Just to fulfill my constitutional role of blaming Brexit for everything: Why is a Robot Tax to prop up wages worse than restricting immigration to do the same ? While labour is a social good it's an economic cost. We need to be brave and defend free markets. Creative destruction is very painful if you are on the receiving end of it. But if goods become more efficiently produced and cheaper consumers benefit and the economy can use the freed up resources for other things.
The falls in relative western wage rates since the early noughties have complex and multifaceted roots. Folk are searching for simple stories and solutions. Unfortunately Brexit validated one of those simple stories on pay. Why is a Robot Tax worse ? We are where we are and will probably have to return to our senses the hard way.
Nor do robots claim benefits, require housing, use public services or add to pressure on transport and the environment.
That's the key problem - and why they have to be taxed.
They live in the cloud and will instantly financially restructure themselves to benefit from the most favourable tax treatment at any given time.
They need to be taxed if they want to access our markets and compete with yours and my labour.
We have almost full employment and considerable immigration at all skill levels. The only way productivity is going to rise is to replace people with machines, starting at the bottom of the skill level - a decade ago machines used to wash cars, why have we gone backwards?
Machines also don’t require housing or benefits, so government benefits from having more of them.
Just to fulfill my constitutional role of blaming Brexit for everything: Why is a Robot Tax to prop up wages worse than restricting immigration to do the same ? While labour is a social good it's an economic cost. We need to be brave and defend free markets. Creative destruction is very painful if you are on the receiving end of it. But if goods become more efficiently produced and cheaper consumers benefit and the economy can use the freed up resources for other things.
The falls in relative western wage rates since the early noughties have complex and multifaceted roots. Folk are searching for simple stories and solutions. Unfortunately Brexit validated one of those simple stories on pay. Why is a Robot Tax worse ? We are where we are and will probably have to return to our senses the hard way.
Nor do robots claim benefits, require housing, use public services or add to pressure on transport and the environment.
That's the key problem - and why they have to be taxed.
They live in the cloud and will instantly financially restructure themselves to benefit from the most favourable tax treatment at any given time.
They need to be taxed if they want to access our markets and compete with yours and my labour.
But what happens if robots in this country are taxed but robots in other countries are not ?
@donbrind is just a partisan hack. His headers are just about the only ones I don't bother with - they are rarely insightful and just regurgitate the latest Labour attack lines
The Big Lie is the straw man you and other Labour figures put up to try and wriggle off the hook.
The Tories argued that you were responsible for the UK's complete lack of preparedness to handle to consequences of the crash, not that you started it.
Just to fulfill my constitutional role of blaming Brexit for everything: Why is a Robot Tax to prop up wages worse than restricting immigration to do the same ? While labour is a social good it's an economic cost. We need to be brave and defend free markets. Creative destruction is very painful if you are on the receiving end of it. But if goods become more efficiently produced and cheaper consumers benefit and the economy can use the freed up resources for other things.
The falls in relative western wage rates since the early noughties have complex and multifaceted roots. Folk are searching for simple stories and solutions. Unfortunately Brexit validated one of those simple stories on pay. Why is a Robot Tax worse ? We are where we are and will probably have to return to our senses the hard way.
Robots tend to increase productivity while low skilled immigrants don't.
Nor do robots claim benefits, require housing, use public services or add to pressure on transport and the environment.
And I have never seen a robot begging on the street.
You make my point for me. A discussion of immigrants immediately becomes " low skilled immigrants " followed by an unbalanced list of negatives and stereotypes. So the question remains the same. If immigrants can be blanketed as a negative Xenos why can't Robots ?
As soon as cheaper plumbing in a country were 100% of the population uses plumbing becomes a social problem because of the alleged impact on plumbers this is what you get. Why should the plumber be any happier about a Robot ? And if she isn't why shouldn't she vote for Corbyn to support his Robot Tax ?
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
Edit: and read the link
See my earlier comment about 'expert' Richard Murphy......he was recently demolished in Holyrood for trying to rubbish GERS......'simplistic' does not do him justice. 'Downright wrong' would often be a more accurate charge.
He studied at Cambridge, worked for McDonnell as a researcher, then for Corbyn campaign for two years. That I am confident on. Express says PPE but I suspect it is SPS - the Cambridge equivalent which is not as widely known...
I suspect without more hard information we just can't say whether Corbyn's son was a stand-out candidate.
I do know many people who have worked as researchers for Labour MPs having come down from Oxbridge with good degrees. I do know the jobs are very, very competitive and will generate a very strong shortlist.
I also think that, in a political job, you might place heavy emphasis on hiring someone you trust who shares your commitment & ideology.
There will be many people who share commitment and ideology: it doesn't have to be children of your friends. Besides, I'm unsure why a child of a friend equals 'commitment'.
It's the sheer hypocrisy of it that's so hilarious.
From the party that’s constantly going on about equality of outcome. Do as I say, not as I do.
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
If you think Conservatives run surpluses, look at the figures. The last Chancellor to run a surplus was Gordon Brown.
Edit: and read the link, the one that shows Conservatives borrowed most, even before the financial crisis.
That is a Richard Murphy-esque selective use of statistics. The deficit was falling rapidly when Brown entered No. 11, and shortly after it went into surplus he rapidly turned it around with his reckless spending.
Just to fulfill my constitutional role of blaming Brexit for everything: Why is a Robot Tax to prop up wages worse than restricting immigration to do the same ? While labour is a social good it's an economic cost. We need to be brave and defend free markets. Creative destruction is very painful if you are on the receiving end of it. But if goods become more efficiently produced and cheaper consumers benefit and the economy can use the freed up resources for other things.
The falls in relative western wage rates since the early noughties have complex and multifaceted roots. Folk are searching for simple stories and solutions. Unfortunately Brexit validated one of those simple stories on pay. Why is a Robot Tax worse ? We are where we are and will probably have to return to our senses the hard way.
Robots tend to increase productivity while low skilled immigrants don't.
Nor do robots claim benefits, require housing, use public services or add to pressure on transport and the environment.
And I have never seen a robot begging on the street.
You make my point for me. A discussion of immigrants immediately becomes " low skilled immigrants " followed by an unbalanced list of negatives and stereotypes. So the question remains the same. If immigrants can be blanketed as a negative Xenos why can't Robots ?
