I had no idea Dennis Canavan heads up the Yes campaign.
I didn't expect you to. Though if you're also claiming not to know who Dennis Canavan is then I'm afraid I'll have to take that with an enormous pinch of salt.
Mick that was a silly comment. I have met Dennis many times over the years. My great granduncle held the former version of his seat when he was Secretary of State in the War Cabinet 1941-45. I have always admired Dennis, especially the way in which he displayed great dignity at the death of not one but three sons from the same cruel genetic disease. That is what makes it all the more of a surprise to me that he is actually head of the Yes campaign. He is certainly keeping a low profile unless spending his time touring around the country to drum up support among the Yes troops.
I bet that if you stopped 20 people on Union Street, Princes Street or Buchanan Street in our 3 largest cities, fewer than 5 would be able to name Dennis as leader of the campaign. Almost all would say Eck and a few might suggest Nicola.
In a similar way you are seem to be a racist twat like Nick Griffin.
I hope you've got some evidence to back up your statement that I seem to be racist.
Your own braindead comparison is plenty thanks.
Canavan is "chairman" of the yes campaign. Darling is "chairman" of the no campaign.
Salmond is leader of the SNP. Griffin is leader of the BNP.
Both are comparing "like" with "like".
On the substantive point.. Darling is, and has been for some time the, the lead spokesman for the no campaign. Who is is the equivalent for the yes campaign?
He is certainly keeping a low profile unless spending his time touring around the country to drum up support among the Yes troops.
He's certainly doing that, though I imagine he'll also be resonating with the curious and undecideds that attend Yes Scotland meets. Of the roughly dozen public meetings I've been to, he's spoken at seven of them, and he'll be at Calton Hill this Saturday.
He is certainly keeping a low profile unless spending his time touring around the country to drum up support among the Yes troops.
He's certainly doing that, though I imagine he'll also be resonating with the curious and undecideds that attend Yes Scotland meets. Of the roughly dozen public meetings I've been to, he's spoken at seven of them, and he'll be at Calton Hill this Saturday.
Oh for god's sake TUD don't start to confuse them with the ground campaign as well. We'll be here all day.
RT @greg_jenner Abandoned NHS IT system has cost £10bn so far via @guardian <- More quality project management from the public sector
TEN BILLION?!!</p>
Books should be written on the systematic failure(s) of the project, and those books should become obligatory reading for anyone trying to set up a new, massive system. And that includes IDS.
It does not mean that such systems should not be done; just that extreme care needs taking before setting one up, and all options looked at.
Mike Smithson has made it clear in the past it is unacceptable to call other posters racist etc.
Please desist.
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I confirm but I shall of course be using the same kind of comparisons that the other poster uses to refute him if that is somehow bizzarely deemed as acceptable on here.
Mike Smithson has made it clear in the past it is unacceptable to call other posters racist etc.
Please desist.
Also your language is likely to set off the spam trap and automatically block.
So don't use bad language (that in includes words with asterisks)
Please confirm that you understand both instructions.
I confirm but I shall of course be using the same kind of comparisons that the other poster uses to refute him if that is somehow bizzarely deemed as acceptable on here.
No.
You and Jonny Jimmy are not to refer to each other directly or indirectly.
It all adds up so I'm certainly not against the govt helping out where it can.
On the flip side, every school has its non-working parents who gets subsidised for it all. My boy was in nursery school last year with a little boy who was one of seven kids. I know the father from school, he was hell of a boy. None of the parents worked, so it must cost the govt a hell of a lot to subsidise all seven of their kids through their school lives. Fair play, their boy always looked smarter than mine!
With all due respect, Mr Fenster, other taxpayers foot the bills, not the government.
Great bet, Mike - amazing that it's still available. I'm on! (well, to the extent Paddy will let me)
To be perfectly honest I wanted to put several hundred on and arb the life out of it with Labour most seats on Betfair (Lots available from 1.82 -> 1.80) . Sadly Paddy limits us to £39.04
Mike Smithson has made it clear in the past it is unacceptable to call other posters racist etc.
Please desist.
Also your language is likely to set off the spam trap and automatically block.
So don't use bad language (that in includes words with asterisks)
Please confirm that you understand both instructions.
I confirm but I shall of course be using the same kind of comparisons that the other poster uses to refute him if that is somehow bizzarely deemed as acceptable on here.
No.
Please clarify.
Are you saying that I can't make the comparison or that neither of us can because he self-evidently already did and was not taken to task for it.
My four year old boy started full time school last week. He was four in July so he's a proper young buck. He did a full year of part-time nursery last year.
His school uniform for this term (I asked the wife) cost £126.00.
School dinners (he prefers his sandwich box) are £9 a week.
It's not a concern for us but - given the 'keeping up with the Jones' culture - I bet it is a struggle for some parents to keep their children kitted out, especially if they have more than one child in school. My boy wanted a new Lego bag, Lego sandwich box, Lego pencil case etc etc..
It all adds up so I'm certainly not against the govt helping out where it can.
On the flip side, every school has its non-working parents who gets subsidised for it all. My boy was in nursery school last year with a little boy who was one of seven kids. I know the father from school, he was hell of a boy. None of the parents worked, so it must cost the govt a hell of a lot to subsidise all seven of their kids through their school lives. Fair play, their boy always looked smarter than mine!
Tell your boy that packed lunches give you cancer, then when he's eleven and asks you about Santa you can fess up to two lies that were in his interests. Job done.
We gave him sliced ham this morning despite the cancer risk. He lost his front teeth eating tinned ham. Said he couldn't suss the tin opener.
Mike Smithson has made it clear in the past it is unacceptable to call other posters racist etc.
Please desist.
Also your language is likely to set off the spam trap and automatically block.
So don't use bad language (that in includes words with asterisks)
Please confirm that you understand both instructions.
I confirm but I shall of course be using the same kind of comparisons that the other poster uses to refute him if that is somehow bizzarely deemed as acceptable on here.
No.
Please clarify.
Are you saying that I can't make the comparison or that neither of us can because he self-evidently already did and was not taken to task for it.
I'm saying your conversation with him is now closed.
