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  • malcolmg said:

    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    LOL, neither of you have a clue and obviously did not really grow up in the 70's. It was a great time , plenty of jobs , cheap housing, cheap petrol and best of all cheap beer. Only way it could have been improved is for Scotland to have won the world cup in Argentina. The 70's were superb.
    I thought Archie Gemmil's winner against the Netherlands in '78 World Cup was better than winning the World Cup?
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,405

    malcolmg said:

    Financier said:

    hucks67 said:

    Look what happens after George Osborne visits a company !

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/10/morrisons-axes-700-more-jobs

    Does misfortune follow Osborne around ?

    When Morrisons bought Safeway (mainly southern UK), it changed the Safeway product mix to more of the northern Morrisons product mix - pies and more pies, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and sweets etc. It is still struggling to recognise that the requirements of the southern UK shopper are often different to those of its northern stronghold.

    The redundancies mentioned in the Guardian are due to technology and cheaper employment costs outside the UK.
    Not much can be done about those until we reduce employment costs in the UK to be more competitive globally.


    I did not believe you could be any more condescending or write even more horse manure than normal, but that takes the biscuit. Having lived in the south you are obviously either having a laugh or are a sandwich short of a picnic ( no pun intended you can substitute a slice short of a pie if needed ).
    Financier is right though. The Leicester Safeway had a good range of products, now it is Morrisons it is definitly more down market. In Leicester it is quite busy, but not doing so well in more prosperous places. Margins are lower on low value products. I rarely shop there now.
    What precisely can't I get at Morrisons *puzzled face* ? I'm genuinely curious as to what 'southern food' I'm missing out on by shopping there. Every supermarket I've ever been in has been much of a muchness in my book, and Morrisons is great value on alot of things.
  • I can't say I've seen more pies and cakes in my local Mozzers than I have in my local Tesco, but then I live in the East Mids, so perhaps the north/south pie imbalance reaches equilibrium in my neck of the woods.
  • NeilNeil Posts: 7,983
    Hard to believe the Belfast Agreement is 15 years old today. I remember spending the day staring at the TV waiting for updates (the pubs are closed in the Republic on Good Friday). This gives a small taste of the tension involved:

    http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/night-of-almost-unbearable-pressure-gave-way-to-day-of-history-1.1355087?page=1
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495

    malcolmg said:

    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    LOL, neither of you have a clue and obviously did not really grow up in the 70's. It was a great time , plenty of jobs , cheap housing, cheap petrol and best of all cheap beer. Only way it could have been improved is for Scotland to have won the world cup in Argentina. The 70's were superb.
    I thought Archie Gemmil's winner against the Netherlands in '78 World Cup was better than winning the World Cup?
    I remember getting a colour TV for the 74 finals, the despair was even worse than getting beaten in black and white.
  • carlcarl Posts: 750
    *anecdote alert*

    I know some southerners who like pies.
  • HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    dr_spyn said:

    whitbread tankard/carling/watney's red - akin to making love in a punt.

    Don't forget Watney's Star Light - that was truly appalling. Still Youngs survived and thrived in the 1970s as did Fuller Smith and Turner and many other small brewers now alas gone (not least due to the silly beer orders introduced by the Conservative minister Lord Young). The 1970s also saw the birth of CAMRA, surely the most successful consumer campaign organisation ever.

    As I said on here last night, the seventies were a pretty awful time in many ways but I have to side with Mr. G., personally they were great. For example, In that long hot summer of '76 I had a months leave and spent it living with my oppo in a posh flat in Wigmore Street (his Dad, a publican, provided it and the Triumph Stag garaged under the Portman Hotel). I went hod carrying on the building sites by day (casual labour cash in hand) and drinking and shagging by night. Fantastic times the seventies, I was a fit as a fiddle, had a job I loved, no responsibilities and more money than I knew what to do with. The eighties were pretty good too.

  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,141
    alex thomson‏@alextomo7m
    Recalled parliament sets aside more than 7 hours for Thatcher tributes. Churchill got 27 mins and 4 speakers.

    We live in immodest times.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    OT The Julian Calendar?!

    RT @Cmdr_Hadfield: Good Morning, Earth! We use Julian dates onboard, and thus it is the 100th day of 2013. Time sure flies at 8 km/sec!
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    Both Houses of Parliament have been recalled to pay tributes to former Prime Minister, Baroness Thatcher, on 10 April 2013. Baroness Thatcher died on 8 April 2013.

    Since 1948, the House of Commons has been recalled during a recess on 25 occasions.

    Under Standing Orders, the Speaker of the House of Commons determines whether the House is to be recalled on the basis of representations made by Ministers.

    Under the previous Labour Government, Members argued that they, rather than the Government, should be able to make representations to the Speaker to recall Parliament. The Labour Government announced proposals to effect this change but the proposals were never implemented.

    In 1994, the House of Commons introduced an allowance to meet any costs incurred by Members in attending the House of Commons when it was recalled. The responsibility for meeting the expenses of Members has now transferred to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

    The Standing Orders of the House of Lords and of the devolved legislatures in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast provide for early recall if the circumstances require it. http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN01186.pdf
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495

    I can't say I've seen more pies and cakes in my local Mozzers than I have in my local Tesco, but then I live in the East Mids, so perhaps the north/south pie imbalance reaches equilibrium in my neck of the woods.

    You are not far enough south to understand the quality of food Financier enjoys in those exclusive southern supermarkets. All pies and cakes are forbidden and they feast on fois gras and caviar every day , it is the educated palates that do it of course.
  • alex thomson‏@alextomo7m
    Recalled parliament sets aside more than 7 hours for Thatcher tributes. Churchill got 27 mins and 4 speakers.

    We live in immodest times.

    But Churchill only defeated the Nazis, Thatcher smashed the Communists, The Unions, The Argies, The Scots.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    best of all cheap beer.
    Watney's Red Barrel?

    Perhaps you were enjoying it in quantity?