As soon as cheaper plumbing in a country were 100% of the population uses plumbing becomes a social problem because of the alleged impact on plumbers this is what you get. Why should the plumber be any happier about a Robot ? And if she isn't why shouldn't she vote for Corbyn to support his Robot Tax ?
You'd have a point if robots start raping and blowing up kids.
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
If you think Conservatives run surpluses, look at the figures. The last Chancellor to run a surplus was Gordon Brown.
Technically correct but totally misleading.
Gordon left office in 2010 with the government borrowing £166,000,000,000 a year, that’s around five hundred million pounds a day. Are you saying that the Tories should have got the deficit down faster?
I'd say that if the Conservatives thought about economic growth rather than cuts and austerity, they probably would have got the deficit down faster, not to mention debt.
The Big Lie is the straw man you and other Labour figures put up to try and wriggle off the hook.
The Tories argued that you were responsible for the UK's complete lack of preparedness to handle to consequences of the crash, not that you started it.
Tories have proven in eight years they can do no better. The Tory logo represents their own magic money tree, ready at short notice to fund their own pet projects, like Brexit.
We have a choice between two malign and incompetent parties. Hobson's choice, frankly.
But, genuine question this: hasn't the deficit come down since 2010?
When it comes to pensions, the Tories have done far more tree-shaking than labour ever did with their absurd triple lock.
Compared to the damage tax credits have done the triple lock is almost irrelevant - that just gives older people more money, tax credits have removed the incentive for people to work and actual act for many people as an incentive not to work.
And the triple lock went some way to address a gap between retired and working that was iniquitous.
But it's time is done: they should replace it with a simple link to average earnings
"Ministers will today face down Tory rebels and announce that they will push ahead with the continued rollout of Universal Credit."
...and so they head to yet another self-imposed cliff.
Yes it seems until it smacks them in the face with consequences , they carry on regardless.
The intervention from Dame Louise Casey should have caused any functioning politican to hit the pause button. Especially as the contours of the Corbyn surge in June become clearer. The government will just have to learn the hard way on Universal Credit.
Just to fulfill my constitutional role of blaming Brexit for everything: Why is a Robot Tax to prop up wages worse than restricting immigration to do the same ? While labour is a social good it's an economic cost. We need to be brave and defend free markets. Creative destruction is very painful if you are on the receiving end of it. But if goods become more efficiently produced and cheaper consumers benefit and the economy can use the freed up resources for other things.
The falls in relative western wage rates since the early noughties have complex and multifaceted roots. Folk are searching for simple stories and solutions. Unfortunately Brexit validated one of those simple stories on pay. Why is a Robot Tax worse ? We are where we are and will probably have to return to our senses the hard way.
Robots tend to increase productivity while low skilled immigrants don't.
Nor do robots claim benefits, require housing, use public services or add to pressure on transport and the environment.
And I have never seen a robot begging on the street.
You make my point for me. A discussion of immigrants immediately becomes " low skilled immigrants " followed by an unbalanced list of negatives and stereotypes. So the question remains the same. If immigrants can be blanketed as a negative Xenos why can't Robots ?
As soon as cheaper plumbing in a country were 100% of the population uses plumbing becomes a social problem because of the alleged impact on plumbers this is what you get. Why should the plumber be any happier about a Robot ? And if she isn't why shouldn't she vote for Corbyn to support his Robot Tax ?
You'd have a point if robots start raping and blowing up kids.
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
If you think Conservatives run surpluses, look at the figures. The last Chancellor to run a surplus was Gordon Brown.
Technically correct but totally misleading.
Gordon left office in 2010 with the government borrowing £166,000,000,000 a year, that’s around five hundred million pounds a day. Are you saying that the Tories should have got the deficit down faster?
I'd say that if the Conservatives thought about economic growth rather than cuts and austerity, they probably would have got the deficit down faster, not to mention debt.
So a deficit caused by government overspending should be solved by....more government overspending.
@donbrind is just a partisan hack. His headers are just about the only ones I don't bother with - they are rarely insightful and just regurgitate the latest Labour attack lines
The Big Lie is the straw man you and other Labour figures put up to try and wriggle off the hook.
The Tories argued that you were responsible for the UK's complete lack of preparedness to handle to consequences of the crash, not that you started it.
Some mistake, surely?
I tried (I always do!) but didn't make it more than about 2 paragraphs this time...
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
If you think Conservatives run surpluses, look at the figures. The last Chancellor to run a surplus was Gordon Brown.
Edit: and read the link, the one that shows Conservatives borrowed most, even before the financial crisis.
That is a Richard Murphy-esque selective use of statistics. The deficit was falling rapidly when Brown entered No. 11, and shortly after it went into surplus he rapidly turned it around with his reckless spending.
The deficit was falling rapidly from where it had been under a decade of Conservative rule, and even if you characterise Brown's spending as reckless, you should concede that before the global financial crisis hit, the deficits were lower than those generally run by the Thatcher and Major governments.
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
Edit: and read the link
See my earlier comment about 'expert' Richard Murphy......he was recently demolished in Holyrood for trying to rubbish GERS......'simplistic' does not do him justice. 'Downright wrong' would often be a more accurate charge.
he's either an idiot or that he assumes the people following him are.
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
Edit: and read the link
See my earlier comment about 'expert' Richard Murphy......he was recently demolished in Holyrood for trying to rubbish GERS......'simplistic' does not do him justice. 'Downright wrong' would often be a more accurate charge.
To say that other parties agreed with the general economic policies followed is a cop out. Labour were in government. They had responsibility for what they did and did not do. They need to take responsibility not claim that somehow because others would have done the same Labour are not responsible for their own actions.
Of course Labour are responsible for their actions, but I think you go wrong because you have the benefit of hindsight and selectivity. Who knows how many warnings governments get, they can't act on all of them all of the time. You pick out one of many warnings.
I think you overestimate the power of the UK govt in the economy and the prevailing political/economic culture does shape and constrain what you can do and we're all culpable for that. One political party is not responsible for our credit culture.
FWIW I think Labour can be heavily criticised, but not on the terms most people make.
From writings and talks I was giving before the crisis struck I was saying much the same thing. These were talks I was giving to private audiences not public ones.