Anecdote alert. Was In Glasgow yesterday. Discussing the referendum with various folk. Obviously there is a range of opinions on the outcome and their vote. But a few themes emerged.
* Evangelical YES campaigners make actual debate very hard. NO leaners are relatively shy. * The No campaign is not doing very well. Darling is not rated at all. * The money argument is crucial to the result (Scotsman poll below) * There is an assumption that the YES campaign will turn up the gas and it will be close due to differential turnout.
My four year old boy started full time school last week. He was four in July so he's a proper young buck. He did a full year of part-time nursery last year.
His school uniform for this term (I asked the wife) cost £126.00.
School dinners (he prefers his sandwich box) are £9 a week.
It's not a concern for us but - given the 'keeping up with the Jones' culture - I bet it is a struggle for some parents to keep their children kitted out, especially if they have more than one child in school. My boy wanted a new Lego bag, Lego sandwich box, Lego pencil case etc etc..
It all adds up so I'm certainly not against the govt helping out where it can.
On the flip side, every school has its non-working parents who gets subsidised for it all. My boy was in nursery school last year with a little boy who was one of seven kids. I know the father from school, he was hell of a boy. None of the parents worked, so it must cost the govt a hell of a lot to subsidise all seven of their kids through their school lives. Fair play, their boy always looked smarter than mine!
Tell your boy that packed lunches give you cancer, then when he's eleven and asks you about Santa you can fess up to two lies that were in his interests. Job done.
We gave him sliced ham this morning despite the cancer risk. He lost his front teeth eating tinned ham. Said he couldn't suss the tin opener.
My next-door neighbour is constantly "sharing" with us on Facebook the wonderful "bento boxes" that she gives her kids for lunch. Unbearably smug, but they do look a lot better than any packed lunch i've ever had... http://alphamom.com/family-fun/how-to-make-a-kids-bento-box/
Lib Dems could do something meaningful, like question the effectiveness mergers of secondary schools to create mega comps with 1,600+ kids on one site. But then like too many other politicians they send their kids to private schools with less than 1,000 pupils.
ONS have released a bulletin today, "International Comparison of Productivity - First Estimates, 2012", which highlights one of the main problem areas of the UK economy.
Here are the key findings:
Key points
• Output per hour in the UK was 16 percentage points below the average for the rest of the major industrialised economies in 2012, the widest productivity gap since 1994. On an output per worker basis, UK productivity was 19 percentage points below the average for the rest of the G7 in 2012.
• UK output per hour and output per worker fell in 2012 compared with 2011. By contrast, these measures both increased in 2012 on average across the rest of the G7.
• In 2012 UK output per hour was 2 percentage points below its level in the pre-recession year of 2007, and 15 percentage points below the counterfactual level had productivity grown at its average rate before the recession.
• This compares with a productivity gap in 2012 of around 5 percentage points for the rest of the G7.
There is much debate among economists about why productivity in the UK has not recovered in line with GDP and Employment since the recession. To some extent it is part of the price the UK is paying for maintaining high employment rates through the recession, but there are also structural issues such as:
• low investment (firms not investing in capital goods which increase productivity and preferring to increase low wage headcount instead);
• 'zombie' companies kept alive by low interest rates and the soft foreclosure policies of the banks;
• employment figures artificially bolstered by in-work tax benefits (examples are work-from-home self-employed parents and semi-retired over-50s who are better off claiming in-work benefits than claiming JSA).
The UK's productivity gap is going to become a hot political issue as the economy recovers.
The BoE's 7.0% unemployment threshold is unlikely to be reached as fast as is currently being predicted mainly due to organisations preferring to increase their productivity rather than headcount in the short term. This will run in tandem with economists arguing that low interest rates are a cause rather than symptom of the productivity problem.
The government and the private sector will also want to trade increased productivity for pay increases. As the economy continues to pick up this will increasing become the 'excuse' to break through pay constraints.
They aren't "buddies" they are bloody tupperwares. For gods sake we can already spot the kids who's parents "worry about them not eating fruit" unless its carved into the shape of the Eiffel Tower without making them carry bits of "eco friendly" plastic around thinking they are "buddies"
Eat your school dinner and STFU. And nobody cares if you don't like potatoes which aren't in the shape of a starfish, eat the bastard things.
* Evangelical YES campaigners make actual debate very hard.
fixed that for ya... ;-)
No, it was OTT YES campaigners that were mentioned to me.
Mine was a general point, not specifically about the independence debate.
Okay. But there is an interesting asymmetry in the ScotRef debate. Having a fired-up supporter base is to the YES campaign's advantage unless they over do it. Requires real judgement and management though. Outriders can do damage and I am sure the SNP actually want people to come out of their shells and debate.
No voters opinions were dominated by doubts and "small c" conservatism.
They aren't "buddies" they are bloody tupperwares. For gods sake we can already spot the kids who's parents "worry about them not eating fruit" unless its carved into the shape of the Eiffel Tower without making them carry bits of "eco friendly" plastic around thinking they are "buddies"
Eat your school dinner and STFU. And nobody cares if you don't like potatoes which aren't in the shape of a starfish, eat the bastard things.
They aren't "buddies" they are bloody tupperwares. For gods sake we can already spot the kids who's parents "worry about them not eating fruit" unless its carved into the shape of the Eiffel Tower without making them carry bits of "eco friendly" plastic around thinking they are "buddies"
Eat your school dinner and STFU. And nobody cares if you don't like potatoes which aren't in the shape of a starfish, eat the bastard things.
* Evangelical YES campaigners make actual debate very hard.
fixed that for ya... ;-)
No, it was OTT YES campaigners that were mentioned to me.
Mine was a general point, not specifically about the independence debate.
Okay. But there is an interesting asymmetry in the ScotRef debate. Having a fired-up supporter base is to the YES campaign's advantage unless they over do it. Requires real judgement and management though. Outriders can do damage and I am sure the SNP actually want people to come out of their shells and debate.
No voters opinions were dominated by doubts and "small c" conservatism.
Don't disagree at all... I find zealots are a turn-off in any debate regardless of the argument.
There is another factor which I am not sure is being picked up by ONS.