    Carlotta , geography is not your best subject , that was an English beer and luckily we were not subjected to it in God's country, naff advertising excepted. We did have our share of dodgy beers but there was good enough stuff around as well. Carling is its equivalent today.

    Carlotta , have to add I was a bit less selective in those days mind you so all beer was good.
    I take it you're a Brew Dog fan then ?
  • AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    Jonathan said:


    The 74-79 govt gets an underserved bad press. They inherited a nightmare situation from Heath, had no majority, got inflation down and obviously confronted over-mighty union power in a way that ultimately cost them the election.

    The wheel is round...

    The 74-79 10-15 govt gets an underserved bad press. They inherited a nightmare situation from Heath Brown, had no majority, got inflation the deficit down and obviously confronted over-mighty union power an unsustainable welfare bill in a way that ultimately cost them the election.

  • RichardNabaviRichardNabavi Posts: 3,413
    edited April 2013
    Jonathan said:


    Labour got the blame for clearing up Heath's mess. Or are you changing your tune about the current Coalition and have decided that the situation Cameron inherited has no bearing on current conditions?

    They didn't clear up Heath's mess, Maggie did (eventually) and, whilst I certainly wouldn't defend the Heath government, it is also very much the case that Heath inherited Wilson's mess. The entire political establishment screwed up, for at least 15 years before Maggie rescued the country. That is why we were the 'sick man of Europe', and why Maggie's achievement was so stupendous. Everyone else, virtually without exception, had given up.

    Although it was a long-term failure which got us into the mess, if you really want to put your finger on one moment where it really went wrong, that was 1969 and Wilson's bottling out of In Place of Strife. If he had accepted Barbara Castle's proposals, the whole nightmare of the seventies, and the need for Maggie to use such confrontational methods to rescue the country, might have been avoided. It was an absolutely classic example of what happens if you see a problem but refuse to deal with it and leave it to fester for years. I expect we'll see another example in the next parliamentary term, if Ed becomes PM.
  • john_zimsjohn_zims Posts: 3,399
    @CarlottaVance

    'Labour MPs 'rising to the occasion':

    http://www.greenbenchesuk.com/2013/04/mps-whove-tweeted-to-say-they-wont-be.html

    I'm sure we will miss such heavyweights.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,405

    I can't say I've seen more pies and cakes in my local Mozzers than I have in my local Tesco, but then I live in the East Mids, so perhaps the north/south pie imbalance reaches equilibrium in my neck of the woods.

    The most famous place associated with pork pies, Melton Mowbray is very much in the East Midlands in the parliamentary constituency of Rutland and Melton, probably one of the safest CON seats in the country !
  • dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,300
    @hurstLlama

    David Steele's only Triumph was his Stag.

    Ad Slogan - You can do it in an MG -graffiti underneath - don't bore us with your bloody Triumphs.

    TR7 - a piece of junk compared to the TR6.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724

    alex thomson‏@alextomo7m
    Recalled parliament sets aside more than 7 hours for Thatcher tributes. Churchill got 27 mins and 4 speakers.

    We live in immodest times.

    A whole 7hrs - really?

    RT @danielbyles: Today's sitting in Parliament is not a debate, it is a tribute. A similar tribute was held for the late John Smith. http://t.co/u4OIoT7TDb
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514

    alex thomson‏@alextomo7m
    Recalled parliament sets aside more than 7 hours for Thatcher tributes. Churchill got 27 mins and 4 speakers.

    We live in immodest times.

    Spot on Divvie, this is just amateur dramatics.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,141
    edited April 2013
    @TheScreamingEagles 'But Churchill only defeated the Nazis, Thatcher smashed the Communists, The Unions, The Argies, The Scots.'


    Ahem, as you've pointed out there's only one way Scots get smashed. We're still here, unbowed and uncowed (pun intended).
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 21,704
    Anorak said:

    Jonathan said:


    The 74-79 govt gets an underserved bad press. They inherited a nightmare situation from Heath, had no majority, got inflation down and obviously confronted over-mighty union power in a way that ultimately cost them the election.

    The wheel is round...

    The 74-79 10-15 govt gets an underserved bad press. They inherited a nightmare situation from Heath Brown, had no majority, got inflation the deficit down and obviously confronted over-mighty union power an unsustainable welfare bill in a way that ultimately cost them the election.

    18 years of Labour govt beckons?

  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Financier said:

    hucks67 said:

    Look what happens after George Osborne visits a company !

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/10/morrisons-axes-700-more-jobs

    Does misfortune follow Osborne around ?

    When Morrisons bought Safeway (mainly southern UK), it changed the Safeway product mix to more of the northern Morrisons product mix - pies and more pies, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and sweets etc. It is still struggling to recognise that the requirements of the southern UK shopper are often different to those of its northern stronghold.

    The redundancies mentioned in the Guardian are due to technology and cheaper employment costs outside the UK.
    Not much can be done about those until we reduce employment costs in the UK to be more competitive globally.


    I did not believe you could be any more condescending or write even more horse manure than normal, but that takes the biscuit. Having lived in the south you are obviously either having a laugh or are a sandwich short of a picnic ( no pun intended you can substitute a slice short of a pie if needed ).
    Financier is right though. The Leicester Safeway had a good range of products, now it is Morrisons it is definitly more down market. In Leicester it is quite busy, but not doing so well in more prosperous places. Margins are lower on low value products. I rarely shop there now.
    Fox, He may be correct in his facts around choice of products, but his pathetic sweeping dig that people in the south are superior to the people in the north who only eat pies and crap was way over the top. The man is an imbecile or not all there.
    Morrisons was a northern based chain gone national, but is more down market of Safeway, and plenty of sugar filled hydrogenated fat products in Leicester. Not my cup of tea ty but as I said is busy here. While geography affects diet, social class and income are probably more significant. It is not the balmy climate that means southerners live longer than those in the north or scotland, it is more to do with diet, obesity and smoking. Grocers have to stock what their customers want.
  • Pulpstar said:

    I can't say I've seen more pies and cakes in my local Mozzers than I have in my local Tesco, but then I live in the East Mids, so perhaps the north/south pie imbalance reaches equilibrium in my neck of the woods.