It can be summarised thus: Labour's biggest failing was that it was unwilling to be frank with voters about how much all this lovely public spending would cost and how much voters would have to pay for it. They were not willing to be frank because they worried that voters wanted the spending but did not want the hike in taxes to go with it. So Labour made a Faustian pact with the City: we'll let you do your own thing and in return we get all the lovely tax revenues for our spending. They did the same with PFI. The result of that was that the City got too big for its boots, a very bad financial culture was allowed to go wild and the results are all around you now.
Labour are making the same mistake now: McDonnell claimed at the last election that all the promises he had made would only involve raising taxes on those earning more than £85K. That is just pie in the sky. Labour are not being honest with voters. If even half of what Labour is promising is enacted, everyone, everyone - not just the rich - will have to pay a lot more tax.
It is that fundamental lack of honesty (and it is endemic in other parties too) with voters which leads to poor economic policy. Ironically, the Tories did try to be honest about care costs and look where it got them.
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
If you think Conservatives run surpluses, look at the figures. The last Chancellor to run a surplus was Gordon Brown.
Edit: and read the link, the one that shows Conservatives borrowed most, even before the financial crisis.
That is a Richard Murphy-esque selective use of statistics. The deficit was falling rapidly when Brown entered No. 11, and shortly after it went into surplus he rapidly turned it around with his reckless spending.
The deficit was falling rapidly from where it had been under a decade of Conservative rule, and even if you characterise Brown's spending as reckless, you should concede that before the global financial crisis hit, the deficits were lower than those generally run by the Thatcher and Major governments.
Why on Earth, after a decade and a half of economic growth from 1993 to 2008, was the government running a deficit at all? Should have been a massive surplus by the time of the recession, and we wouldn’t be in the big mess we find ourselves in now.
Just to fulfill my constitutional role of blaming Brexit for everything: Why is a Robot Tax to prop up wages worse than restricting immigration to do the same ? While labour is a social good it's an economic cost. We need to be brave and defend free markets. Creative destruction is very painful if you are on the receiving end of it. But if goods become more efficiently produced and cheaper consumers benefit and the economy can use the freed up resources for other things.
The falls in relative western wage rates since the early noughties have complex and multifaceted roots. Folk are searching for simple stories and solutions. Unfortunately Brexit validated one of those simple stories on pay. Why is a Robot Tax worse ? We are where we are and will probably have to return to our senses the hard way.
Robots tend to increase productivity while low skilled immigrants don't.
Nor do robots claim benefits, require housing, use public services or add to pressure on transport and the environment.
And I have never seen a robot begging on the street.
You make my point for me. A discussion of immigrants immediately becomes " low skilled immigrants " followed by an unbalanced list of negatives and stereotypes. So the question remains the same. If immigrants can be blanketed as a negative Xenos why can't Robots ?
As soon as cheaper plumbing in a country were 100% of the population uses plumbing becomes a social problem because of the alleged impact on plumbers this is what you get. Why should the plumber be any happier about a Robot ? And if she isn't why shouldn't she vote for Corbyn to support his Robot Tax ?
You'd have a point if robots start raping and blowing up kids.
Have you not watched Terminator?
Good point. Maybe even the Asian rape gangs can retire early in future too.
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
If you think Conservatives run surpluses, look at the figures. The last Chancellor to run a surplus was Gordon Brown.
Edit: and read the link, the one that shows Conservatives borrowed most, even before the financial crisis.
That is a Richard Murphy-esque selective use of statistics. The deficit was falling rapidly when Brown entered No. 11, and shortly after it went into surplus he rapidly turned it around with his reckless spending.
The deficit was falling rapidly from where it had been under a decade of Conservative rule, and even if you characterise Brown's spending as reckless, you should concede that before the global financial crisis hit, the deficits were lower than those generally run by the Thatcher and Major governments.
That's factually correct but one has to consider the contrasting economic situations inherited by Thatcher and Blair.
Just to fulfill my constitutional role of blaming Brexit for everything: Why is a Robot Tax to prop up wages worse than restricting immigration to do the same ? While labour is a social good it's an economic cost. We need to be brave and defend free markets. Creative destruction is very painful if you are on the receiving end of it. But if goods become more efficiently produced and cheaper consumers benefit and the economy can use the freed up resources for other things.
The falls in relative western wage rates since the early noughties have complex and multifaceted roots. Folk are searching for simple stories and solutions. Unfortunately Brexit validated one of those simple stories on pay. Why is a Robot Tax worse ? We are where we are and will probably have to return to our senses the hard way.
Robots tend to increase productivity while low skilled immigrants don't.
Nor do robots claim benefits, require housing, use public services or add to pressure on transport and the environment.
And I have never seen a robot begging on the street.
You make my point for me. A discussion of immigrants immediately becomes " low skilled immigrants " followed by an unbalanced list of negatives and stereotypes. So the question remains the same. If immigrants can be blanketed as a negative Xenos why can't Robots ?
As soon as cheaper plumbing in a country were 100% of the population uses plumbing becomes a social problem because of the alleged impact on plumbers this is what you get. Why should the plumber be any happier about a Robot ? And if she isn't why shouldn't she vote for Corbyn to support his Robot Tax ?
So you don't wish to address the facts I pointed out.
People will support change when it benefits them and oppose change when it doesn't.
But productivity increasing change has tended to have positive effects whereas productivity reducing change has negative effects.
Now you could suggest that productivity increasing change should be encouraged in wealth creating, export industries so as to earn more money for Britain and to allow us to compete with other countries but not encouraged within the domestic economy so as to allow increased employment.
Yes now breaking news on both BBC and ITV there has been a shooting in Las Vegas at a country music concert, at least 2 dead and many more injured. With this tragic news today and the Catalan referendum violence yesterday the Tory conference is being almost completely overshadowed (not that given yesterday's headlines many Tories will be complaining)
Doubt the Vegas story will overshadow the Tory conference, a mass shooting in the US is hardly unusual.
20 dead perhaps from ISIS linked groups will do though
The Big Lie is the straw man you and other Labour figures put up to try and wriggle off the hook.
The Tories argued that you were responsible for the UK's complete lack of preparedness to handle to consequences of the crash, not that you started it.
