Mr. Bond, not directly, but if you know something he's reviewed you can find that review then click on his name and you'll be able to read all his other reviews that way.
Re amazon reviews is there a way to search for a particular reviewer? There was a bloke calling himself Henry Raddick years ago who used to be very funny.
His review of a book about how to diagnose faecal incontinence observed that "it's not a difficult clinical call to make".
Re amazon reviews is there a way to search for a particular reviewer? There was a bloke calling himself Henry Raddick years ago who used to be very funny.
His review of a book about how to diagnose faecal incontinence observed that "it's not a difficult clinical call to make".
If '1984' or 'The Trial' had been a children's book, Mr Messy would be it. No literary character has ever been so fully and categorically obliterated by the forces of social control. Hargreaves may well pay homage to Kafka and Orwell in this work, but he also goes beyond them.
We meet Mr Messy - a man whose entire day-to-day existence is the undiluted expression of his individuality. His very untidiness is a metaphor for his blissful and unselfconscious disregard for the Social Order. Yes, there are times when he himself is a victim of this individuality - as when he trips over a brush he has left on his garden path - but he goes through life with a smile on his face.
That is, until a chance meeting with Mr Neat and Mr Tidy - the archetypal men in suits. They set about a merciless programme of social engineering and indoctrination that we are left in no doubt is in flagrant violation of his free will. 'But I like being messy' he protests as they anonymize both his home and his person with their relentless cleaning activity, a symbolism thinly veiled.
This process is so thorough that by the end of it he is unrecognizable - a homogenized pink blob, no longer truly himself (that vibrant Pollock-like scribble of before). He smiles the smile of a brainwashed automaton, blandly accepting what he has been given no agency to question or refuse. It is in this very smile that the sheer horror of what we have seen to occur is at its most acute.
Somewhere behind this blank expression though is a latent anger - a trace of self-knowledge as to what he once was - in the barbed observation he makes to Neat and Tidy that they have even deprived him of his name.
The book ends with a dry reminder from Hargreaves that just as with the secret police in some totalitarian regime, our own small expressions of uniqueness and volition may also result in a visit from these sinister suited agents.
Funnily enough re the bloke who reviews Mr. Men books - I noticed when reading them to my little 'uns that at least two use the plot of A Clockwork Orange.
I am not sure what that says about Anthony Burgess.
Jacqui Smith @smithjj62 2h “@BBCr4today: Pandas have sex three times a year and can "barely reproduce" @isabelhilton tells #r4today”>>obviously married
Jacqui Smith @smithjj62 2h “@BBCr4today: Pandas have sex three times a year and can "barely reproduce" @isabelhilton tells #r4today”>>obviously married
Well at least her husband has those videos to fall back on...
Jacqui Smith @smithjj62 2h “@BBCr4today: Pandas have sex three times a year and can "barely reproduce" @isabelhilton tells #r4today”>>obviously married
Jacqui Smith @smithjj62 2h “@BBCr4today: Pandas have sex three times a year and can "barely reproduce" @isabelhilton tells #r4today”>>obviously married
Has she checked what the Male panda's watching on subscription with the zoo's money?
Jacqui Smith @smithjj62 2h “@BBCr4today: Pandas have sex three times a year and can "barely reproduce" @isabelhilton tells #r4today”>>obviously married
Well at least her husband has those videos to fall back on...
Has anyone checked to see whether Carola is OK after fitalass' vicious misogynistic attacks? Just because she doesn't whine and has an IQ of above room temperature doesn't mean we should ignore the misogynist attacks on her.
Has anyone checked to see whether Carola is OK after fitalass' vicious misogynistic attacks? Just because she doesn't whine and has an IQ of above room temperature doesn't mean we should ignore the misogynist attacks on her.
Indeed - pb.com needs "fairness hardwired in".
I read on twitter that she pays Mike to ban people, so she should be OK
Perhaps a judge-led inquiry is more appropriate then ?
Taffys - - you need to click here - as does tim - just to see the worst pic of Schnapps ever.
I've been reading Hunter S Thompson's account of the 1972 presidential election. Although its a different time and place, the principles behind getting your guy elected are probably the same.
You need boots on the ground - and plenty of them. The placarding/leaflets/doorknocking etc.etc.etc. may seem prosaic, but are vital.
Has anyone checked to see whether Carola is OK after fitalass' vicious misogynistic attacks? Just because she doesn't whine and has an IQ of above room temperature doesn't mean we should ignore the misogynist attacks on her.
I'll assume you're being ironic tim I can fight my own battles. (Well, 'battles' is maybe too strong a word).
Not much worth commenting on - or trying to enter a discussion on, much more to the point - on here atm.
Has anyone checked to see whether Carola is OK after fitalass' vicious misogynistic attacks? Just because she doesn't whine and has an IQ of above room temperature doesn't mean we should ignore the misogynist attacks on her.
I'll assume you're being ironic tim I can fight my own battles. (Well, 'battles' is maybe too strong a word).
Not much worth commenting on - or trying to enter a discussion on, much more to the point - on here atm.
No, not the trade figures. This one is mortgage approvals.