Many small companies, that used to employ say 15-50 people, are now employing less than 10 but are contracting out specialist (and only occasionally used) functions to self-employed people as well as contracting out back office functions. This is being done on an international basis.
Result is smaller and less costly premises, fewer HR problems and costs and increased flexibility to meet market demand/decline.
Innovation and IPR is kept in-house but most other functions are out-sourced.
They aren't "buddies" they are bloody tupperwares. For gods sake we can already spot the kids who's parents "worry about them not eating fruit" unless its carved into the shape of the Eiffel Tower without making them carry bits of "eco friendly" plastic around thinking they are "buddies"
Eat your school dinner and STFU. And nobody cares if you don't like potatoes which aren't in the shape of a starfish, eat the bastard things.
Bloody metropolitan softies- a pack of Happy Shopper Bourbon biscuits for lunch every day never did me any harm.
Regarding free school meals - an easy open goal for Labour would be to pledge to extend them to say all primary school children - paid for by no marriage tax allowance.
They aren't "buddies" they are bloody tupperwares. For gods sake we can already spot the kids who's parents "worry about them not eating fruit" unless its carved into the shape of the Eiffel Tower without making them carry bits of "eco friendly" plastic around thinking they are "buddies"
Eat your school dinner and STFU. And nobody cares if you don't like potatoes which aren't in the shape of a starfish, eat the bastard things.
Oh my God. Trust me, we send him to school with nothing looking like that. He wants sandwiches, crisps, cookies and yoghurt and he's happy! He eats a banana on the way to school.
When I see things like that I'm glad I live in Wales. Where parents and kids are normal.
I ate nothing healthy growing up. Nothing. I used to spend my school dinner money on four pasties for a quid and kept the rest for ten Red Bands so I could have a fag with my mates. I left school weighing about 10 stone soaking wet. I was fit as a flea and played rugby in the old Welsh premiership at 20. All ribs, jutting shoulder blades and fast feet.
Now my fridge is full of spinach and blueberries and salmon and fresh chicken and I hardly ever smoke (sometimes when I'm drunk) yet I'm fighting the emerging paunch.
There is another factor which I am not sure is being picked up by ONS.
Many small companies, that used to employ say 15-50 people, are now employing less than 10 but are contracting out specialist (and only occasionally used) functions to self-employed people as well as contracting out back office functions. This is being done on an international basis.
Result is smaller and less costly premises, fewer HR problems and costs and increased flexibility to meet market demand/decline.
Innovation and IPR is kept in-house but most other functions are out-sourced.
Financier
But surely these are the companies pushing up productivity rather than holding it back?
Though their contracted out self-employed suppliers may be moving in the wrong direction if all the outsourcing means is a change in tax and benefit arrangements.
They aren't "buddies" they are bloody tupperwares. For gods sake we can already spot the kids who's parents "worry about them not eating fruit" unless its carved into the shape of the Eiffel Tower without making them carry bits of "eco friendly" plastic around thinking they are "buddies"
Eat your school dinner and STFU. And nobody cares if you don't like potatoes which aren't in the shape of a starfish, eat the bastard things.
Oh my God. Trust me, we send him to school with nothing looking like that. He wants sandwiches, crisps, cookies and yoghurt and he's happy! He eats a banana on the way to school.
When I see things like that I'm glad I live in Wales. Where parents and kids are normal.
I ate nothing healthy growing up. Nothing. I used to spend my school dinner money on four pasties for a quid and kept the rest for ten Red Bands so I could have a fag with my mates. I left school weighing about 10 stone soaking wet. I was fit as a flea and played rugby in the old Welsh premiership at 20. All ribs, jutting shoulder blades and fast feet.
Now my fridge is full of spinach and blueberries and salmon and fresh chicken and I hardly ever smoke (sometimes when I'm drunk) yet I'm fighting the emerging paunch.
Go figure!
It's the revenge on you for hating your dog. Hopefully there's no Korean restaurant nearby !!
Regarding free school meals - an easy open goal for Labour would be to pledge to extend them to say all primary school children - paid for by no marriage tax allowance.
Why are Labour and the Lib Dems so against supporting marriage? Pretty much every other country in the EU has some form of support for marriage in the tax system.
So why? I'm genuinely curious. Is it some sort of philosophical objection to the very concept of marriage? Or something else?
There is another factor which I am not sure is being picked up by ONS.
Many small companies, that used to employ say 15-50 people, are now employing less than 10 but are contracting out specialist (and only occasionally used) functions to self-employed people as well as contracting out back office functions. This is being done on an international basis.
Result is smaller and less costly premises, fewer HR problems and costs and increased flexibility to meet market demand/decline.
Innovation and IPR is kept in-house but most other functions are out-sourced.
Financier
But surely these are the companies pushing up productivity rather than holding it back?
Though their contracted out self-employed suppliers may be moving in the wrong direction if all the outsourcing means is a change in tax and benefit arrangements.
It simply says Osborne hasn't a clue about productivity and has done bugger all to get it moving in the right direction.
Regarding free school meals - an easy open goal for Labour would be to pledge to extend them to say all primary school children - paid for by no marriage tax allowance.
Why are Labour and the Lib Dems so against supporting marriage? Pretty much every other country in the EU has some form of support for marriage in the tax system.
So why? I'm genuinely curious. Is it some sort of philosophical objection to the very concept of marriage? Or something else?
They don't see it as supporting marriage, the see it as punishing single mums...
"While SLAB is sometimes Curran, sometimes Sarwar, occasionally Baillie else but almost never Lamont."
There is of course a very good reason for that.
The reason that Johann Lamont is the biggest missing person case in Scottish politics (after Charlie Kennedy) is the worst-kept secret in Scottish public life.
But will Wee Eck avoid a TV debate with a certain Mr Darling as was being suggested on Today this morning?
Salmond would not and should not lower himself to speak to the Labour Monkey , he wants to discuss with the organ grinder who is running scared. Cameron should grow a spine and tell us all about these union benefits.
This may have been answered before, but would it not make sense to have a debate between 2 people who at least have a vote in the contest?
There is another factor which I am not sure is being picked up by ONS.
Many small companies, that used to employ say 15-50 people, are now employing less than 10 but are contracting out specialist (and only occasionally used) functions to self-employed people as well as contracting out back office functions. This is being done on an international basis.