Tories have proven in eight years they can do no better. The Tory logo represents their own magic money tree, ready at short notice to fund their own pet projects, like Brexit.
We have a choice between two malign and incompetent parties. Hobson's choice, frankly.
But, genuine question this: hasn't the deficit come down since 2010?
When it comes to pensions, the Tories have done far more tree-shaking than labour ever did with their absurd triple lock.
Compared to the damage tax credits have done the triple lock is almost irrelevant - that just gives older people more money, tax credits have removed the incentive for people to work and actual act for many people as an incentive not to work.
I don't think so. Tax credits are an in-work benefit that make it financially viable for people to do work that would otherwise not pay enough to live on. They therefore help to lower both unemployment and productivity. That's why we have people employed washing cars rather than sitting around unemployed while machines wash the cars. In a sense, tax credits are an overcomplicated and bureaucratic way of partially implementing a universal income.
"Ministers will today face down Tory rebels and announce that they will push ahead with the continued rollout of Universal Credit."
...and so they head to yet another self-imposed cliff.
Yes it seems until it smacks them in the face with consequences , they carry on regardless.
The intervention from Dame Louise Casey should have caused any functioning politican to hit the pause button. Especially as the contours of the Corbyn surge in June become clearer. The government will just have to learn the hard way on Universal Credit.
Very true .The migrating of existing claimants with complex needs such as severely disabled children onto Universal Credit needs to be handled with extreme care.Making sure it can handle the more straight forward cases is a must before rollout to complex ones.
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
Edit: and read the link
See my earlier comment about 'expert' Richard Murphy......he was recently demolished in Holyrood for trying to rubbish GERS......'simplistic' does not do him justice. 'Downright wrong' would often be a more accurate charge.
You are playing the man, not the ball.
The man never plays the ball:
Anyone who questions our national statisticians’ honesty and integrity should take a hard look at themselves.” Professor Angus Armstrong
Yes now breaking news on both BBC and ITV there has been a shooting in Las Vegas at a country music concert, at least 2 dead and many more injured. With this tragic news today and the Catalan referendum violence yesterday the Tory conference is being almost completely overshadowed (not that given yesterday's headlines many Tories will be complaining)
Doubt the Vegas story will overshadow the Tory conference, a mass shooting in the US is hardly unusual.
20 dead perhaps from ISIS linked groups will do though
If it had happened in any European country, you could legitimately voice the opinion that it might be Islamic terror related, but in the US, it will usually turn out to be some random gun nut. Too many nutters and the abundance of firearms is always going to be a problem.
Yes now breaking news on both BBC and ITV there has been a shooting in Las Vegas at a country music concert, at least 2 dead and many more injured. With this tragic news today and the Catalan referendum violence yesterday the Tory conference is being almost completely overshadowed (not that given yesterday's headlines many Tories will be complaining)
Doubt the Vegas story will overshadow the Tory conference, a mass shooting in the US is hardly unusual.
20 dead perhaps from ISIS linked groups will do though
If it had happened in any European country, you could legitimately voice the opinion that it might be Islamic terror related, but in the US, it will usually turn out to be some random gun nut. Too many nutters and the abundance of firearms is always going to be a problem.
We will see and you may be right although there was an ISIS linked attack in Canada over the weekend
Just seen the footage on cnn, the number of rounds been fired is incredible. If that is only 20 dead the attacker must have been the worst shooter in history.
Yes now breaking news on both BBC and ITV there has been a shooting in Las Vegas at a country music concert, at least 2 dead and many more injured. With this tragic news today and the Catalan referendum violence yesterday the Tory conference is being almost completely overshadowed (not that given yesterday's headlines many Tories will be complaining)
Doubt the Vegas story will overshadow the Tory conference, a mass shooting in the US is hardly unusual.
20 dead perhaps from ISIS linked groups will do though
If it had happened in any European country, you could legitimately voice the opinion that it might be Islamic terror related, but in the US, it will usually turn out to be some random gun nut. Too many nutters and the abundance of firearms is always going to be a problem.
I think this is a case of wait and see. It could be either. Certainly the potential for 'just' a nut with a gun is there.
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
If you think Conservatives run surpluses, look at the figures. The last Chancellor to run a surplus was Gordon Brown.
Edit: and read the link, the one that shows Conservatives borrowed most, even before the financial crisis.
That is a Richard Murphy-esque selective use of statistics. The deficit was falling rapidly when Brown entered No. 11, and shortly after it went into surplus he rapidly turned it around with his reckless spending.
The deficit was falling rapidly from where it had been under a decade of Conservative rule, and even if you characterise Brown's spending as reckless, you should concede that before the global financial crisis hit, the deficits were lower than those generally run by the Thatcher and Major governments.
That's factually correct but one has to consider the contrasting economic situations inherited by Thatcher and Blair.
The one where Mrs Thatcher found two magic money trees (North Sea oil and privatisation receipts) and left a higher inflation rate (and more unemployment) than she inherited (see the weekend's discussions)?
Yes now breaking news on both BBC and ITV there has been a shooting in Las Vegas at a country music concert, at least 2 dead and many more injured. With this tragic news today and the Catalan referendum violence yesterday the Tory conference is being almost completely overshadowed (not that given yesterday's headlines many Tories will be complaining)
Doubt the Vegas story will overshadow the Tory conference, a mass shooting in the US is hardly unusual.
20 dead perhaps from ISIS linked groups will do though
If it had happened in any European country, you could legitimately voice the opinion that it might be Islamic terror related, but in the US, it will usually turn out to be some random gun nut. Too many nutters and the abundance of firearms is always going to be a problem.
Er...it might be Islamic terror related, they've already had the Orlando nightclub shooting.
Just seen the footage on cnn, the number of rounds been fired is incredible.
Another time for debate over gun control, but nothing again will happen.
I am not gun expert but it was definitely an automatic weapon. It is totally unjustifiable that in a civil 21st Century society that a member of the public can get those sort of weapons.
Yes now breaking news on both BBC and ITV there has been a shooting in Las Vegas at a country music concert, at least 2 dead and many more injured. With this tragic news today and the Catalan referendum violence yesterday the Tory conference is being almost completely overshadowed (not that given yesterday's headlines many Tories will be complaining)
Doubt the Vegas story will overshadow the Tory conference, a mass shooting in the US is hardly unusual.