The BoE have been concerned at a slowing in the rate of mortgage approvals in June and wondered whether it may indicate that the Spring release of pent-up housing sales might be coming to an end. More nervous questioning than real doubt, but Carney will be pleased that at least one of his "unknowns" has become clear.
Here is the doubt [BoE Aug 2013 Inflation Report]:
Mortgage approvals for house purchase have been rising gradually. Approvals have been slightly slower to pick up than expected earlier in the year. To some extent, this may have reflected processing delays, consistent with reports from some contacts of the Bank’s Agents of a slowing in the mortgage approval process.
And here is today's announcement :
U.K. mortgage approvals climbed 21 percent in July from a year earlier as bank lending to homebuyers with smaller deposits soared, e.surv Ltd. said.
The total of 56,475 was the most for July since 2007, the unit of London-based LSL Property Services Plc (LSL) said in a report today. Loans to buyers with a deposit of 15 percent or less, known as high loan-to-value borrowers, increased 56 percent to 6,946.
Eased LTV requirements? Increased mortgage numbers? Now some will say that this is evidence of a bubble blown purely for the benefit of London fops!
Not so.
Most high loan-to-value lending took place in the north of England. About 24 percent of the total went to borrowers in the northeast and Cumbria with 23 percent granted in the northwest and 20 percent in Yorkshire.
“The north-south divide is finally narrowing,” Richard Sexton [Chartered Surveyor & Director of e.surv] said. “It’s getting easier for first-time buyers nationwide to access the mortgages available to them, as banks extend more lending to high LTV borrowers across the country.”
St. George, patron saint of England and healer of ancient regional enmities. Who would have thought it?
All goods points but I don;t think Dave's strained relationship with the rank and file helps at all.
I've never thought of the cabinet as the upper class fops tim likes to paint them, but I also think Cameron should be promoting a few more self made people from ordinary backgrounds to important posts.
There is a sense he doesn't trust non-public school people with responsibility and that has gone down with the membership like a cup of cold sick.
Good enough for Afghanistan and the doorstep - but not for government.
I think there's a lot of hoodwink policy going on - policies to 'tackle' target groups rather than improve the general lot for the majority. Maybe it's just the easiest option, I don't know.
No, not the trade figures. This one is mortgage approvals.
The BoE have been concerned at a slowing in the rate of mortgage approvals in June and wondered whether it may indicate that the Spring release of pent-up housing sales might be coming to an end. More nervous questioning than real doubt, but Carney will be pleased that at least one of his "unknowns" has become clear.
Here is the doubt [BoE Aug 2013 Inflation Report]:
Mortgage approvals for house purchase have been rising gradually. Approvals have been slightly slower to pick up than expected earlier in the year. To some extent, this may have reflected processing delays, consistent with reports from some contacts of the Bank’s Agents of a slowing in the mortgage approval process.
And here is today's announcement :
U.K. mortgage approvals climbed 21 percent in July from a year earlier as bank lending to homebuyers with smaller deposits soared, e.surv Ltd. said.
The total of 56,475 was the most for July since 2007, the unit of London-based LSL Property Services Plc (LSL) said in a report today. Loans to buyers with a deposit of 15 percent or less, known as high loan-to-value borrowers, increased 56 percent to 6,946.
Eased LTV requirements? Increased mortgage numbers? Now some will say that this is evidence of a bubble blown purely for the benefit of London fops!
Not so.
Most high loan-to-value lending took place in the north of England. About 24 percent of the total went to borrowers in the northeast and Cumbria with 23 percent granted in the northwest and 20 percent in Yorkshire.
“The north-south divide is finally narrowing,” Richard Sexton [Chartered Surveyor & Director of e.surv] said. “It’s getting easier for first-time buyers nationwide to access the mortgages available to them, as banks extend more lending to high LTV borrowers across the country.”
St. George, patron saint of England and healer of ancient regional enmities. Who would have thought it?
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
"UPDATE. A Labor election campaign spokeswoman says that “the ALP is not paying for” Watson’s visit, nor will Labor be paying Watson during his stay.
“We have not invited him,” the spokeswoman said. “We’re just being completely neutral."
Is he turning up with a fishing rod, some chicken and some lager?
Now's a good time to be out of the country. There a £72million white elephant from the Labour days plonked on his doorstep in the form of an art Gallery called The Public. Hardly anyone visits it and it costs £1.6 million to run. Labour are now falling out over whose idea it was.
A total waste of £72 million tim could have had 720 houses for that.
"UPDATE. A Labor election campaign spokeswoman says that “the ALP is not paying for” Watson’s visit, nor will Labor be paying Watson during his stay.
“We have not invited him,” the spokeswoman said. “We’re just being completely neutral."
Is he turning up with a fishing rod, some chicken and some lager?
Now's a good time to be out of the country. There a £72million white elephant from the Labour days plonked on his doorstep in the form of an art Gallery called The Public. Hardly anyone visits it and it costs £1.6 million to run. Labour are now falling out over whose idea it was.
A total waste of £72 million tim could have had 720 houses for that.