Result is smaller and less costly premises, fewer HR problems and costs and increased flexibility to meet market demand/decline.
Innovation and IPR is kept in-house but most other functions are out-sourced.
Financier
But surely these are the companies pushing up productivity rather than holding it back?
Though their contracted out self-employed suppliers may be moving in the wrong direction if all the outsourcing means is a change in tax and benefit arrangements.
It simply says Osborne hasn't a clue about productivity and has done bugger all to get it moving in the right direction.
I am sure he has more than a clue, Mr. Brooke.
It has not though been his first priority. The political gain of allowing productivity to fall in return for higher than necessary employment will no doubt have been irresistibly attractive to a master strategist.
It is interesting to speculate though when closing the productivity gap will become a real and admitted government priority.
Salmond is leader of the SNP. Griffin is leader of the BNP.
Incredible.
This sort of thing is a little silly, but if anyone Farage is probably more comparable to Salmond (both parties have their primary positioning as separation from a larger entity) although clearly UKIP is at an earlier stage of development.
That said, Salmond has tried in the past to portray himself as an equal to Cameron. He's simply not. On a government level his counterpart would be Michael Moore.
"While SLAB is sometimes Curran, sometimes Sarwar, occasionally Baillie else but almost never Lamont."
There is of course a very good reason for that.
The reason that Johann Lamont is the biggest missing person case in Scottish politics (after Charlie Kennedy) is the worst-kept secret in Scottish public life.
Phew .... we thought we'd lost you to the black hole of a Gordon Brown absence ?!?
There is another factor which I am not sure is being picked up by ONS.
Many small companies, that used to employ say 15-50 people, are now employing less than 10 but are contracting out specialist (and only occasionally used) functions to self-employed people as well as contracting out back office functions. This is being done on an international basis.
Result is smaller and less costly premises, fewer HR problems and costs and increased flexibility to meet market demand/decline.
Innovation and IPR is kept in-house but most other functions are out-sourced.
Financier
But surely these are the companies pushing up productivity rather than holding it back?
Though their contracted out self-employed suppliers may be moving in the wrong direction if all the outsourcing means is a change in tax and benefit arrangements.
It simply says Osborne hasn't a clue about productivity and has done bugger all to get it moving in the right direction.
I am sure he has more than a clue, Mr. Brooke.
It has not though been his first priority. The political gain of allowing productivity to fall in return for higher than necessary employment will no doubt have been irresistibly attractive to a master strategist.
It is interesting to speculate though when closing the productivity gap becomes a real and admitted government priority.
June 2015?
Ah yes, Osborne would struggle doing two things simultaneously - can he talk and pee at the same time ? As ever Mr Pole the weakness of the story comes in the telling, if we were in a national crisis we would be doing numerous things in tandem, but George can't quite get his head round that. His inability to address the UK's economic weaknesses in this Parliament just mean it's 5 wasted years. Find us a real CoE.
First McARSE Scottish Independence Referendum Projection :
Should Scotland Be An Independent Country ?
Yes 42% .. No 58%
Scotland remains in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Thanks JackW - After all the build-up, I wasn’t expecting something quite so rounded and pert.
As one of my ARSE's most firm supporters I'm most surprised you found it anything other than spectacularly pert and full of rounded awesomeness.
It is a cruel slur to suggest that Jack's ARSE has been clad in tartan to hide its flabbiness....
Certainly not.
My McARSE is so clad to spare the blushes of PB ladies as the sight of prodigious Scottish sausage would likely have them flocking north of the border to find true fulfilment !!
My McARSE and other nearby bits - Never Knowingly Undersold !!
Off topic, Has anyone got any experiences of Google Chromebooks? In our house, we all use mobile phones or tablets pretty much full time now, only using the Windows based PC or laptops for the odd bit of Photoshop or PowerPoint. The Windows based machines are a pain in the arse, slow, glitchy, crashy. I can't afford a Mac, but need something a bit bigger than tablet sized occasionally, with a keyboard for typing. Chromebook looks appealing, we already use Cloud storage and printing, and if, as looks likely, Chrome offers Office type software, and the ability to convert Windows Office documents, then it might be a good move for us. Any thoughts?
There is another factor which I am not sure is being picked up by ONS.
Many small companies, that used to employ say 15-50 people, are now employing less than 10 but are contracting out specialist (and only occasionally used) functions to self-employed people as well as contracting out back office functions. This is being done on an international basis.
Result is smaller and less costly premises, fewer HR problems and costs and increased flexibility to meet market demand/decline.
Innovation and IPR is kept in-house but most other functions are out-sourced.
Financier
But surely these are the companies pushing up productivity rather than holding it back?
Though their contracted out self-employed suppliers may be moving in the wrong direction if all the outsourcing means is a change in tax and benefit arrangements.
Yes, but is it being measured? For instance nobody measures our consultancy exports which are outside the EU (which is now a major part of our business) and they only want to know the EU figures for VAT purposes.
Grant Shapps: "Direct from the Conservative homepage, volunteers can join Team2015 and work to secure victory in our 40/40 target seats. This has already allowed nearly 3,000 people to make a very meaningful contribution to the campaign. "
But surely these are the companies pushing up productivity rather than holding it back?
Though their contracted out self-employed suppliers may be moving in the wrong direction if all the outsourcing means is a change in tax and benefit arrangements.
It simply says Osborne hasn't a clue about productivity and has done bugger all to get it moving in the right direction.
I am sure he has more than a clue, Mr. Brooke.
It has not though been his first priority. The political gain of allowing productivity to fall in return for higher than necessary employment will no doubt have been irresistibly attractive to a master strategist.
It is interesting to speculate though when closing the productivity gap becomes a real and admitted government priority.
June 2015?
Ah yes, Osborne would struggle doing two things at the simultaneously - can he talk and pee at the same time ? As ever Mr Pole the weakness of the story comes in the telling, if we were in a national crisis we would be doing numerous things in tandem, but George can't quite get his head round that. His inability to address the UK's economic weaknesses in this Parliament just mean it's 5 wasted years. Find us a real CoE.