20 dead perhaps from ISIS linked groups will do though
If it had happened in any European country, you could legitimately voice the opinion that it might be Islamic terror related, but in the US, it will usually turn out to be some random gun nut. Too many nutters and the abundance of firearms is always going to be a problem.
We will see and you may be right although there was an ISIS linked attack in Canada over the weekend
CNN "expert" saying he thinks it might be a belt fed weapon and took nearly a minute to reload. A component individual would have reloaded that a lost faster.
Yes now breaking news on both BBC and ITV there has been a shooting in Las Vegas at a country music concert, at least 2 dead and many more injured. With this tragic news today and the Catalan referendum violence yesterday the Tory conference is being almost completely overshadowed (not that given yesterday's headlines many Tories will be complaining)
Doubt the Vegas story will overshadow the Tory conference, a mass shooting in the US is hardly unusual.
20 dead perhaps from ISIS linked groups will do though
If it had happened in any European country, you could legitimately voice the opinion that it might be Islamic terror related, but in the US, it will usually turn out to be some random gun nut. Too many nutters and the abundance of firearms is always going to be a problem.
Er...it might be Islamic terror related, they've already had the Orlando nightclub shooting.
It might well be, we have no way of knowing at the minute.
the public finance expert Professor Richard Murphy of City University, has shown.
I'm sorry - you lost me at that.
If the Tories were so rubbish & Labour so wonderful, it would be Labour inheriting deficits and the Tories inheriting surpluses from their predecessors, not the other way round......as Mrs T said, the trouble with Socialists is they always run out of other people's money.....
If you think Conservatives run surpluses, look at the figures. The last Chancellor to run a surplus was Gordon Brown.
Edit: and read the link, the one that shows Conservatives borrowed most, even before the financial crisis.
That is a Richard Murphy-esque selective use of statistics. The deficit was falling rapidly when Brown entered No. 11, and shortly after it went into surplus he rapidly turned it around with his reckless spending.
The deficit was falling rapidly from where it had been under a decade of Conservative rule, and even if you characterise Brown's spending as reckless, you should concede that before the global financial crisis hit, the deficits were lower than those generally run by the Thatcher and Major governments.
The government deficit was £18bn in 1997 and falling.
From 2002 onwards the government deficit was higher every year, reaching a peak of £155bn in 2009:
CNN "expert" saying he thinks it might be a belt fed weapon and took nearly a minute to reload. A component individual would have reloaded that a lost faster.
Like in Rambo? Jesus. if anyone was able to buy that gun legally.....
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
CNN "expert" saying he thinks it might be a belt fed weapon and took nearly a minute to reload. A component individual would have reloaded that a lost faster.
Like in Rambo? Jesus. if anyone was able to buy that gun legally.....
Nevada have some of the most relaxed gun laws in the states. You can go as a tourist and with minimal checks fire frightening hardware at a range.
CNN "expert" saying he thinks it might be a belt fed weapon and took nearly a minute to reload. A component individual would have reloaded that a lost faster.
Like in Rambo? Jesus. if anyone was able to buy that gun legally.....
Nevada have some of the most relaxed gun laws in the states. You can go as a tourist and with minimal checks fire frightening hardware at a range.
CNN "expert" saying he thinks it might be a belt fed weapon and took nearly a minute to reload. A component individual would have reloaded that a lost faster.
Like in Rambo? Jesus. if anyone was able to buy that gun legally.....
Nevada have some of the most relaxed gun laws in the states. You can go as a tourist and with minimal checks fire frightening hardware at a range.
Yep. Mythbusters used to go to Nevada when they wanted to use guns that weren’t allowed in California. Things like .50 rifles and M16s, military weapons all perfectly legal for civilians in the Silver State.
I'm always bemused when I see Jeremy Corbyn and 'for the many, not the few'.
After all, when Corbyn's friend McDonnell had an open influential job position, Corbyn's son got it. Of the many people out there, Seb was the ideal candidate. Obviously. Of all the young men and women who could perform the taxpayer-funded job, Seb was, by chance, the best candidate. No nepotism was involved.
As is often the case, it became: "For the many, not the few - except when the few includes me and my family."
Corbyn job losses - for the many, not the few....
So Corbyn’s son shouldn’t have got it, on principle?
It’s often a good idea for a child to go for a different career to their parents, but what if that’s what they want to do?
It's not the fact that the son wants to go into politics that JJ is objecting to. It's whether this plum position was open to all those others who would like to go into politics: a free and fair competition appointing the best person for the job from all those applying. The suspicion is that might simply have been a favour to a friend's son. And, if so, unfair to all those without such connections. Not very different to what Labour accuse toffs and the Establishment of doing for their friends' sons and daughters. Just another elite in other words.
As too often with Labour, their words are one thing, their actions another.
I wasn't aware, or more likely forgot Corbyn's son had been given a position. He is a long way from being the first. Nepotism IS a problem so what should be done about it ? No one really suggests the youngster who benefits is of equal merit to those who struggle for political office. We are fortunate that most are too ineffective to pose a danger but when they DO then the whole of Society suffers. Seriously I do wonder whether the children of MPs should be barred from office - even the children of councillors from serving on the same council. President Chelsea Clinton, Prime Minister Stephen Kinnock, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - shudders.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
I'm always bemused when I see Jeremy Corbyn and 'for the many, not the few'.
After all, when Corbyn's friend McDonnell had an open influential job position, Corbyn's son got it. Of the many people out there, Seb was the ideal candidate. Obviously. Of all the young men and women who could perform the taxpayer-funded job, Seb was, by chance, the best candidate. No nepotism was involved.
As is often the case, it became: "For the many, not the few - except when the few includes me and my family."
Corbyn job losses - for the many, not the few....
So Corbyn’s son shouldn’t have got it, on principle?
It’s often a good idea for a child to go for a different career to their parents, but what if that’s what they want to do?
It's not the fact that the son wants to go into politics that JJ is objecting to. It's whether this plum position was open to all those others who would like to go into politics: a free and fair competition appointing the best person for the job from all those applying. The suspicion is that might simply have been a favour to a friend's son. And, if so, unfair to all those without such connections. Not very different to what Labour accuse toffs and the Establishment of doing for their friends' sons and daughters. Just another elite in other words.