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
Has anyone checked to see whether Carola is OK after fitalass' vicious misogynistic attacks? Just because she doesn't whine and has an IQ of above room temperature doesn't mean we should ignore the misogynist attacks on her.
Indeed - pb.com needs "fairness hardwired in".
Fitalass is currently working on attaching her next link. Apparently, the British PM, the US President, and Russia's supremo met at Yalta !!
"UPDATE. A Labor election campaign spokeswoman says that “the ALP is not paying for” Watson’s visit, nor will Labor be paying Watson during his stay.
“We have not invited him,” the spokeswoman said. “We’re just being completely neutral."
Is he turning up with a fishing rod, some chicken and some lager?
Now's a good time to be out of the country. There a £72million white elephant from the Labour days plonked on his doorstep in the form of an art Gallery called The Public. Hardly anyone visits it and it costs £1.6 million to run. Labour are now falling out over whose idea it was.
A total waste of £72 million tim could have had 720 houses for that.
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
So, in summary, you and Avery are saying, a credit fuelled housing boom is OK as long as the Tories do it. At least, the previous housing booms were not based on:
1. "Guaranteed" deposit scheme to anybody.
2. A QE injected low interest management. Remember, this is no longer, in the aftermath, of the world wide credit crunch.
I wonder what your reaction would have been if a Labour government had done this.
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
I rather suspect the housing scam has more to do with propping up banks balance sheets than any real concern for new housing.
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
So, in summary, you and Avery are saying, a credit fuelled housing boom is OK as long as the Tories do it. At least, the previous housing booms were not based on:
1. "Guaranteed" deposit scheme to anybody.
2. A QE injected low interest management. Remember, this is no longer, in the aftermath, of the world wide credit crunch.
I wonder what your reaction would have been if a Labour government had done this.
probably the opposite of yours. You'd be telling us Brown\Darling is a genius and Avery would have a sudden outbreak of fiscal responsibility.
"UPDATE. A Labor election campaign spokeswoman says that “the ALP is not paying for” Watson’s visit, nor will Labor be paying Watson during his stay.
“We have not invited him,” the spokeswoman said. “We’re just being completely neutral."
Is he turning up with a fishing rod, some chicken and some lager?
Now's a good time to be out of the country. There a £72million white elephant from the Labour days plonked on his doorstep in the form of an art Gallery called The Public. Hardly anyone visits it and it costs £1.6 million to run. Labour are now falling out over whose idea it was.
A total waste of £72 million tim could have had 720 houses for that.
Ah, labour... never ceasing to find new ways of pissing money up a wall...
It closes at the end of November and so far nobody's figured out what to do with it.
To be fair to Labour, it's a failing inherent in the national lottery and quite a lot of private philanthrophy as well. It's easy to raise money for an "iconic" new building and less easy to raise funds for ongoing costs. This is a particularly egregious case, but there are plenty of white elephants up and down the country.
Far better to take an old building and find a new use for it...
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
So, in summary, you and Avery are saying, a credit fuelled housing boom is OK as long as the Tories do it. At least, the previous housing booms were not based on:
1. "Guaranteed" deposit scheme to anybody.
2. A QE injected low interest management. Remember, this is no longer, in the aftermath, of the world wide credit crunch.
I wonder what your reaction would have been if a Labour government had done this.
What did you think about Carney's comments on the housing boom?
Richard Nabavi - the point surely is that as a country we should have learnt our lesson by now. Credit fuelled house price booms are nothing butt he road to perdition and doom. It's perfectly obvious that Cameron and Osborne (Clegg?) just expected the economy to recover, rebalance towards exports, savings and investment and away from consumption. Why they thought this would spontaneously occur, only they can answer. It didn't happen, so now we're back on the housing boom wagon.
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
So, in summary, you and Avery are saying, a credit fuelled housing boom is OK as long as the Tories do it. At least, the previous housing booms were not based on:
1. "Guaranteed" deposit scheme to anybody.
2. A QE injected low interest management. Remember, this is no longer, in the aftermath, of the world wide credit crunch.
I wonder what your reaction would have been if a Labour government had done this.
What did you think about Carney's comments on the housing boom?
Well, Mark Carney doesn't have to worry about savings, given he's on 870K a year!
Richard Nabavi - the point surely is that as a country we should have learnt our lesson by now. Credit fuelled house price booms are nothing butt he road to perdition and doom. It's perfectly obvious that Cameron and Osborne (Clegg?) just expected the economy to recover, rebalance towards exports, savings and investment and away from consumption. Why they thought this would spontaneously occur, only they can answer. It didn't happen, so now we're back on the housing boom wagon.
To rebalance faster would need a much harder realignment from public spending to private growth.
Trying doing that, and everyone complains about the "cuts".
Those genuinely* worried about a housing boom should consider
a) The average size of deposits b) The number of transactions c) The total amount of household debt d) The terms of the mortgage - who is being loaned to - NINJAs ?
Coming off a total collapse it is hardly surprising that prices and numbers of transactions is finally increasing in % terms - are we returning to the days of 125% mortgages and mortgages for the unemployed ?
The labour charge is the tories are engineering a cynical property boom ahead of the election.