Mr. Brooke
No one has yet invented a tandem bicycle which is designed to go backwards and forwards at the same time.
But if they do I am sure there will be a ready market for the product in Warwickshire.
You will though have to first agree with Southam Observer who sits on the front saddle looking forward and who sits on back seat facing the rear.
But to help you reach a quick decision, I undertake to grant SO the patent rights and you an exclusive manufacturing licence the moment I have completed the blueprint.
There is another factor which I am not sure is being picked up by ONS.
Many small companies, that used to employ say 15-50 people, are now employing less than 10 but are contracting out specialist (and only occasionally used) functions to self-employed people as well as contracting out back office functions. This is being done on an international basis.
Result is smaller and less costly premises, fewer HR problems and costs and increased flexibility to meet market demand/decline.
Innovation and IPR is kept in-house but most other functions are out-sourced.
Financier
But surely these are the companies pushing up productivity rather than holding it back?
Though their contracted out self-employed suppliers may be moving in the wrong direction if all the outsourcing means is a change in tax and benefit arrangements.
Yes, but is it being measured? For instance nobody measures our consultancy exports which are outside the EU (which is now a major part of our business) and they only want to know the EU figures for VAT purposes.
Same here, productivity in our business has trebled since March and was up 14% last month, however it is outside the EU and is only measured for VAT purposes (VAT is invoiced to a UK business)
There is another factor which I am not sure is being picked up by ONS.
Many small companies, that used to employ say 15-50 people, are now employing less than 10 but are contracting out specialist (and only occasionally used) functions to self-employed people as well as contracting out back office functions. This is being done on an international basis.
Result is smaller and less costly premises, fewer HR problems and costs and increased flexibility to meet market demand/decline.
Innovation and IPR is kept in-house but most other functions are out-sourced.
Financier
But surely these are the companies pushing up productivity rather than holding it back?
Though their contracted out self-employed suppliers may be moving in the wrong direction if all the outsourcing means is a change in tax and benefit arrangements.
Yes, but is it being measured? For instance nobody measures our consultancy exports which are outside the EU (which is now a major part of our business) and they only want to know the EU figures for VAT purposes.
By sample I guess, but I see the ONS ramping up their efforts in this area as productivity rises in the political barometer.
But surely these are the companies pushing up productivity rather than holding it back?
Though their contracted out self-employed suppliers may be moving in the wrong direction if all the outsourcing means is a change in tax and benefit arrangements.
It simply says Osborne hasn't a clue about productivity and has done bugger all to get it moving in the right direction.
I am sure he has more than a clue, Mr. Brooke.
It has not though been his first priority. The political gain of allowing productivity to fall in return for higher than necessary employment will no doubt have been irresistibly attractive to a master strategist.
It is interesting to speculate though when closing the productivity gap becomes a real and admitted government priority.
June 2015?
Ah yes, Osborne would struggle doing two things at the simultaneously - can he talk and pee at the same time ? As ever Mr Pole the weakness of the story comes in the telling, if we were in a national crisis we would be doing numerous things in tandem, but George can't quite get his head round that. His inability to address the UK's economic weaknesses in this Parliament just mean it's 5 wasted years. Find us a real CoE.
Mr. Brooke
No one has yet invented a tandem bicycle which is designed to go backwards and forwards at the same time, Mr. Brooke.
But if they do I am sure there will be a ready market for the product in Warwickshire.
You will though have to first agree with Southam Observer who sits on the front saddle looking forward and who sits on back seat facing the rear.
But to help you reach a quick decision, I undertake to grant SO the patent rights and you an exclusive manufacturing licence the moment I have completed the blueprint.
In Warwickshire we call it the Osborne as it's going nowhere much like UK productivity. We also have a follow on model called Pennyfarthing to reflect his value to the UK economy.
I would suggest it might better for you Southern chappies if you could find someone who understands things other than asset inflation.
My response to ALP on productivity has disappeared.
I thought a large part was due to the decline in oil & gas production (a verty high productity segment) - much the same as why there was a drag on GDP without a similar decline in employment.
Off topic, Has anyone got any experiences of Google Chromebooks? In our house, we all use mobile phones or tablets pretty much full time now, only using the Windows based PC or laptops for the odd bit of Photoshop or PowerPoint. The Windows based machines are a pain in the arse, slow, glitchy, crashy. I can't afford a Mac, but need something a bit bigger than tablet sized occasionally, with a keyboard for typing. Chromebook looks appealing, we already use Cloud storage and printing, and if, as looks likely, Chrome offers Office type software, and the ability to convert Windows Office documents, then it might be a good move for us. Any thoughts?
Michael Crick @MichaelLCrick 4m John Strafford of Campaign for Conservative Democracy says 134,000 membership fig is wrong. True fig is about 100,000, he says, + "falling"
If Shapps' figures are up to his usual standard they'll fall apart over the next week or two
Browsing Mr Strafford's website, it looks like a valid December 2012 figure, which is what the LDs use. (December 2012 accounts are the most recent available from the Electoral Commission website.)
"...from 2010 to 2012 membership fell a further 44,000 to 133,000. "
My response to ALP on productivity has disappeared.
I thought a large part was due to the decline in oil & gas production (a verty high productity segment) - much the same as why there was a drag on GDP without a similar decline in employment.
O&G declines have knocked around 2.5% off GDP since 2009. That's why George needs to clear out the Cabinet nimbys and get the country fracking, up the incentive rates for locals and watch as the protests die down leaving just hardcore green activists to oppose it.
Parents of infant school children collect their kids from school and gather at the school gates whilst waiting, exchanging gossip.
So the policy of free school meals for children at infant school will get plenty of discussion and exposure amongst mothers of young children. Rather than asking economic think tanks, media interviewers should gather at school gates if they want opinions.
Also parents of young children are far less likely to have the wealth of older people and more likely to be hard pressed. So although one group of taxpayers is subsidising the lunches of the children of another group, there is some logic to the arrangement.
So overall a very good political move by the Lib Dems and a mildly sensible one too.
They aren't "buddies" they are bloody tupperwares. For gods sake we can already spot the kids who's parents "worry about them not eating fruit" unless its carved into the shape of the Eiffel Tower without making them carry bits of "eco friendly" plastic around thinking they are "buddies"
Eat your school dinner and STFU. And nobody cares if you don't like potatoes which aren't in the shape of a starfish, eat the bastard things.