As too often with Labour, their words are one thing, their actions another.
I wasn't aware, or more likely forgot Corbyn's son had been given a position. He is a long way from being the first. Nepotism IS a problem so what should be done about it ? No one really suggests the youngster who benefits is of equal merit to those who struggle for political office. We are fortunate that most are too ineffective to pose a danger but when they DO then the whole of Society suffers. Seriously I do wonder whether the children of MPs should be barred from office - even the children of councillors from serving on the same council. President Chelsea Clinton, Prime Minister Stephen Kinnock, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - shudders.
Winston Churchill?
But yes, nepotism is a problem, for left and right and for the rest of us.
Yes that's interesting. We need PR, we'll never get what the majority of people want while we have the situation where the only two alternatives are offering anything but.
The Big Lie is the straw man you and other Labour figures put up to try and wriggle off the hook.
The Tories argued that you were responsible for the UK's complete lack of preparedness to handle to consequences of the crash, not that you started it.
Tories have proven in eight years they can do no better. The Tory logo represents their own magic money tree, ready at short notice to fund their own pet projects, like Brexit.
We have a choice between two malign and incompetent parties. Hobson's choice, frankly.
But, genuine question this: hasn't the deficit come down since 2010?
Suggest you go away and learn the difference between deficit and debt. The chart to which you link shows the debt rising. It will continue to rise as long as there is a deficit. However, the deficit has come down substantially.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
I'm always bemused when I see Jeremy Corbyn and 'for the many, not the few'.
After all, when Corbyn's friend McDonnell had an open influential job position, Corbyn's son got it. Of the many people out there, Seb was the ideal candidate. Obviously. Of all the young men and women who could perform the taxpayer-funded job, Seb was, by chance, the best candidate. No nepotism was involved.
As is often the case, it became: "For the many, not the few - except when the few includes me and my family."
Corbyn job losses - for the many, not the few....
So Corbyn’s son shouldn’t have got it, on principle?
It’s often a good idea for a child to go for a different career to their parents, but what if that’s what they want to do?
It's not the fact that the son wants to go into politics that JJ is objecting to. It's whether this plum position was open to all those others who would like to go into politics: a free and fair competition appointing the best person for the job from all those applying. The suspicion is that might simply have been a favour to a friend's son. And, if so, unfair to all those without such connections. Not very different to what Labour accuse toffs and the Establishment of doing for their friends' sons and daughters. Just another elite in other words.
As too often with Labour, their words are one thing, their actions another.
I wasn't aware, or more likely forgot Corbyn's son had been given a position. He is a long way from being the first. Nepotism IS a problem so what should be done about it ? No one really suggests the youngster who benefits is of equal merit to those who struggle for political office. We are fortunate that most are too ineffective to pose a danger but when they DO then the whole of Society suffers. Seriously I do wonder whether the children of MPs should be barred from office - even the children of councillors from serving on the same council. President Chelsea Clinton, Prime Minister Stephen Kinnock, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - shudders.
Stephen Kinnock seems a reasonably effective MP. Justin Trudeau seems to got where he’s got on merit. Might have had a bit of an advantage at first, I suppose.
I recall advising my son when he was offered an engineering job at a very high profile, albeit niche, sports engineering organisation to take it as, even if he couldn’t stand it after a couple of years, having it on his CV would probably get him an interview elsewhere, but after that, at the interview, he would be on his own.
I stick my opinion though that following ones parent into the same profession is often not a good idea.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
The Big Lie is the straw man you and other Labour figures put up to try and wriggle off the hook.
The Tories argued that you were responsible for the UK's complete lack of preparedness to handle to consequences of the crash, not that you started it.
Tories have proven in eight years they can do no better. The Tory logo represents their own magic money tree, ready at short notice to fund their own pet projects, like Brexit.
We have a choice between two malign and incompetent parties. Hobson's choice, frankly.
But, genuine question this: hasn't the deficit come down since 2010?
Suggest you go away and learn the difference between deficit and debt. The chart to which you link shows the debt rising. It will continue to rise as long as there is a deficit. However, the deficit has come down substantially.
Erm, no, because that is debt as a percentage of GDP so it is quite possible for debt to fall while there is a deficit.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
It’s the reciprocal of Royalblue’s post earlier this morning. Intolerance has no place in sensible political debate.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
Since the election I've noticed that my formerly reasonable left wing friends have lost their minds. It reminds me of the mid-90s when they would rant and rave about everything the "evil" John Major did and how Saint Tony was going to make it all better.
When they start to get a sniff of power they go mental unfortunately. The only difference is that Blair was only slightly mad, whereas Corbyn is 100% stark staring, pants on head insane.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
As usual from you, no substantive content or rebuttal.
Keep looking inward, you are staring at a walloping of 1997 proportions, the way you are going.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
It’s the reciprocal of Royalblue’s post earlier this morning. Intolerance has no place in sensible political debate.
The news everywhere is unremittingly grim. But I have to confess that I am in a buoyant mood this morning because after multiple delays to a publishing deadline that is getting on for 18 months overdue, I have delivered long-promised revisions to a technical publication. My conscience this morning is squeaky clean and I am bathed in a feeling of virtuous industry.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
Disappointed in you, G, whilst I know I have tweaked you for being a May loyallist, I didn't see you as a Blukipper.
Conservatives would do well to ponder why quite a few left-leaning moderates consider their asylum more fully taken over by lunatics than the Labour asylum.
I suspect that instead they will prefer to growl at those delivering the news.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
As usual from you, no substantive content or rebuttal.
Keep looking inward, you are staring at a walloping of 1997 proportions, the way you are going.
Rebuttal to what exactly?
You've just said the Tories have contempt for everyone based on nothing but your own imagination.
The news everywhere is unremittingly grim. But I have to confess that I am in a buoyant mood this morning because after multiple delays to a publishing deadline that is getting on for 18 months overdue, I have delivered long-promised revisions to a technical publication. My conscience this morning is squeaky clean and I am bathed in a feeling of virtuous industry.
Not quite as sexy as SeanT's squllion dollar royalty cheques for his latest supernatural thriller, but you're getting there.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
It’s the reciprocal of Royalblue’s post earlier this morning. Intolerance has no place in sensible political debate.