But the charge only stands up if prices are going up in the regions that will swing the election - the midlands, the south west and the North west.
Trouble is, as the recent land registry data shows, prices aren't rising in these areas - they are only really rising in places where the tories are already piling up votes.
Richard Nabavi - the point surely is that as a country we should have learnt our lesson by now. Credit fuelled house price booms are nothing butt he road to perdition and doom. It's perfectly obvious that Cameron and Osborne (Clegg?) just expected the economy to recover, rebalance towards exports, savings and investment and away from consumption. Why they thought this would spontaneously occur, only they can answer. It didn't happen, so now we're back on the housing boom wagon.
Except we're not.
Why do people keep saying this when the figures show completely unambiguously that prices (outside London, which is a special case) remain quite depressed and transaction volumes still remain low?
No, not the trade figures. This one is mortgage approvals.
...
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
Now, now, Surby, don't you go all PC Burly on me.
I realise you are one of a very rare breed, a Labourite living South of Watford Gap, but there is no need to flash your green eyes in monster like fashion just because Boy George is distributing his largesse across the desolate North.
Facts is facts, and opinions is opinions. What I announced was facts.
And a few further facts to help you put it all in context.
There is no housing boom. Mortgage approvals and sales of private sector dwellings are still only running at 60% of pre-crisis levels.
What is happening is a stabilising of housing market activity and pricing after a long period of real (and nominal!) terms decline. Sales volumes and house prices across the country are increasing but remain well below the levels reached during the Brown boom. And the benefit is now being spread evenly across the country rather than being visible only in London and the South East..
You may have noted yesterday from the BoE Inflation Report, that investment in private sector dwellings accounts for 3% of GDP but the falls in values following the Brown bubble bursting dragged the whole economy down by 15%.
Partially reversing these falls may not generate 15% of recovery growth but it will have a multiplier effect. This is one of the main reasons that the government decided to provide stimulus to the housing and mortgage lending markets.
The stimulus is working, even though, by itself, it is probably not the main driver of the housing market and more general economic recovery.
Everything may not be smelling of roses, but the buds are firm and full of fragrant promise.
As the Blessed and late departed Margaret would say: "Rejoice at that news", even though that might be difficult if you live in Surbiton.
Is there any real evidence of a boom or bubble in house prices anywhere outside of London as all the data I've seen, seems to show house prices flat or falling outside of SE England?
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
Is there any real evidence of a boom or bubble in house prices anywhere outside of London as all the data I've seen, seems to show house prices flat or falling outside of SE England?
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
That graph is a keeper for the bubblistas - "boom headshot" as the kids say.
"UPDATE. A Labor election campaign spokeswoman says that “the ALP is not paying for” Watson’s visit, nor will Labor be paying Watson during his stay.
“We have not invited him,” the spokeswoman said. “We’re just being completely neutral."
Is he turning up with a fishing rod, some chicken and some lager?
Now's a good time to be out of the country. There a £72million white elephant from the Labour days plonked on his doorstep in the form of an art Gallery called The Public. Hardly anyone visits it and it costs £1.6 million to run. Labour are now falling out over whose idea it was.
A total waste of £72 million tim could have had 720 houses for that.
Ah, labour... never ceasing to find new ways of pissing money up a wall...
It closes at the end of November and so far nobody's figured out what to do with it.
To be fair to Labour, it's a failing inherent in the national lottery and quite a lot of private philanthrophy as well. It's easy to raise money for an "iconic" new building and less easy to raise funds for ongoing costs. This is a particularly egregious case, but there are plenty of white elephants up and down the country.
Far better to take an old building and find a new use for it...
Charles in this instance it was just a plain stupid idea. No disrepect to Sandwell but it's not the kind of place to stick an Art Gallery. An industrial museum (it's got one ) a centre for spingmaking or forging certainly, but modern art I'm afraid not. It's half an hour from me and I've never been, I might just try before November as I've already been mugged for £2 to build the darn thing, but who knows an exhibition consisting of 3D dogs made from hats found in the West Midlands, doesn't set the pulse racing.
4 days after the launch of Labour's massive fight back with the "zero hours contracts that Labour employers also use attack", The polls record the following changes since the 1st August sampled polls. Populus Lab lead has gone from 11 to 4. Yougov Lab lead has gone from 6 to 4.
The Labour posters seem happy with that and so am I. Well done, if you see EdM in France please tell him how well he is doing. http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/
Is there any real evidence of a boom or bubble in house prices anywhere outside of London as all the data I've seen, seems to show house prices flat or falling outside of SE England?
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
That graph is a keeper for the bubblistas - "boom headshot" as the kids say.
AveryLP and Financier, I do wonder when peer to peer lending will dominate the lending market and then the banks and BoE will be sidelined. 10 years or sooner? The "banks as main lenders model" looks to my eyes an archaic unit, same as printed newspapers.
No, not the trade figures. This one is mortgage approvals.
...
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
Now, now, Surby, don't you go all PC Burly on me.
As the Blessed and late departed Margaret would say: "Rejoice at that news", even though that might be difficult if you live in Surbiton.