    The most famous place associated with pork pies, Melton Mowbray is very much in the East Midlands in the parliamentary constituency of Rutland and Melton, probably one of the safest CON seats in the country !
    I don't think you can equate the food of the gods that is the Melton pork pie with the sort of pie that Financier is blaming Morrisons' misfortune on. My time spent at Oakham station was a quiet time, but we ate like kings from all the local producers!

  • HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    "TR7 - a piece of junk compared to the TR6."

    Very true, Doc, and in truth the Stag was a heap of junk as a motor car. However, it did have one redeeming point, young ladies were attracted to it and that is what mattered.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    edited April 2013
    I think R4 has just jumped the shark - they're now attributing Thatcher's *unpopularity* to the menopause.

    WTF? Who edits this misogynistic patronising cobblers?
  • carlcarl Posts: 750
    Briefly back on topic, I'd maybe expect a Thatcher bounce for the blues come to think of it.

    Perhaps manifesting itself in certainty to vote or a fall for UKIP, as older Rightwingers get all misty eyed and remember why they were Tories.
  • @TheScreamingEagles 'But Churchill only defeated the Nazis, Thatcher smashed the Communists, The Unions, The Argies, The Scots.'


    Ahem, as you've pointed out there's only one way Scots get smashed. We're still here, unbowed and uncowed (pun intended).

    I know, The Scots will never be defeated, particularly by someone from England.
  • dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,300
    The Stag - open topped, expensive, I hope it wasn't available in Safari Yellow...

  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    best of all cheap beer.
    Watney's Red Barrel?

    Perhaps you were enjoying it in quantity?

    Carlotta , geography is not your best subject , that was an English beer and luckily we were not subjected to it in God's country, naff advertising excepted. We did have our share of dodgy beers but there was good enough stuff around as well. Carling is its equivalent today.

    Carlotta , have to add I was a bit less selective in those days mind you so all beer was good.
    I take it you're a Brew Dog fan then ?
    Morning Alan, I do like some of their stuff , some is a bit too strong though. Not too keen on beer much over 5%, or much under for that matter. Real ales can get away with being 4% mark though.
  • AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    Jonathan said:

    Anorak said:

    Jonathan said:


    The 74-79 govt gets an underserved bad press. They inherited a nightmare situation from Heath, had no majority, got inflation down and obviously confronted over-mighty union power in a way that ultimately cost them the election.

    The wheel is round...

    The 74-79 10-15 govt gets an underserved bad press. They inherited a nightmare situation from Heath Brown, had no majority, got inflation the deficit down and obviously confronted over-mighty union power an unsustainable welfare bill in a way that ultimately cost them the election.

    18 years of Labour govt beckons?

    10, perhaps (depressingly). Depends how far down the road to recovery we are by 2020, and how willing Labour are to dole out the necessary medicine.
  • This parliamentary recall is a total waste of time and money. It serves no purpose but to turn the death of Thatcher into even more of a circus. I'd make Cameron foot the bill.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    dr_spyn said:

    whitbread tankard/carling/watney's red - akin to making love in a punt.

    Another great car crash of beer advertising was 'Hemmeling'.

    The original idea was that 'this beer is so good, blokes would rather drink it than chat to dolly birds.'

    Ad has two blokes in a pub, giving the brush off to dolly birds with the tag line 'We'd rather be Hemmeling!'

    Punters, not unnaturally came to the conclusion that there might be other things they'd rather be doing together as well....

    'Hemmeling - The Straight Pint' could not save them......

  • BenMBenM Posts: 1,795
    @tim

    On Monday we'll all be around for her ascension...
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    edited April 2013

    "TR7 - a piece of junk compared to the TR6."

    Very true, Doc, and in truth the Stag was a heap of junk as a motor car. However, it did have one redeeming point, young ladies were attracted to it and that is what mattered.

    I was for many years a Triumph anorak who compared the quality of the upholstery in concours cars with my own Spitfire Mk4 that I loved dearly and spent a fortune on [it's paintwork was so perfect I could put on make-up using its reflection.]

    If you've never owned a Spitfire, experienced flying in one on a bumpy country road with the top down and leaf-springs bouncing/differential scraping on the road - you haven't lived!

    I rather miss hunting around scrapyards on a Sunday trying to find elusive parts, in fact - I can't recall the last time I saw a Spitty on the road - we used to beep at each other to say Hello.

    I also had a GT6 - an English muscle car with a huge engine, unfortunately mine was also a Flintstone model with holes in the floorpan...
  • john_zimsjohn_zims Posts: 3,399
    @Tim

    It was the Speakers stunt.


  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    Neil said:

    Hard to believe the Belfast Agreement is 15 years old today. I remember spending the day staring at the TV waiting for updates (the pubs are closed in the Republic on Good Friday). This gives a small taste of the tension involved:

    http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/night-of-almost-unbearable-pressure-gave-way-to-day-of-history-1.1355087?page=1

    I'd say that it is harder to believe that the cricket season starts today. And that Severn Trent Water is warning its customers about conserving water as rainfall has been below average for three months.

  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Financier said:

    hucks67 said:

    Look what happens after George Osborne visits a company !

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/10/morrisons-axes-700-more-jobs

    Does misfortune follow Osborne around ?

    When Morrisons bought Safeway (mainly southern UK), it changed the Safeway product mix to more of the northern Morrisons product mix - pies and more pies, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and sweets etc. It is still struggling to recognise that the requirements of the southern UK shopper are often different to those of its northern stronghold.

    The redundancies mentioned in the Guardian are due to technology and cheaper employment costs outside the UK.
    Not much can be done about those until we reduce employment costs in the UK to be more competitive globally.