Maybe you'd like to point to the intolerance in my post @OldKingCole. Just saying what I see.
The news everywhere is unremittingly grim. But I have to confess that I am in a buoyant mood this morning because after multiple delays to a publishing deadline that is getting on for 18 months overdue, I have delivered long-promised revisions to a technical publication. My conscience this morning is squeaky clean and I am bathed in a feeling of virtuous industry.
Not quite as sexy as SeanT's squllion dollar royalty cheques for his latest supernatural thriller, but you're getting there.
What I have just finished is the very opposite of sexy and the very opposite of squillion dollar royalty cheques. No supernatural twists either, I'm afraid.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
It’s the reciprocal of Royalblue’s post earlier this morning. Intolerance has no place in sensible political debate.
Nonsense - I am very happy to criticise my own side when we get it wrong. For instance, the continuation of Help to Buy is a terrible policy. You don't solve a housing supply shortage by just boosting demand.
My point earlier was that Don Brind's articles are simplistic, hyperpartisan and utterly predictable. That is not the case for any other header writer on this website, and I am not the only one to observe it.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
Since the election I've noticed that my formerly reasonable left wing friends have lost their minds. It reminds me of the mid-90s when they would rant and rave about everything the "evil" John Major did and how Saint Tony was going to make it all better.
When they start to get a sniff of power they go mental unfortunately. The only difference is that Blair was only slightly mad, whereas Corbyn is 100% stark staring, pants on head insane.
They'll still vote for him though hilariously.
The irony is that Brexit has pushed some lefties over the edge, straight into the arms of an old-school eurosceptic.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
Disappointed in you, G, whilst I know I have tweaked you for being a May loyallist, I didn't see you as a Blukipper.
And I am not - I like to see arguments from both sides without the inflammatory language, indeed I am a bit to the left in the conservative party
To accuse me of contempt for the poor is beyond parody when considering the large sums of charity money I have raised over the years. I absolutely do not have contempt for those coming here who work hard and contribute. Indeed my doctor, dentist, plumber and many others have come to the UK and are fantastic, I do not like federal Europe with people like Juncker acting as demi- gods but I want us to trade and have a great relationship with Europe, as far as the young are concerned I have children and grandchildren and the young keep me young, and as far as the environment is concerned I want plastic banned totally within 5 years, have solar panels, and recycle most everything
So you must see how utterly ridiculous are the lefts attemps to demonise us
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
That's pretty much my position too. The Tories are driven by contempt. Contempt for Europe, contempt for the poor, contempt for immigrants, contempt for anything liberal, contempt for the young, contempt for the environment. I highlight the latter because it's my professional field and all I see at the moment is a Government with no scruples or commitment to common good. Ownership is everything. Wildlife a nuisance, at best, and to be eliminated if in the way, like the Hen Harrier.
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
Absolutely - it is the language of intolerance and nonsense so typical of the hard left.
It’s the reciprocal of Royalblue’s post earlier this morning. Intolerance has no place in sensible political debate.
Maybe you'd like to point to the intolerance in my post @OldKingCole. Just saying what I see.
I doubt that all Tories are driven by contempt for those who disagree with them.
In any event, in debate I try to observe the principle that my opponent is as honourable as myself and may possibly be right.
I’m sure tht someone will point to somewhere where I haven’t observed that principle, but in my defence I would say that errare humanum est
Conservatives would do well to ponder why quite a few left-leaning moderates consider their asylum more fully taken over by lunatics than the Labour asylum.
I suspect that instead they will prefer to growl at those delivering the news.
Because they're left.
Lefties view any righties with suspicion and vice-versa is also true. A moderate righty is already quite extreme as far as a lefty is concerned (and vice-versa) so it takes very little movement further right to be viewed as a "lunatic".
Conservatives would do well to ponder why quite a few left-leaning moderates consider their asylum more fully taken over by lunatics than the Labour asylum.
I suspect that instead they will prefer to growl at those delivering the news.
Because they're left.
Lefties view any righties with suspicion and vice-versa is also true. A moderate righty is already quite extreme as far as a lefty is concerned (and vice-versa) so it takes very little movement further right to be viewed as a "lunatic".
It's a theory. It's a theory that pays absolutely no regard to how horrified the average left-leaning moderate is about Jeremy Corbyn.
For now, I'm intent on a policy of belligerent abstention, going to the polling booth and spoiling my ballot paper. I see no reason to endorse either set of nutjobs.
I'm coming to the conclusion I might have to vote for Corbyn. He'll offer the shorter lived but more entertaining of the two dystopias now on offer. We might as well do this with a degree of gusto and style. I'd rather the gaiety of a Robot Tax than the grim monotony of us still resenting the foreigners we're still going to let in to wipe out arses for minimum wage rather than pay people properly.
Snip
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
Geez this just reads like a teenager's rant.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
As usual from you, no substantive content or rebuttal.
Keep looking inward, you are staring at a walloping of 1997 proportions, the way you are going.
Rebuttal to what exactly?
You've just said the Tories have contempt for everyone based on nothing but your own imagination.
Ok, a few short examples..
Contempt for Europe: Plenty of evidence for this, but spending 12 months of critical negotiation time blustering, vacillating, threatening and generally failing to engage in detailed or positive negotiation would be a start.
Contempt for the Poor: Universal Credit, a disaster in slow motion. Rees-Mogg sees foodbanks as 'uplifting'.
Contempt for Immigrants: Heavy handed deportation letters sent off willy-nilly to folk who have every right to be here. Slowness at dealing with EU citizens rights, right wing press mockery of 'child refugees'.
Contempt for Liberal values: Tory majority opposing same sex marriage, daily comments by pb Tories decrying metropolitan liberals, etc.
Contempt for the young: Before election, PB tories routinely laughing about how the kids wouldn't get out of bed or put their play stations down to vote.
Contempt for the environment: Failure to address air quality targets, failure to consider evidence based solutions to bovine TB, flooding, failure to deal with the decimation of upland wildlife by keepers, failure to take biodiversity decline seriously.
Comments
Machines also don’t require housing or benefits, so government benefits from having more of them.
As soon as cheaper plumbing in a country were 100% of the population uses plumbing becomes a social problem because of the alleged impact on plumbers this is what you get. Why should the plumber be any happier about a Robot ? And if she isn't why shouldn't she vote for Corbyn to support his Robot Tax ?