Avery, personally I am probably one of the very few beneficiaries of the scheme, indirectly. If Zoopla is correct, the value of my abode is fast approaching seven figures. My other one, in West London, must be increasing similarly though probably a couple of hundred grand less. I am doing nicely, thanks !
Why couldn't the government guarantee "working capital" loans against a collateral, of course. ?The loans which a bank would not touch with a barge pole.
Banks can't always be criticised. They have given dubious loans in the past and were rightly criticised. Now we are blaming them for not lending to every Tom, Dick and Avery.
So, the governement can put its "guarantee" where its mouth is.
AveryLP and Financier, I do wonder when peer to peer lending will dominate the lending market and then the banks and BoE will be sidelined. 10 years or sooner? The "banks as main lenders model" looks to my eyes an archaic unit, same as printed newspapers.
Just need to break out for a bit, so only a quick fire shot back.
Mortgage lending by banks on UK residential housing stock amounts to some £2.2 trillion.
That is some capital for peer to peer lenders to accumulate!
The gist of it is more young people don't know what the devolution settlement should be, and support for independence among 18-35 years olds is "plummeting" from 20% in 1997 to 8% now.
Is there any real evidence of a boom or bubble in house prices anywhere outside of London as all the data I've seen, seems to show house prices flat or falling outside of SE England?
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
That graph is a keeper for the bubblistas - "boom headshot" as the kids say.
It shows prices from 2007 to the present, i.e. a period in what economists like to call "the past." It is a headshot for the vanishingly small minority of bubblistas who are claiming that Osborne has sent a cyberdyne systems terminator back to 2007 to inflate prices, but doesn't otherwise affect the argument all that much.
Is there any real evidence of a boom or bubble in house prices anywhere outside of London as all the data I've seen, seems to show house prices flat or falling outside of SE England?
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
That graph is a keeper for the bubblistas - "boom headshot" as the kids say.
The existence of that graph shuts down all silly bubble talk for ever.
London is crazy - nothing the CoTE can do to stop the madness there. The rest of the Uk plods on.
AveryLP and Financier, I do wonder when peer to peer lending will dominate the lending market and then the banks and BoE will be sidelined. 10 years or sooner? The "banks as main lenders model" looks to my eyes an archaic unit, same as printed newspapers.
Just need to break out for a bit, so only a quick fire shot back. Mortgage lending by banks on UK residential housing stock amounts to some £2.2 trillion. That is some capital for peer to peer lenders to accumulate!
1. House inflation is a BAD not a good thing. 2. Mark Carney's message to savers is: Drop Dead. Yet again, those who do the right thing are ignored and taken for mugs. No wonder so many people learn to do the wrong thing.
Actually you can get 5% for your savings IF you choose wisely from peer-to-peer but take care it is not backed by the Govt and you could lose all the capital invested. Interesting that even with Govt backing, banks offer such a poor deal for savers, is it the dead hand of the state?
Is there any real evidence of a boom or bubble in house prices anywhere outside of London as all the data I've seen, seems to show house prices flat or falling outside of SE England?
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
That graph is a keeper for the bubblistas - "boom headshot" as the kids say.
The existence of that graph shuts down all silly bubble talk for ever.
London is crazy - nothing the CoTE can do to stop the madness there. The rest of the Uk plods on.
Are you serious? Do you not live in a world where cause temporally precedes effect and where predictions (clue in the name) of the effects of the Chancellor's proposed (clue in the name) actions can only ever be tested by events which have not yet happened?
1. House inflation is a BAD not a good thing. 2. Mark Carney's message to savers is: Drop Dead. Yet again, those who do the right thing are ignored and taken for mugs. No wonder so many people learn to do the wrong thing.
Actually you can get 5% for your savings IF you choose wisely from peer-to-peer but take care it is not backed by the Govt and you could lose all the capital invested. Interesting that even with Govt backing, banks offer such a poor deal for savers, is it the dead hand of the state?
The BoE seems content to continue effectively stealing money from savers!
1. House inflation is a BAD not a good thing. 2. Mark Carney's message to savers is: Drop Dead. Yet again, those who do the right thing are ignored and taken for mugs. No wonder so many people learn to do the wrong thing.
Actually you can get 5% for your savings IF you choose wisely from peer-to-peer but take care it is not backed by the Govt and you could lose all the capital invested. Interesting that even with Govt backing, banks offer such a poor deal for savers, is it the dead hand of the state?
The BoE seems content to continue effectively stealing money from savers!
The government "steals" money from savers and workers all the time.
Inflation is another form of tax.
Borrowing is taxing future workers. PAYE is taxing current workers. Inflation is taxing previous workers.
1. House inflation is a BAD not a good thing. 2. Mark Carney's message to savers is: Drop Dead. Yet again, those who do the right thing are ignored and taken for mugs. No wonder so many people learn to do the wrong thing.
Actually you can get 5% for your savings IF you choose wisely from peer-to-peer but take care it is not backed by the Govt and you could lose all the capital invested. Interesting that even with Govt backing, banks offer such a poor deal for savers, is it the dead hand of the state?