    I did not believe you could be any more condescending or write even more horse manure than normal, but that takes the biscuit. Having lived in the south you are obviously either having a laugh or are a sandwich short of a picnic ( no pun intended you can substitute a slice short of a pie if needed ).
    Financier is right though. The Leicester Safeway had a good range of products, now it is Morrisons it is definitly more down market. In Leicester it is quite busy, but not doing so well in more prosperous places. Margins are lower on low value products. I rarely shop there now.
    Fox, He may be correct in his facts around choice of products, but his pathetic sweeping dig that people in the south are superior to the people in the north who only eat pies and crap was way over the top. The man is an imbecile or not all there.
    Morrisons was a northern based chain gone national, but is more down market of Safeway, and plenty of sugar filled hydrogenated fat products in Leicester. Not my cup of tea ty but as I said is busy here. While geography affects diet, social class and income are probably more significant. It is not the balmy climate that means southerners live longer than those in the north or Scotland, it is more to do with diet, obesity and smoking. Grocers have to stock what their customers want.
    Fox, you follow Financier by making sweeping statements that all in the North die young. When you take off your southern blinkers you will find that many people in the north live long lives , that there are shops that stock healthy food and there are actually some affluent people.
    I will state once again having lived in the south , both you and Financier are talking bollocks. The supermarkets there stock mostly the exact same products as they do throughout the country apart from some regional variations. There are as many pies down south as up north and only up themselves tw*ts would state otherwise. I could safely bet that I have at least as good and healthy a diet as you or Financier. You do yourself no favour by quoting stereotypes.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    best of all cheap beer.
    Watney's Red Barrel?

    Perhaps you were enjoying it in quantity?

    Carlotta , geography is not your best subject , that was an English beer and luckily we were not subjected to it in God's country, naff advertising excepted. We did have our share of dodgy beers but there was good enough stuff around as well. Carling is its equivalent today.

    Carlotta , have to add I was a bit less selective in those days mind you so all beer was good.
    I take it you're a Brew Dog fan then ?
    Morning Alan, I do like some of their stuff , some is a bit too strong though. Not too keen on beer much over 5%, or much under for that matter. Real ales can get away with being 4% mark though.
    They've opened up a bar in Birmingham, which attratced by brother in law who's a real ale fan and can pack it away. It near killed him as he stuck on the 9.2% beer, worst I've ever seen him, weddings, Xmas the lot !
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    Plato said:

    This is spot on. If Dan Hodges stood for Parliament, I'd be tempted to vote for him.

    As any serial labour voter would. ;^)

    Unspoofable.

  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,376
    Ugh, the mean spirited carping from the left about the cost of Baroness Thatchers funeral and recalling Parliament is doing them no favours at all.

    It's easy to forget just how chlidish, vindictive and silly lefties can be until something like this happens and your reminded again why you voted for Cameron in 2010 primarily to ensure Labour went into Opposition...
  • Neil said:

    Hard to believe the Belfast Agreement is 15 years old today. I remember spending the day staring at the TV waiting for updates (the pubs are closed in the Republic on Good Friday). This gives a small taste of the tension involved:

    http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/night-of-almost-unbearable-pressure-gave-way-to-day-of-history-1.1355087?page=1

    I'd say that it is harder to believe that the cricket season starts today. And that Severn Trent Water is warning its customers about conserving water as rainfall has been below average for three months.

    Severn Trent can feck right off. We've had two serious leaks in our village, that I know of, that have been running for months. During the big freeze last month, one on the main road was lethal to cyclists. I've called their leak reporting line once a week for the past few months to no avail. I'll start saving water when they do.

  • FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916
    @malcolmg

    I was not having a dig at anyone or anyone's habits or dietary choice. However, if a retailer does not supply what the consumer wants, then the consumer will go elsewhere and that is Morrison's problem at present.

    FYI I have lived in Aberdeen, Leeds and South Bucks as well as being brought up in Somerset and the eating habits and dietary choices of the people who live in these places vary significantly.

    The Safeway (now Morrisons) I referred to is in West Wales and most of locals were surprised at the change in product mix when Morrisons took over - and sales were lost to the Co-op.

    After all this time since the take-over, people still complain about the product mix and the farmer's market, local butchers and fishmonger (all of which are significantly more expensive but have expanded their shops and provide quality products) do an excellent trade as a result. When M&S open their Simply Food shop, that will do well - even though it will not be cheap by any means.

    BTW I enjoy a slice of a genuine Melton Mowbray pie as much as the next person, but with salad and not chips.

    There is a peculiar food choice in this area, when having a curry people have both chips and rice - still cannot get used to it.



  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    best of all cheap beer.
    Watney's Red Barrel?

    Perhaps you were enjoying it in quantity?

    Carlotta , geography is not your best subject , that was an English beer and luckily we were not subjected to it in God's country, naff advertising excepted. We did have our share of dodgy beers but there was good enough stuff around as well. Carling is its equivalent today.

    Carlotta , have to add I was a bit less selective in those days mind you so all beer was good.
    I take it you're a Brew Dog fan then ?
    Morning Alan, I do like some of their stuff , some is a bit too strong though. Not too keen on beer much over 5%, or much under for that matter. Real ales can get away with being 4% mark though.
    They've opened up a bar in Birmingham, which attratced by brother in law who's a real ale fan and can pack it away. It near killed him as he stuck on the 9.2% beer, worst I've ever seen him, weddings, Xmas the lot !
    I tried a half pint of either that one or one at least at 8% or over but to me it was undrinkable, much like the very strong Belgium beers.
    A step too far and I cannot take as much as I used to either.
  • I think the North Koreans do it best when it comes to the passing of a leader.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWen7mFuQY8
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    GIN1138 said:

    Ugh, the mean spirited carping from the left about the cost of Baroness Thatchers funeral and recalling Parliament is doing them no favours at all.

    It's easy to forget just how chlidish, vindictive and silly lefties can be until something like this happens and your reminded again why you voted for Cameron in 2010 primarily to ensure Labour went into Opposition...