Oh my God. Trust me, we send him to school with nothing looking like that. He wants sandwiches, crisps, cookies and yoghurt and he's happy! He eats a banana on the way to school.
When I see things like that I'm glad I live in Wales. Where parents and kids are normal.
I ate nothing healthy growing up. Nothing. I used to spend my school dinner money on four pasties for a quid and kept the rest for ten Red Bands so I could have a fag with my mates. I left school weighing about 10 stone soaking wet. I was fit as a flea and played rugby in the old Welsh premiership at 20. All ribs, jutting shoulder blades and fast feet.
Now my fridge is full of spinach and blueberries and salmon and fresh chicken and I hardly ever smoke (sometimes when I'm drunk) yet I'm fighting the emerging paunch.
Go figure!
It's the revenge on you for hating your dog. Hopefully there's no Korean restaurant nearby !!
I don't hate him. I've just grown to realise that our old relationship was unhealthy. Sleeping with a terrier, having conversations with him and considering what to leave him in a will is not normal!
My response to ALP on productivity has disappeared.
I thought a large part was due to the decline in oil & gas production (a verty high productity segment) - much the same as why there was a drag on GDP without a similar decline in employment.
Charles,
Similarly, if fracking gets going, then a lot of "productivity" for relatively small extra employment.
Jason Groves @JasonGroves1 Extracts from Godfrey Bloom's auto-biog arrive: 'I don't remember the 70s as I spent the decade completely pissed.' Cd be a short book...
...parents of young children are far less likely to have the wealth of older people and more likely to be hard pressed. So although one group of taxpayers is subsidising the lunches of the children of another group, there is some logic to the arrangement.
Poor children already qualify for free school meals. So this universal entitlement is deliberately targeting middle-class/income, and rich children.
This may have been answered before, but would it not make sense to have a debate between 2 people who at least have a vote in the contest?
I'd have no objection to that if the whole process was restricted to those who only have a vote, but it's not is it. Despite Cameron saying 'it's an internal debate for Scotland', Bettertogether's largest donor (so far) lives in London and Whitehall is producing a series of papers against independence, not to mention headless-chicken briefing such as Faslane being sovereign territory of the UK.
Off topic, Has anyone got any experiences of Google Chromebooks? In our house, we all use mobile phones or tablets pretty much full time now, only using the Windows based PC or laptops for the odd bit of Photoshop or PowerPoint. The Windows based machines are a pain in the arse, slow, glitchy, crashy. I can't afford a Mac, but need something a bit bigger than tablet sized occasionally, with a keyboard for typing. Chromebook looks appealing, we already use Cloud storage and printing, and if, as looks likely, Chrome offers Office type software, and the ability to convert Windows Office documents, then it might be a good move for us. Any thoughts?
Chromebooks are ok, but you would be better off getting a decent Win7 laptop. Not sure why your ones are so problematic. Just don't buy anything under £500 and you should be fine. If the laptop only comes with Windows 8 (which is a distinct possibility) then install something called Pokki or Start8 to restore the start button and booting directly into the desktop rather than the awful start screen.
I would look at a Samsung or Sony. Decent build quality and good battery life. Make sure you buy a laptop with a Haswell processor (I know it doesn't mean much, but once you start looking you will see why).
The problem with Chromebooks is that the cheaper ones all favour cloud storage over local storage, making them unsuitable for anything more than light usage. Unless you are on the market for the Pixel which comes with a 256GB SSD the rest all top out at 32GB from what I remember, and you are limited to just two brands, Acer and Samsung. I have personally vowed never to buy another Acer laptop because they all have horrible build quality.
The other option is to look at a powerful Android tablet, the Galaxy Note 10.1 2 is out pretty soon, and the Xperia Tablet Z is also very nice (I have one). Photoshop touch edition is getting better and on the Note it is great because of the Wacom pen, text input remains an issue, but you can get add on keyboards for almost any tablet these days.
Regarding free school meals - an easy open goal for Labour would be to pledge to extend them to say all primary school children - paid for by no marriage tax allowance.
Why are Labour and the Lib Dems so against supporting marriage? Pretty much every other country in the EU has some form of support for marriage in the tax system.
So why? I'm genuinely curious. Is it some sort of philosophical objection to the very concept of marriage? Or something else?
They aren't entirely opposed. They support the very generous tax breaks that are given to married couples in terms of Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax. Tax breaks for marriage are good for the upper middle classes - just not for everyone else.
Off topic, Has anyone got any experiences of Google Chromebooks? In our house, we all use mobile phones or tablets pretty much full time now, only using the Windows based PC or laptops for the odd bit of Photoshop or PowerPoint. The Windows based machines are a pain in the arse, slow, glitchy, crashy. I can't afford a Mac, but need something a bit bigger than tablet sized occasionally, with a keyboard for typing. Chromebook looks appealing, we already use Cloud storage and printing, and if, as looks likely, Chrome offers Office type software, and the ability to convert Windows Office documents, then it might be a good move for us. Any thoughts?
Chromebooks are ok, but you would be better off getting a decent Win7 laptop. Not sure why your ones are so problematic. Just don't buy anything under £500 and you should be fine. If the laptop only comes with Windows 8 (which is a distinct possibility) then install something called Pokki or Start8 to restore the start button and booting directly into the desktop rather than the awful start screen.
I would look at a Samsung or Sony. Decent build quality and good battery life. Make sure you buy a laptop with a Haswell processor (I know it doesn't mean much, but once you start looking you will see why).
The problem with Chromebooks is that the cheaper ones all favour cloud storage over local storage, making them unsuitable for anything more than light usage. Unless you are on the market for the Pixel which comes with a 256GB SSD the rest all top out at 32GB from what I remember, and you are limited to just two brands, Acer and Samsung. I have personally vowed never to buy another Acer laptop because they all have horrible build quality.
The other option is to look at a powerful Android tablet, the Galaxy Note 10.1 2 is out pretty soon, and the Xperia Tablet Z is also very nice (I have one). Photoshop touch edition is getting better and on the Note it is great because of the Wacom pen, text input remains an issue, but you can get add on keyboards for almost any tablet these days.