The BoE seems content to continue effectively stealing money from savers!
The government "steals" money from savers and workers all the time.
Inflation is another form of tax.
Borrowing is taxing future workers. PAYE is taxing current workers. Inflation is taxing previous workers.
Well it's a double-whammy for me. I have enough in savings to not qualify for income-based JSA (and I presume other means-tested benefits), but I have crap interest rates on those savings! Grrr!
Yet again, those who do the right thing are ignored and taken for mugs. No wonder so many people learn to do the wrong thing.
Look at the graphs from JonathonD - outside London there is ferk all HP inflation.
Non nil nada zilch.
And that is what the position should be in London. Instead we have everyone moaning that outside London house prices aren't going up and those in London rubbing their hands in glee.
When energy prices go up this autumn will we have everyone congratulating this?
Is there any real evidence of a boom or bubble in house prices anywhere outside of London as all the data I've seen, seems to show house prices flat or falling outside of SE England?
So, a credit "guaranteed" fuelled housing scam [ sorry ! boom ]is working ? In the previous boom, at least they were not guaranteed. In your very partisan way [ unlike, Richard Nabavi, you don't even bother to pretend that you don't follow the maxim: anything done by a Tory government is good ] , so everything is smelling roses !
I'm not particularly happy with increasing house prices, but at least it's being done in moderation.
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
That graph is a keeper for the bubblistas - "boom headshot" as the kids say.
The existence of that graph shuts down all silly bubble talk for ever.
London is crazy - nothing the CoTE can do to stop the madness there. The rest of the Uk plods on.
Are you serious? Do you not live in a world where cause temporally precedes effect and where predictions (clue in the name) of the effects of the Chancellor's proposed (clue in the name) actions can only ever be tested by events which have not yet happened?
Should he ban foreign ownership of houses in London ? Double stamp duty inside the M25 ?
Home Office again another round of publicity for their campaign.
SkyNews - Probe Into Government's 'Go Home' Poster Van "The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is investigating the Home Office poster van campaign targeting illegal immigrants.
The ASA said it had received 60 complaints, which expressed concerns that the ads were "reminiscent of slogans used by racist groups to attack immigrants in the past".
The poster van carried the slogans: "In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest." A second line on the advert claimed: "106 arrested in your area". It then encouraged illegal immigrants to text "home" to the number 78070.
The campaign attracted widespread criticism, including censure from the Business Secretary Vince Cable, who called it "stupid and offensive".
However, Downing Street insisted that it was working and that immigrants were volunteering to leave, although the Home Office did not provide figures."
So, no housing boom No labour attack on Zero Hours No opposition front bench in the country. No comments on Gib from Edm, just the one from Hain. No rise, but a drop in the polls for Labour. No Election co-ordinator, he has gone down under, and they don't want him. Not a bad week si far.
Comments
If '1984' or 'The Trial' had been a children's book, Mr Messy would be it. No literary character has ever been so fully and categorically obliterated by the forces of social control. Hargreaves may well pay homage to Kafka and Orwell in this work, but he also goes beyond them.
We meet Mr Messy - a man whose entire day-to-day existence is the undiluted expression of his individuality. His very untidiness is a metaphor for his blissful and unselfconscious disregard for the Social Order. Yes, there are times when he himself is a victim of this individuality - as when he trips over a brush he has left on his garden path - but he goes through life with a smile on his face.
That is, until a chance meeting with Mr Neat and Mr Tidy - the archetypal men in suits. They set about a merciless programme of social engineering and indoctrination that we are left in no doubt is in flagrant violation of his free will. 'But I like being messy' he protests as they anonymize both his home and his person with their relentless cleaning activity, a symbolism thinly veiled.
This process is so thorough that by the end of it he is unrecognizable - a homogenized pink blob, no longer truly himself (that vibrant Pollock-like scribble of before). He smiles the smile of a brainwashed automaton, blandly accepting what he has been given no agency to question or refuse. It is in this very smile that the sheer horror of what we have seen to occur is at its most acute.
Somewhere behind this blank expression though is a latent anger - a trace of self-knowledge as to what he once was - in the barbed observation he makes to Neat and Tidy that they have even deprived him of his name.
The book ends with a dry reminder from Hargreaves that just as with the secret police in some totalitarian regime, our own small expressions of uniqueness and volition may also result in a visit from these sinister suited agents.
I am not sure what that says about Anthony Burgess.
http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/09/what-the-front-pages-of-newspapers-will-look-like-when-the-panda-baby-is-born-3917833/
The Metro have some very amusing reporters - no wonder its a hit.
Jacqui Smith @smithjj62 2h
“@BBCr4today: Pandas have sex three times a year and can "barely reproduce" @isabelhilton tells #r4today”>>obviously married
Jacqui Smith @smithjj62 2h
“@BBCr4today: Pandas have sex three times a year and can "barely reproduce" @isabelhilton tells #r4today”>>obviously married
Has she checked what the Male panda's watching on subscription with the zoo's money?
I only start to register a flicker of interest at the level of dukedom.