    That the Telegraph have been forced to close comments on every article about her speaks volumes. It's revolting. She's dead and they still can't stop themselves.

    Just who is painting themselves as the Nasty Party right now? Hmm?
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    Mick_Pork said:

    Plato said:

    This is spot on. If Dan Hodges stood for Parliament, I'd be tempted to vote for him.

    As any serial labour voter would. ;^)

    Unspoofable.

    Hodges writes for his readership. His readership want to be outraged by the left. He delivers. His readers love it. Everyone wins. The only silly bit is when people believe he is a serious commentator. Have you ever seen him and Toby Young in the same room?

  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    @Financier

    "There is a peculiar food choice in this area, when having a curry people have both chips and rice - still cannot get used to it."

    If there is one thing I miss about Newcastle was buying gravy and chips as an alternative to a kebab on the way home from the pub. Down here in Sussex - its curry and chips - yuck.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    best of all cheap beer.
    Watney's Red Barrel?

    Perhaps you were enjoying it in quantity?

    Carlotta , geography is not your best subject , that was an English beer and luckily we were not subjected to it in God's country, naff advertising excepted. We did have our share of dodgy beers but there was good enough stuff around as well. Carling is its equivalent today.

    Carlotta , have to add I was a bit less selective in those days mind you so all beer was good.
    I take it you're a Brew Dog fan then ?
    Morning Alan, I do like some of their stuff , some is a bit too strong though. Not too keen on beer much over 5%, or much under for that matter. Real ales can get away with being 4% mark though.
    They've opened up a bar in Birmingham, which attratced by brother in law who's a real ale fan and can pack it away. It near killed him as he stuck on the 9.2% beer, worst I've ever seen him, weddings, Xmas the lot !
    I tried a half pint of either that one or one at least at 8% or over but to me it was undrinkable, much like the very strong Belgium beers.
    A step too far and I cannot take as much as I used to either.
    I must say malc I'm the same, I'd rather have two medium strength drinks than one headbanger. You can at least taste them.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,376
    @Tim

    Actually I wasn't really talking about here.

    Isn't The Speaker usually responsible for recalling Parliament? I thought you were a fan of Speaker B?
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    edited April 2013

    Mick_Pork said:

    Plato said:

    This is spot on. If Dan Hodges stood for Parliament, I'd be tempted to vote for him.

    As any serial labour voter would. ;^)

    Unspoofable.

    Hodges writes for his readership. His readership want to be outraged by the left. He delivers. His readers love it. Everyone wins. The only silly bit is when people believe he is a serious commentator. Have you ever seen him and Toby Young in the same room?

    Piffle - read his tweets, he speaks as he writes - that he doesn't conform to what you'd like him to is another matter.

    Here's his latest

    RT @DPJHodges: @mjrharris No. Labour people should condemn this stuff. No ifs, no buts, no 'its all the Mail'. Condemn it without throwing deflections.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514
    Plato said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Ugh, the mean spirited carping from the left about the cost of Baroness Thatchers funeral and recalling Parliament is doing them no favours at all.

    It's easy to forget just how chlidish, vindictive and silly lefties can be until something like this happens and your reminded again why you voted for Cameron in 2010 primarily to ensure Labour went into Opposition...

    That the Telegraph have been forced to close comments on every article about her speaks volumes. It's revolting. She's dead and they still can't stop themselves.

    Just who is painting themselves as the Nasty Party right now? Hmm?
    Can't see why you're getting upset Mrs T herself would have loved it as the ultimate accolade

    ‘I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.’

    People with a blank piece of paper.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    C4 Fact Check re Thatcher myths http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-the-thatcher-myths/13236

    Number One:

    Thatcher the milk snatcher

    The nickname was coined by Labour in opposition and the press after the government abolished free school milk for over-sevens in 1970 when Margaret Thatcher was education secretary.

    But according to her memoirs and archives, Lady Thatcher herself had argued in cabinet against getting rid of free milk altogether. It was a policy driven by the Treasury, first under Iain Macleod, then Anthony Barber.

    So in Barber’s first budget of October 1970, the policy was limited to children above the age of seven, and special schools and children with medical needs were excluded.
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    Nessie Buggles ‏@wildcandytuft 23m

    #WOWpetition: Government admits it did not consider the combined impact of welfare cuts affecting disabled people http://wowpetition.blogspot.com/2013/04/government-admits-it-did-not-consider.html?spref=tw

    Just who is painting themselves as the Nasty Party right now? Hmm?
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495
    edited April 2013
    Financier said:

    @malcolmg

    I was not having a dig at anyone or anyone's habits or dietary choice. However, if a retailer does not supply what the consumer wants, then the consumer will go elsewhere and that is Morrison's problem at present.

    FYI I have lived in Aberdeen, Leeds and South Bucks as well as being brought up in Somerset and the eating habits and dietary choices of the people who live in these places vary significantly.

    The Safeway (now Morrisons) I referred to is in West Wales and most of locals were surprised at the change in product mix when Morrisons took over - and sales were lost to the Co-op.

    After all this time since the take-over, people still complain about the product mix and the farmer's market, local butchers and fishmonger (all of which are significantly more expensive but have expanded their shops and provide quality products) do an excellent trade as a result. When M&S open their Simply Food shop, that will do well - even though it will not be cheap by any means.

    BTW I enjoy a slice of a genuine Melton Mowbray pie as much as the next person, but with salad and not chips.

    There is a peculiar food choice in this area, when having a curry people have both chips and rice - still cannot get used to it.