But it's time is done: they should replace it with a simple link to average earnings
We need to find a way for us all to benefit from robots and the extra time they give us.. Not just capital.
I think I see the flaw in this plan.
http://chokkablog.blogspot.com/2017/03/richard-murphy-gers-denier.html
The criticism to be made of Labour when it was in power was that made in my header earlier this year. (http://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2017/01/20/cyclefree-asks-are-banks-the-new-unions/).
It can be summarised thus: Labour's biggest failing was that it was unwilling to be frank with voters about how much all this lovely public spending would cost and how much voters would have to pay for it. They were not willing to be frank because they worried that voters wanted the spending but did not want the hike in taxes to go with it. So Labour made a Faustian pact with the City: we'll let you do your own thing and in return we get all the lovely tax revenues for our spending. They did the same with PFI. The result of that was that the City got too big for its boots, a very bad financial culture was allowed to go wild and the results are all around you now.
Labour are making the same mistake now: McDonnell claimed at the last election that all the promises he had made would only involve raising taxes on those earning more than £85K. That is just pie in the sky. Labour are not being honest with voters. If even half of what Labour is promising is enacted, everyone, everyone - not just the rich - will have to pay a lot more tax.
It is that fundamental lack of honesty (and it is endemic in other parties too) with voters which leads to poor economic policy. Ironically, the Tories did try to be honest about care costs and look where it got them.
People will support change when it benefits them and oppose change when it doesn't.
But productivity increasing change has tended to have positive effects whereas productivity reducing change has negative effects.
Now you could suggest that productivity increasing change should be encouraged in wealth creating, export industries so as to earn more money for Britain and to allow us to compete with other countries but not encouraged within the domestic economy so as to allow increased employment.
BBC now reporting at least 20 dead and 100 injured in Las Vegas. :-(
Anyone who questions our national statisticians’ honesty and integrity should take a hard look at themselves.”
Professor Angus Armstrong
https://mobile.twitter.com/JamesWillby/status/914596685409550336
From 2002 onwards the government deficit was higher every year, reaching a peak of £155bn in 2009:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/timeseries/dzls/pusf
It wouldn't be against the realms of possibility as the left have lost their minds over Trump.
Source?
I'm prepared to take the gamble that there are enough sane minds in Labour to hold Corbyn's wilder excesses back. It's clear that that isn't the case as regards the sack of fighting ferrets convening in Manchester.
But yes, nepotism is a problem, for left and right and for the rest of us.
We need PR, we'll never get what the majority of people want while we have the situation where the only two alternatives are offering anything but.
It's more like anyone who doesn't like the Tories has irrational contempt for any of their views or actions.
I recall advising my son when he was offered an engineering job at a very high profile, albeit niche, sports engineering organisation to take it as, even if he couldn’t stand it after a couple of years, having it on his CV would probably get him an interview elsewhere, but after that, at the interview, he would be on his own.
I stick my opinion though that following ones parent into the same profession is often not a good idea.
When they start to get a sniff of power they go mental unfortunately. The only difference is that Blair was only slightly mad, whereas Corbyn is 100% stark staring, pants on head insane.
They'll still vote for him though hilariously.
Keep looking inward, you are staring at a walloping of 1997 proportions, the way you are going.
I suspect that instead they will prefer to growl at those delivering the news.
You've just said the Tories have contempt for everyone based on nothing but your own imagination.
https://twitter.com/RLUK94/status/914788914568802305
I wonder how many journalists at this week’s conference will need their own security?
The state of Nevada has some of the most permissive gun laws in the US. It is legal to carry an assault rifle and there is no magazine capacity limit.
There are no purchase permits and blue cards are no longer required.
There is no waiting period mandated for firearm purchases and private gun sales are OK.
My point earlier was that Don Brind's articles are simplistic, hyperpartisan and utterly predictable. That is not the case for any other header writer on this website, and I am not the only one to observe it.
To accuse me of contempt for the poor is beyond parody when considering the large sums of charity money I have raised over the years. I absolutely do not have contempt for those coming here who work hard and contribute. Indeed my doctor, dentist, plumber and many others have come to the UK and are fantastic, I do not like federal Europe with people like Juncker acting as demi- gods but I want us to trade and have a great relationship with Europe, as far as the young are concerned I have children and grandchildren and the young keep me young, and as far as the environment is concerned I want plastic banned totally within 5 years, have solar panels, and recycle most everything
So you must see how utterly ridiculous are the lefts attemps to demonise us
In any event, in debate I try to observe the principle that my opponent is as honourable as myself and may possibly be right.
I’m sure tht someone will point to somewhere where I haven’t observed that principle, but in my defence I would say that errare humanum est
Lefties view any righties with suspicion and vice-versa is also true. A moderate righty is already quite extreme as far as a lefty is concerned (and vice-versa) so it takes very little movement further right to be viewed as a "lunatic".
For now, I'm intent on a policy of belligerent abstention, going to the polling booth and spoiling my ballot paper. I see no reason to endorse either set of nutjobs.
Interesting to see one side of the political divide using the term perjoratively, because without centrist Dad’s vote they ain’t going to win power.
Contempt for Europe:
Plenty of evidence for this, but spending 12 months of critical negotiation time blustering, vacillating, threatening and generally failing to engage in detailed or positive negotiation would be a start.
Contempt for the Poor:
Universal Credit, a disaster in slow motion. Rees-Mogg sees foodbanks as 'uplifting'.
Contempt for Immigrants:
Heavy handed deportation letters sent off willy-nilly to folk who have every right to be here. Slowness at dealing with EU citizens rights, right wing press mockery of 'child refugees'.
Contempt for Liberal values:
Tory majority opposing same sex marriage, daily comments by pb Tories decrying metropolitan liberals, etc.
Contempt for the young:
Before election, PB tories routinely laughing about how the kids wouldn't get out of bed or put their play stations down to vote.
Contempt for the environment:
Failure to address air quality targets, failure to consider evidence based solutions to bovine TB, flooding, failure to deal with the decimation of upland wildlife by keepers, failure to take biodiversity decline seriously.
https://twitter.com/Independent/status/914786281510637568