Why don;t you concentrate on the tory membership meltdown? that's the thing that concerns me as a pb tory most.
http://www.conservatives.com/Get_involved/Team2015.aspx
I've been reading Hunter S Thompson's account of the 1972 presidential election. Although its a different time and place, the principles behind getting your guy elected are probably the same.
You need boots on the ground - and plenty of them. The placarding/leaflets/doorknocking etc.etc.etc. may seem prosaic, but are vital.
The tories don;t have enough.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/douglascarswellmp/100229858/how-to-rebuild-the-conservative-party/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/info/343/greenwich_local_labour_and_business/822/current_gllab_job_opportunities
When living in a Labour borough, do as Labour do...
Not much worth commenting on - or trying to enter a discussion on, much more to the point - on here atm.
No, not the trade figures. This one is mortgage approvals.
The BoE have been concerned at a slowing in the rate of mortgage approvals in June and wondered whether it may indicate that the Spring release of pent-up housing sales might be coming to an end. More nervous questioning than real doubt, but Carney will be pleased that at least one of his "unknowns" has become clear.
Here is the doubt [BoE Aug 2013 Inflation Report]:
Mortgage approvals for house purchase have been rising gradually. Approvals have been slightly slower to pick up than expected earlier in the year. To some extent, this may have reflected processing delays, consistent with reports from some contacts of the Bank’s Agents of a slowing in the mortgage approval process.
And here is today's announcement :
U.K. mortgage approvals climbed 21 percent in July from a year earlier as bank lending to homebuyers with smaller deposits soared, e.surv Ltd. said.
The total of 56,475 was the most for July since 2007, the unit of London-based LSL Property Services Plc (LSL) said in a report today. Loans to buyers with a deposit of 15 percent or less, known as high loan-to-value borrowers, increased 56 percent to 6,946.
Eased LTV requirements? Increased mortgage numbers? Now some will say that this is evidence of a bubble blown purely for the benefit of London fops!
Not so.
Most high loan-to-value lending took place in the north of England. About 24 percent of the total went to borrowers in the northeast and Cumbria with 23 percent granted in the northwest and 20 percent in Yorkshire.
“The north-south divide is finally narrowing,” Richard Sexton [Chartered Surveyor & Director of e.surv] said. “It’s getting easier for first-time buyers nationwide to access the mortgages available to them, as banks extend more lending to high LTV borrowers across the country.”
St. George, patron saint of England and healer of ancient regional enmities. Who would have thought it?
All goods points but I don;t think Dave's strained relationship with the rank and file helps at all.
I've never thought of the cabinet as the upper class fops tim likes to paint them, but I also think Cameron should be promoting a few more self made people from ordinary backgrounds to important posts.
There is a sense he doesn't trust non-public school people with responsibility and that has gone down with the membership like a cup of cold sick.
Good enough for Afghanistan and the doorstep - but not for government.
It appears he was on a Zero Flowers contract!
I think there's a lot of hoodwink policy going on - policies to 'tackle' target groups rather than improve the general lot for the majority. Maybe it's just the easiest option, I don't know.
It appears he was on a Zero Flowers contract!
Replace 'gardener' for 'plumber' and 'flowers' with 'showers' ???
then replace 'plumber' with 'weatherman'
Three gags for the price of one
http://www.cardiff-airport.com/en/content/8/88/recruitment.html
Attack at Zero hours - repulsed at Zero Hour +1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:37038_at_Crewe_Works.jpg
Did you hear about the Superhero who took his creator to court?
It appears he was on a Zero Powers contract!
The marriage guidance councellor?
zero rowers....
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/kevin_457/#.UgR92CDotSs.twitter
"UPDATE. A Labor election campaign spokeswoman says that “the ALP is not paying for” Watson’s visit, nor will Labor be paying Watson during his stay.
“We have not invited him,” the spokeswoman said. “We’re just being completely neutral."
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/f1/drs-the-drag-reduction-system/
Apparently Lotus have been developing a double-DRS. Does this mean that they're fitting a go-faster wing on a locomotive, or onto a bowler?
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/nottingham/
Add another £100 million onto Network Rail's off-the-books debt.
Don't look at Guido's caption competition until your lunch is fully digested.
A total waste of £72 million tim could have had 720 houses for that.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-23604239
But the real question is: what is the alternative? Having been left in a precarious position by Labour, soft inflation for housing is least-worse option.
If the Tories pricked the housing bubble, Labour would spend the next 30 years screaming about how nasty the Tories were, causing all those repossessions.
1. "Guaranteed" deposit scheme to anybody.
2. A QE injected low interest management. Remember, this is no longer, in the aftermath, of the world wide credit crunch.
I wonder what your reaction would have been if a Labour government had done this.
Far better to take an old building and find a new use for it...
http://www.twotempleplace.org/
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/sep/02/economy.houseprices
http://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/mortgage-solutions/news/1597792/budget-2010-darling-increases-stamp-duty-threshold-gbp250
.. although admittedly making a bit of a hash of it:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/house-sales-start-falling-through-after-darling-warns-of-a-stamp-duty-holiday-6830549.html
I don't recall tim posting 24 hours a day about the madness of Darling's attempt to stoke a housing bubble, but that must be just my memory failing.