    Funnily enough there are people up here who have chips and rice with curry. I will assume you put your point across badly, however Morrison's is not any different from ASDA and TESCO. We have varying sizes of their stores and the large ones have a bigger choice. Once you start comparing to M&S and Waitrose then you are excluding most of the population who could not afford to shop there. However to simply state it is a North / South debate is crass as there are many in the south with poor diets and in teh standard supermarkets it is the same choice of products.
    There are significant amounts of people who can only dream of reaching Morrisons levels who have to make do with cheaper more down market shops, many have little choice from either money or lack of knowledge viewpoint.

    ps: nothing wrong in having chips with a nice steak, I do not have them often but enjoy them when I do.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    Plato said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    Plato said:

    This is spot on. If Dan Hodges stood for Parliament, I'd be tempted to vote for him.

    As any serial labour voter would. ;^)

    Unspoofable.

    Hodges writes for his readership. His readership want to be outraged by the left. He delivers. His readers love it. Everyone wins. The only silly bit is when people believe he is a serious commentator. Have you ever seen him and Toby Young in the same room?

    Piffle - read his tweets, he speaks as he writes - that he doesn't conform to what you'd like him too is another matter.

    Yes, he speaks for his audience. You want to be outraged by the Labour Party's reaction to the death of Mrs T. He delivers. You love it. He is doing his job. But writing to please people who hate the Labour Party does not make him a serious commentator. It makes him uninteresting; unless you hate the Labour Party. There are plenty of commentaors who only write about how awful the Tories are. They are uninteresting too.

  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    The biggest Morrisson's in the UK - apparently - opened in Leamington on Monday.
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited April 2013

    Yes, he speaks for his audience

    Terrible backlash! ;)

  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514

    The biggest Morrisson's in the UK - apparently - opened in Leamington on Monday.

    It hasn't half screwed up getting to the train station.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668

    Plato said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Ugh, the mean spirited carping from the left about the cost of Baroness Thatchers funeral and recalling Parliament is doing them no favours at all.

    It's easy to forget just how chlidish, vindictive and silly lefties can be until something like this happens and your reminded again why you voted for Cameron in 2010 primarily to ensure Labour went into Opposition...

    That the Telegraph have been forced to close comments on every article about her speaks volumes. It's revolting. She's dead and they still can't stop themselves.

    Just who is painting themselves as the Nasty Party right now? Hmm?
    Can't see why you're getting upset Mrs T herself would have loved it as the ultimate accolade

    ‘I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.’

    People with a blank piece of paper.

    Plato is absolutely determined to be outraged. Nothing can stop her. She's a force of nature!



  • Morrisons like Asda will dominate the UK supermarket industry.

    They are both from Yorkshire, that's all you need to know.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724

    Plato said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    Plato said:

    This is spot on. If Dan Hodges stood for Parliament, I'd be tempted to vote for him.

    As any serial labour voter would. ;^)

    Unspoofable.

    Hodges writes for his readership. His readership want to be outraged by the left. He delivers. His readers love it. Everyone wins. The only silly bit is when people believe he is a serious commentator. Have you ever seen him and Toby Young in the same room?

    Piffle - read his tweets, he speaks as he writes - that he doesn't conform to what you'd like him too is another matter.

    Yes, he speaks for his audience. You want to be outraged by the Labour Party's reaction to the death of Mrs T. He delivers. You love it. He is doing his job. But writing to please people who hate the Labour Party does not make him a serious commentator. It makes him uninteresting; unless you hate the Labour Party. There are plenty of commentaors who only write about how awful the Tories are. They are uninteresting too.

    More piffle - he's a LABOUR activist and writer who thinks they're on the wrong path - same as Tom Harris and Frank Field and John Rentoul and Peter Watt et al.

    Dismissing them as Closet Tories is stupid IMO. As is claiming that what they say isn't true.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,405

    Plato said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    Plato said:

    This is spot on. If Dan Hodges stood for Parliament, I'd be tempted to vote for him.

    As any serial labour voter would. ;^)

    Unspoofable.

    Hodges writes for his readership. His readership want to be outraged by the left. He delivers. His readers love it. Everyone wins. The only silly bit is when people believe he is a serious commentator. Have you ever seen him and Toby Young in the same room?

    Piffle - read his tweets, he speaks as he writes - that he doesn't conform to what you'd like him too is another matter.

    Yes, he speaks for his audience. You want to be outraged by the Labour Party's reaction to the death of Mrs T. He delivers. You love it. He is doing his job. But writing to please people who hate the Labour Party does not make him a serious commentator. It makes him uninteresting; unless you hate the Labour Party. There are plenty of commentaors who only write about how awful the Tories are. They are uninteresting too.

    Nonsense.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668

    The biggest Morrisson's in the UK - apparently - opened in Leamington on Monday.

    It hasn't half screwed up getting to the train station.

    And Sainsburys and the M40. Good meat though.

  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495
    Mick_Pork said:

    Nessie Buggles ‏@wildcandytuft 23m

    #WOWpetition: Government admits it did not consider the combined impact of welfare cuts affecting disabled people http://wowpetition.blogspot.com/2013/04/government-admits-it-did-not-consider.html?spref=tw

    Just who is painting themselves as the Nasty Party right now? Hmm?

    Dummy party more like, they cannot even add up their changes, LOL , you could not make it up. How did this bunch of morons ever get university degrees, it must be easy to pass in Oxford.
  • AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    Hollande declares war on tax havens. "Look squirrel" or "tilting at windmills"?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22094194
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530

    You love it. He is doing his job. But writing to please people who hate the Labour Party does not make him a serious commentator. It makes him uninteresting; unless you hate the Labour Party. There are plenty of commentaors who only write about how awful the Tories are. They are uninteresting too.


    Cat piffle. Dan Hodges is at least as accurate with his predictions as the tea party tories. ;^)

  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,945
    Sorry about the very slow reply, Mr. Jessop.

    Yes, you're quite right. My mistake.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    Plato said:

    dr_spyn said:

    Some on the Left ought to reflect on why Margaret Thatcher was able to win in 1978. In part it was due to her determination to bring about changes, but it was also due to the intellectual and politcal vaccuum of The Left which allowed closed shops, flying pickets, unsecret strike votes - Show of Hands and all that. The power cuts, the unburied dead, the high rates of income tax and a bloated public sector didn't act as great adverts for socialism Labour style.