Or just do a bit more overtime and get a macbook air...
AveryLP "ONS have released a bulletin today, "International Comparison of Productivity - First Estimates, 2012", which highlights one of the main problem areas of the UK economy.
Here are the key findings:
Key points
• Output per hour in the UK was 16 percentage points below the average for the rest of the major industrialised economies in 2012, the widest productivity gap since 1994. On an output per worker basis, UK productivity was 19 percentage points below the average for the rest of the G7 in 2012.
• UK output per hour and output per worker fell in 2012 compared with 2011. By contrast, these measures both increased in 2012 on average across the rest of the G7."
Since the public sector represent half the economy, I wonder if it is in schools, hospitals etc that the low productivity exists? Just asking.
The excellent Lib Dem policy on Free School meals really contrasts with the narrow minded foolish Tory policy on Married Couples Allowance.
The Lib Dem policy is an investment in the future, in our children and will pay dividends for decades.
The Tory policy is misguided, a waste of money and a perversion of priorities.
Most parents are perfectly capable of paying for their children's food. I don't think it is unreasonable that they should have to pay for it. Poor people are already exempt. To me this is money that could be spent on something more worthwhile, like reducing class sizes.
Regarding free school meals - an easy open goal for Labour would be to pledge to extend them to say all primary school children - paid for by no marriage tax allowance.
Why are Labour and the Lib Dems so against supporting marriage? Pretty much every other country in the EU has some form of support for marriage in the tax system.
So why? I'm genuinely curious. Is it some sort of philosophical objection to the very concept of marriage? Or something else?
They don't see it as supporting marriage, the see it as punishing single mums...
If that's the basis then anyone who doesn't get something someone else gets is being "punished". It's an incoherent argument. Single parents get child benefit just like everyone else.
I find this attitude very offputting - it risks coming across as a hatred of marriage and, by implication, of married people.
The excellent Lib Dem policy on Free School meals really contrasts with the narrow minded foolish Tory policy on Married Couples Allowance.
The Lib Dem policy is an investment in the future, in our children and will pay dividends for decades.
The Tory policy is misguided, a waste of money and a perversion of priorities.
Most parents are perfectly capable of paying for their children's food. I don't think it is unreasonable that they should have to pay for it. Poor people are already exempt. To me this is money that could be spent on something more worthwhile, like reducing class sizes.
Rich people could pay for the electricity and heating for their kids at school - perhaps you should ask them to pay for this ?
There are cost benefits of a school catering for a higher % of pupils - for a non statist I'm comfortable with this minor splurge.
I do find it remarkable that the independence question makes no reference to leaving the UK. It doesn't even reference CHANGE. A more appropriate question to my mind would have been
'Do you believe Scotland should leave the United Kingdom and become and Independent country'
Are the Yes campaign scared to mention leaving the UK?
...parents of young children are far less likely to have the wealth of older people and more likely to be hard pressed. So although one group of taxpayers is subsidising the lunches of the children of another group, there is some logic to the arrangement.
Poor children already qualify for free school meals. So this universal entitlement is deliberately targeting middle-class/income, and rich children.
You may have a good point there. – Would this ‘bribe’ also apply to independent prep schools?
Or just do a bit more overtime and get a macbook air...
Or not...
My next buy is probably a macbook air... lovely bit of kit.
Good for you, but suggesting that people do a bit more overtime so they can buy an overpriced laptop is not cool. As someone who has seen first hand the consequences of telling people to work harder or get second jobs to buy expensive stuff, it just doesn't work out...
Comments
I bet that if you stopped 20 people on Union Street, Princes Street or Buchanan Street in our 3 largest cities, fewer than 5 would be able to name Dennis as leader of the campaign. Almost all would say Eck and a few might suggest Nicola.
Cameron doesn't need them - no chance he'll agree - none.
Not sure Eck has thought this one through.
Salmond is leader of the SNP. Griffin is leader of the BNP.
Both are comparing "like" with "like".
On the substantive point.. Darling is, and has been for some time the, the lead spokesman for the no campaign. Who is is the equivalent for the yes campaign?
RT @ianssmart: Here's my poster of the day #bettertogether pic.twitter.com/TZFOLTgvGW
36 for Independence, 24 didn't know and 36 against. Or did she just look fetching in a swimsuit?
Cam says: look ok we'll give you devomax, negotiate some more powers, make you feel better about it all and we'll call off this ridiculous referendum.
I wouldn't begrudge ASalmond continuing in post but he would of course have to change the name of his party.
I have only recently become acquainted with Jack's ARRSE but he is overstating the "Yes" vote and even if he's not they won't win.
Matt says it all. Again.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/
Since you know Canavan that well why should his politics and current position surprise you in the slightest?
He's been on Newsnight scotland and a few other programmes a good few times just about on par with Blair Jenkins or Blair McDougall.
One of the most prominent figures in the Yes campaign is indeed Nicola Sturgeon and she was the one debating last night on newsnight. While SLAB is sometimes Curran, sometimes Sarwar, occasionally Baillie else but almost never Lamont.
via @guardian <- More quality project management from the public sector
TEN BILLION?!!
Incredible.
Mike Smithson has made it clear in the past it is unacceptable to call other posters racist etc.
Please desist.
Also your language is likely to set off the spam trap and automatically block.
So don't use bad language (that in includes words with asterisks)
Please confirm that you understand both instructions.
It does not mean that such systems should not be done; just that extreme care needs taking before setting one up, and all options looked at.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24130684
A useful aid to betting!
You and Jonny Jimmy are not to refer to each other directly or indirectly.
Are you saying that I can't make the comparison or that neither of us can because he self-evidently already did and was not taken to task for it.
I've removed comments by both of you.
* Evangelical YES campaigners make actual debate very hard. NO leaners are relatively shy.
* The No campaign is not doing very well. Darling is not rated at all.