Trying doing that, and everyone complains about the "cuts".
a) The average size of deposits
b) The number of transactions
c) The total amount of household debt
d) The terms of the mortgage - who is being loaned to - NINJAs ?
Coming off a total collapse it is hardly surprising that prices and numbers of transactions is finally increasing in % terms - are we returning to the days of 125% mortgages and mortgages for the unemployed ?
*ie none of the lefties on here.
But the charge only stands up if prices are going up in the regions that will swing the election - the midlands, the south west and the North west.
Trouble is, as the recent land registry data shows, prices aren't rising in these areas - they are only really rising in places where the tories are already piling up votes.
Why do people keep saying this when the figures show completely unambiguously that prices (outside London, which is a special case) remain quite depressed and transaction volumes still remain low?
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/media/all-releases/press-releases/2013/market-trend-data-june-2013
If the bank of England wanted it could jack up interest rates to stem the flow of credit and crack the speculators.
But it isn't.
I realise you are one of a very rare breed, a Labourite living South of Watford Gap, but there is no need to flash your green eyes in monster like fashion just because Boy George is distributing his largesse across the desolate North.
Facts is facts, and opinions is opinions. What I announced was facts.
And a few further facts to help you put it all in context.
There is no housing boom. Mortgage approvals and sales of private sector dwellings are still only running at 60% of pre-crisis levels.
What is happening is a stabilising of housing market activity and pricing after a long period of real (and nominal!) terms decline. Sales volumes and house prices across the country are increasing but remain well below the levels reached during the Brown boom. And the benefit is now being spread evenly across the country rather than being visible only in London and the South East..
You may have noted yesterday from the BoE Inflation Report, that investment in private sector dwellings accounts for 3% of GDP but the falls in values following the Brown bubble bursting dragged the whole economy down by 15%.
Partially reversing these falls may not generate 15% of recovery growth but it will have a multiplier effect. This is one of the main reasons that the government decided to provide stimulus to the housing and mortgage lending markets.
The stimulus is working, even though, by itself, it is probably not the main driver of the housing market and more general economic recovery.
Everything may not be smelling of roses, but the buds are firm and full of fragrant promise.
As the Blessed and late departed Margaret would say: "Rejoice at that news", even though that might be difficult if you live in Surbiton.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BRFzTIsCEAA987l.jpg
http://www.thepublic.com/summer-exhibition
Populus Lab lead has gone from 11 to 4.
Yougov Lab lead has gone from 6 to 4.
The Labour posters seem happy with that and so am I. Well done, if you see EdM in France please tell him how well he is doing.
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tf78z-Sd3OI/UbSzQCX4KzI/AAAAAAAACI8/Y_i5-MnNQRU/s1600/130609-3.jpg
Why couldn't the government guarantee "working capital" loans against a collateral, of course. ?The loans which a bank would not touch with a barge pole.
Banks can't always be criticised. They have given dubious loans in the past and were rightly criticised. Now we are blaming them for not lending to every Tom, Dick and Avery.
So, the governement can put its "guarantee" where its mouth is.
Mortgage lending by banks on UK residential housing stock amounts to some £2.2 trillion.
That is some capital for peer to peer lenders to accumulate!
The gist of it is more young people don't know what the devolution settlement should be, and support for independence among 18-35 years olds is "plummeting" from 20% in 1997 to 8% now.
[edit - 2 y s in "Cyberdyne" apparently].
London is crazy - nothing the CoTE can do to stop the madness there. The rest of the Uk plods on.
2. Mark Carney's message to savers is: Drop Dead.
Yet again, those who do the right thing are ignored and taken for mugs. No wonder so many people learn to do the wrong thing.
Non nil nada zilch.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100021861/bank-chief-claims-peer-to-peer-lenders-could-replace-banks/
If deposits are moved elsewhere, banks cannot lend new money.
Inflation is another form of tax.
Borrowing is taxing future workers.
PAYE is taxing current workers.
Inflation is taxing previous workers.
When energy prices go up this autumn will we have everyone congratulating this?
Should he ban foreign ownership of houses in London ?
Double stamp duty inside the M25 ?
Suggestions welcome.
SkyNews - Probe Into Government's 'Go Home' Poster Van
"The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is investigating the Home Office poster van campaign targeting illegal immigrants.
The ASA said it had received 60 complaints, which expressed concerns that the ads were "reminiscent of slogans used by racist groups to attack immigrants in the past".
The poster van carried the slogans: "In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest." A second line on the advert claimed: "106 arrested in your area". It then encouraged illegal immigrants to text "home" to the number 78070.
The campaign attracted widespread criticism, including censure from the Business Secretary Vince Cable, who called it "stupid and offensive".
However, Downing Street insisted that it was working and that immigrants were volunteering to leave, although the Home Office did not provide figures."
No labour attack on Zero Hours
No opposition front bench in the country.
No comments on Gib from Edm, just the one from Hain.
No rise, but a drop in the polls for Labour.
No Election co-ordinator, he has gone down under, and they don't want him.
Not a bad week si far.