    I grew up under 3 day weeks, the BBC on strike and off air, unburied dead, rubbish 6ft high in the street, power cuts, flying pickets, the IMF, union thuggery and closed shops. It was appalling and totally out of control.

    Thatcher was precisely what was needed. I only voted for her once in 1987 but the Left ruined us - I bitterly regret ever voting for them again given what we learnt about how they destroyed our economy again.
    best of all cheap beer.
    Watney's Red Barrel?

    Perhaps you were enjoying it in quantity?

    Carlotta , geography is not your best subject , that was an English beer and luckily we were not subjected to it in God's country, naff advertising excepted. We did have our share of dodgy beers but there was good enough stuff around as well. Carling is its equivalent today.

    Carlotta , have to add I was a bit less selective in those days mind you so all beer was good.
    I take it you're a Brew Dog fan then ?
    Morning Alan, I do like some of their stuff , some is a bit too strong though. Not too keen on beer much over 5%, or much under for that matter. Real ales can get away with being 4% mark though.
    They've opened up a bar in Birmingham, which attratced by brother in law who's a real ale fan and can pack it away. It near killed him as he stuck on the 9.2% beer, worst I've ever seen him, weddings, Xmas the lot !
    I tried a half pint of either that one or one at least at 8% or over but to me it was undrinkable, much like the very strong Belgium beers.
    A step too far and I cannot take as much as I used to either.
    I must say malc I'm the same, I'd rather have two medium strength drinks than one headbanger. You can at least taste them.
    If I cannot get decent real ale then I tend to stick to a real German lager if I can, they never let you down.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724

    Plato said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Ugh, the mean spirited carping from the left about the cost of Baroness Thatchers funeral and recalling Parliament is doing them no favours at all.

    It's easy to forget just how chlidish, vindictive and silly lefties can be until something like this happens and your reminded again why you voted for Cameron in 2010 primarily to ensure Labour went into Opposition...

    That the Telegraph have been forced to close comments on every article about her speaks volumes. It's revolting. She's dead and they still can't stop themselves.

    Just who is painting themselves as the Nasty Party right now? Hmm?
    Can't see why you're getting upset Mrs T herself would have loved it as the ultimate accolade

    ‘I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.’

    People with a blank piece of paper.
    I think its just wrong and tasteless to rubbish anyone like this. Whether Mrs T would find it amusing or not doesn't matter, her family and friends are still alive and are seeing it. It's just dreadful and tasteless. I wouldn't wish it on anyone when they weren't even in the ground.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514

    The biggest Morrisson's in the UK - apparently - opened in Leamington on Monday.

    It hasn't half screwed up getting to the train station.

    And Sainsburys and the M40. Good meat though.

    popped in on Monday as I was picking my daughter up on a train, pretty big as you say, though the bit I always hate about Morrisons is the quid for the trolley as I almost never have the right change.
  • NeilNeil Posts: 7,983
    Plato said:

    Dismissing them as Closet Tories is stupid IMO

    You dont have to be a closet Tory to make your living telling Telegraph readers and anti-Labour people what they want to hear.
  • Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    Plato said:

    Plato said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    Plato said:

    This is spot on. If Dan Hodges stood for Parliament, I'd be tempted to vote for him.

    As any serial labour voter would. ;^)

    Unspoofable.

    Hodges writes for his readership. His readership want to be outraged by the left. He delivers. His readers love it. Everyone wins. The only silly bit is when people believe he is a serious commentator. Have you ever seen him and Toby Young in the same room?

    Piffle - read his tweets, he speaks as he writes - that he doesn't conform to what you'd like him too is another matter.

    Yes, he speaks for his audience. You want to be outraged by the Labour Party's reaction to the death of Mrs T. He delivers. You love it. He is doing his job. But writing to please people who hate the Labour Party does not make him a serious commentator. It makes him uninteresting; unless you hate the Labour Party. There are plenty of commentaors who only write about how awful the Tories are. They are uninteresting too.

    More piffle - he's a LABOUR activist and writer who thinks they're on the wrong path - same as Tom Harris and Frank Field and John Rentoul and Peter Watt et al.

    Dismissing them as Closet Tories is stupid IMO. As is claiming that what they say isn't true.

    I am not saying Hodges is a Tory. I am saying he is writing for a Tory audience. He delivers what they want to read.

    The fact that you want to believe him that a few hundred SWP and anarchist morons in various parts of the UK celebrating her death tells us anything at all about the state of the modern Labour Party is ample proof of that.

  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,405

    The biggest Morrisson's in the UK - apparently - opened in Leamington on Monday.

    Anecdote alert - Leamington is where the political south East begins. My Dad reckons that two people could have identical situation in Coventry, same (median) income, same (median) job, same (median) family, same (median) house price in Coventry they'd probably vote Labour, Leamington - Conservative.

    Also I think Leamington has alot of Arsenal supporters...
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    On topic, we'll just have to wait and see. We'll never get any final answers, and everyone will read what they want to read into the chicken entrails.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    edited April 2013
    RT @tnewtondunn: Angela Merkel has invited Cameron's wife and kids to their weekend retreat meet on Fri/Sat. Hollande will be seething. #Camerkel.

    IIRC Mrs Merke's polling is going pretty well.
  • NeilNeil Posts: 7,983
    Blue_rog said:
    "It's difficult to imagine Conservative activists behaving like the people who celebrated Margaret Thatcher's death in Glasgow and Brixton."

    I remember one Conservative activist's behaviour after Edward Heath died very well. (It was shameful that someone used his post here against him but he was still clearly celebrating his death.)
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    edited April 2013
    Blue_rog said:
    Right wingers do seem to have a need to portray themselves as being nicer than left wingers. Why are they so insecure?

  • I'm listening to Denis Healey criticising Margaret Thatcher back in the day.

