon - not hugely likable, but tough and won't do anything silly. Angela Rudd is a bit untested, Johnson will say something off-script, and I can't see it being Hammond's format.
https://twitter.com/jennablan/status/861542254598598656
https://twitter.com/reasonablyright/status/861480499256205312
@tamcohen: Labour source says hospitals which contract parking to private companies could honour those contracts and renew them...so not universal
Let's have that second indy Ref then Nicola!!HAhahahahahah
Masterly inactivity is typically used in a sarcastic way, but, frankly, if your adversaries are committed to self-immolation, it's a perfectly valid strategy to go on a hill walk and return home to find you've won a glorious victory.
Of course there's Shami - but I guess as a Lord, not suitable.
I actually know the LD candidate in Ealing C & Acton a little IRL. Waiting for a response on Facebook as to whether he knew his party think of him as a "paper candidate"...
Differential turnout to the max.
Hope it's Long-Bailey in the BBC debate.
I read your post the other day and the best of luck in your new home in Norwich. I remember you saying it was a Tory free zone some time ago when such places existed. I hope you don't find it too much of a culture shift to bridge the divide between Renaissance Florence and Brexity Britain.
2017 figures (diff from 2012)
SNP 32.30 (-0.03)
Lab 20.16 (-11.23)
Cons 25.30 (+12.03)
LD 6.82 (+0.2)
Green 4.11 (+1.8)
Indep 10.56 (-1.22)
Payment for services in the NHS is already fairly arbitrary. I don't pay for prescription charges due to a medical condition that has not resulted in one prescription from a non-hospital pharmacy since I was diagnosed with it. I'm not complaining as it saves me about £100 a year for a different condition. The NHS is free at the point of use as long as it is not your teeth or eyes that have a problem or anything that requires drugs (unless you are in hospital, in which case they are free).
The second point is why are we taking this seriously? Do we really expect the proposal to be enacted by a Labour government any time soon?
''Zac Goldsmith is complete bellend, dear acting returning officer this is NOT a clear preference for Zac Goldsmith"
I can't stand Cable, and seeing him ousted by the fragrant Dr Mathias was my personal Portillo moment of 2015.
I just think you may be being over generous to Goldsmith. Then again Olney is an idiot. If I could afford to live in Richmond Park it would be a tough call.
France: so useless with their own industries, they try to steal other country's?