    We really do have pygmies as politicians these days

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/historic_moments/newsid_8185000/8185777.stm
  • carlcarl Posts: 750
    Financier said:

    @malcolmg


    BTW I enjoy a slice of a genuine Melton Mowbray pie as much as the next person, but with salad and not chips.


    Unlike those grubby northern Morrisons-shopping chip guzzlers, you mean?

    Maggie would be proud of you today.
  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    Financier said:


    There is a peculiar food choice in this area, when having a curry people have both chips and rice - still cannot get used to it.

    Curry half and half -- a Welsh delicacy.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,046
    1. (for TFS) you will be pleased to hear that Leeson's is still making exceptional hand turned pork pies.
    2. TR7?? TR6?? Surely you mean the TR4A IRS although purists will always go for the 5.
    3. People like it when people/MPs are gracious and rise above politics. Rather like sportsmen at the end of a match embracing each other. And the harder fought the match the more appreciative people are (eg. boxing). MPs should realise that vituperation in these circumstances just brings on disdain from right (small "r")-thinking people.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,945
    Mr. Observer, could it be the baby-eating smearing from political opponents?
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    Pulpstar said:

    The biggest Morrisson's in the UK - apparently - opened in Leamington on Monday.

    Anecdote alert - Leamington is where the political south East begins. My Dad reckons that two people could have identical situation in Coventry, same (median) income, same (median) job, same (median) family, same (median) house price in Coventry they'd probably vote Labour, Leamington - Conservative.

    Also I think Leamington has alot of Arsenal supporters...

    Leamington had a Labour MP until 2010. But it is certainly not Coventry. Your dad might have a point!

  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    edited April 2013
    Gordon won't be in the HoC today as he's speechifying in France - well that's a surprise. How often has he turned up so far this year? Twice?
  • carlcarl Posts: 750
    antifrank said:

    everyone will read what they want to read into the chicken entrails.

    A Morrisons pie?
  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    Anorak said:

    Hollande declares war on tax havens. "Look squirrel" or "tilting at windmills"?

    Neither, really. All governments, including our own, are for international action against tax havens. There are summits but nothing ever happens: vested interests at the top?

    So what does happen is the Americans strong-arm the Swiss into handing over names, and the Germans buy names on the black market.
  • Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019
    Plato said:

    C4 Fact Check re Thatcher myths http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-the-thatcher-myths/13236

    Number One:

    Thatcher the milk snatcher

    The nickname was coined by Labour in opposition and the press after the government abolished free school milk for over-sevens in 1970 when Margaret Thatcher was education secretary.

    But according to her memoirs and archives, Lady Thatcher herself had argued in cabinet against getting rid of free milk altogether. It was a policy driven by the Treasury, first under Iain Macleod, then Anthony Barber.

    So in Barber’s first budget of October 1970, the policy was limited to children above the age of seven, and special schools and children with medical needs were excluded.

    From the same article. Manufacturing output declined from 25% - 23% GDP 1980 - 1990 (Thatcher) but collapsed from 17% - 11% 2000 - 2010 (Blair/Brown)
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,046
    4. It is well known that the standard of Morrison's meat is exceptional and they are rapidly making a play for and achieving status as the premier in-store butcher around.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,945
    Miss Plato, if the Curse of Brown is over the Channel it's better than having it here.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    RT @WelshToy: Downing Street says Baroness #Thatcher's coffin will be carried by personnel from units linked with the #Falklands conflict
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495

    Blue_rog said:
    Right wingers do seem to have a need to portray themselves as being nicer than left wingers. Why are they so insecure?

    TSE, because mostly they are To**ers and usually silly oicks who think they are better than other people whilst in fact being Richard heads.
  • I've got to say that I haven't really seen much of a disrespectful reaction to the death of Thatcher from the mainstream left. Of course the usual suspects have opened their gobs, and there was always going to be nutters and idiots having parties and celebrating-that says more about them than it does Thatcher.
    There is a bit of a circus being created, and it needs to be reined in. The minutes silence at football matches would be a disaster if some fools try to implement it.
  • carlcarl Posts: 750
    TOPPING said:

    4. It is well known that the standard of Morrison's meat is exceptional and they are rapidly making a play for and achieving status as the premier in-store butcher around.

    Best fresh food of any supermarket. Meat, fish, and indeed the rows and rows of massive northern pies.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495

    Miss Plato, if the Curse of Brown is over the Channel it's better than having it here.

    Just a pity it ever has to come back.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495
    TOPPING said:

    4. It is well known that the standard of Morrison's meat is exceptional and they are rapidly making a play for and achieving status as the premier in-store butcher around.

    Yes , and unlike many other outlets they know which country and animal it came from.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    @Blue_Rog

    From @AllisterHeath "British factories boosted their output by 7.5% between 1979 and 1990." http://t.co/OI9FkhZJVf
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,561
    GIN1138 said:

    Ugh, the mean spirited carping from the left about the cost of Baroness Thatchers funeral and recalling Parliament is doing them no favours at all.

    It's easy to forget just how chlidish, vindictive and silly lefties can be until something like this happens and your reminded again why you voted for Cameron in 2010 primarily to ensure Labour went into Opposition...

    It was Richard Nabavi who criticised the recall of Parliament here - I agree he's worryingly left-wing, but one must tolerate these Marxist types in the interest of free speech. :-)

    Generally speaking people on the left haven't reacted much to MT's death. It's sad when anyone dies, she was a very significant figure in recent British history, and we often disagreed with her but this isn't the moment to dwell on that. It's difficult to go much beyond that and with variations that's what we've nearly all said. There are always a few people who like to stir it, but when it gets down to George Galloway and some guys in Brixton it's obviously fringe stuff.
  • carlcarl Posts: 750

    I've got to say that I haven't really seen much of a disrespectful reaction to the death of Thatcher from the mainstream left. .

    You haven't been paying attention to Dan Hodges then.

    Apparently Ed Miliband has been trashing charity shops in celebration.
This discussion has been closed.