* The money argument is crucial to the result (Scotsman poll below)
* There is an assumption that the YES campaign will turn up the gas and it will be close due to differential turnout.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/scottish-independence-new-poll-gives-yes-camp-hope-1-3094791
http://alphamom.com/family-fun/how-to-make-a-kids-bento-box/
Forward thinking by Ruth Kelly and the other clowns who thought Brown's Ponzi PFI schemes for schools worked.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1498286/Schools-are-being-built-without-kitchens-to-prepare-food.html
Lib Dems could do something meaningful, like question the effectiveness mergers of secondary schools to create mega comps with 1,600+ kids on one site. But then like too many other politicians they send their kids to private schools with less than 1,000 pupils.
;^ )
ONS have released a bulletin today, "International Comparison of Productivity - First Estimates, 2012", which highlights one of the main problem areas of the UK economy.
Here are the key findings:
Key points
• Output per hour in the UK was 16 percentage points below the average for the rest of the major industrialised economies in 2012, the widest productivity gap since 1994. On an output per worker basis, UK productivity was 19 percentage points below the average for the rest of the G7 in 2012.
• UK output per hour and output per worker fell in 2012 compared with 2011. By contrast, these measures both increased in 2012 on average across the rest of the G7.
• In 2012 UK output per hour was 2 percentage points below its level in the pre-recession year of 2007, and 15 percentage points below the counterfactual level had productivity grown at its average rate before the recession.
• This compares with a productivity gap in 2012 of around 5 percentage points for the rest of the G7.
There is much debate among economists about why productivity in the UK has not recovered in line with GDP and Employment since the recession. To some extent it is part of the price the UK is paying for maintaining high employment rates through the recession, but there are also structural issues such as:
• low investment (firms not investing in capital goods which increase productivity and preferring to increase low wage headcount instead);
• 'zombie' companies kept alive by low interest rates and the soft foreclosure policies of the banks;
• employment figures artificially bolstered by in-work tax benefits (examples are work-from-home self-employed parents and semi-retired over-50s who are better off claiming in-work benefits than claiming JSA).
The UK's productivity gap is going to become a hot political issue as the economy recovers.
The BoE's 7.0% unemployment threshold is unlikely to be reached as fast as is currently being predicted mainly due to organisations preferring to increase their productivity rather than headcount in the short term. This will run in tandem with economists arguing that low interest rates are a cause rather than symptom of the productivity problem.
The government and the private sector will also want to trade increased productivity for pay increases. As the economy continues to pick up this will increasing become the 'excuse' to break through pay constraints.
You're not a Labour Party sub-committee.
You are Supernanny.
a). A week.
b). A month.
c). 12 months.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24140199
Can it be turned into a Whitehall farce?
No voters opinions were dominated by doubts and "small c" conservatism.
More bento box madness:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kotobuki-Plastic-Mold-Rabbit-Bear/dp/B002TZ04J6
Boiled egg moulds!
John Rentoul @JohnRentoul: Twice as many people now say Clegg is a "natural leader" as say the same of EdM
John Rentoul @JohnRentoul: That's 4% to 2%
http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/hpu9a33nod/YG-Archive-Pol-Sun-results-170913.pdf
I find zealots are a turn-off in any debate regardless of the argument.
There is another factor which I am not sure is being picked up by ONS.
Many small companies, that used to employ say 15-50 people, are now employing less than 10 but are contracting out specialist (and only occasionally used) functions to self-employed people as well as contracting out back office functions. This is being done on an international basis.
Result is smaller and less costly premises, fewer HR problems and costs and increased flexibility to meet market demand/decline.
Innovation and IPR is kept in-house but most other functions are out-sourced.
But more importantly if I'm not overstating the "Yes" vote how might they lose ??
Signed - Baffled of Auchentennach.
*chortle*
When I see things like that I'm glad I live in Wales. Where parents and kids are normal.
I ate nothing healthy growing up. Nothing. I used to spend my school dinner money on four pasties for a quid and kept the rest for ten Red Bands so I could have a fag with my mates. I left school weighing about 10 stone soaking wet. I was fit as a flea and played rugby in the old Welsh premiership at 20. All ribs, jutting shoulder blades and fast feet.
Now my fridge is full of spinach and blueberries and salmon and fresh chicken and I hardly ever smoke (sometimes when I'm drunk) yet I'm fighting the emerging paunch.
Go figure!
But surely these are the companies pushing up productivity rather than holding it back?
Though their contracted out self-employed suppliers may be moving in the wrong direction if all the outsourcing means is a change in tax and benefit arrangements.
So why? I'm genuinely curious. Is it some sort of philosophical objection to the very concept of marriage? Or something else?
The reason that Johann Lamont is the biggest missing person case in Scottish politics (after Charlie Kennedy) is the worst-kept secret in Scottish public life.
It has not though been his first priority. The political gain of allowing productivity to fall in return for higher than necessary employment will no doubt have been irresistibly attractive to a master strategist.
It is interesting to speculate though when closing the productivity gap will become a real and admitted government priority.
June 2015?
However I am somewhat concerned about Stuart Dickson, who after declaring the event the highlight of his year has failed to show.
Has he fallen into the deep fat fryer along with his breakfast Mars bar ?? .... Search parties are out !!
That said, Salmond has tried in the past to portray himself as an equal to Cameron. He's simply not. On a government level his counterpart would be Michael Moore.
The reason that Johann Lamont is the biggest missing person case in Scottish politics (after Charlie Kennedy) is the worst-kept secret in Scottish public life.
Phew .... we thought we'd lost you to the black hole of a Gordon Brown absence ?!?
"put shelled egg in bottom, close, and put into cold water for 10 minutes"
""The UK economy has reached it's Costa Concordia moment. The keel is off the rocks""
" "I have no inclination to bring back those on the bridge.. We must stick to the course GO has set" "
Gordon as Captain Schettino ?
My McARSE is so clad to spare the blushes of PB ladies as the sight of prodigious Scottish sausage would likely have them flocking north of the border to find true fulfilment !!
My McARSE and other nearby bits - Never Knowingly Undersold !!
Has anyone got any experiences of Google Chromebooks?
In our house, we all use mobile phones or tablets pretty much full time now, only using the Windows based PC or laptops for the odd bit of Photoshop or PowerPoint. The Windows based machines are a pain in the arse, slow, glitchy, crashy.
I can't afford a Mac, but need something a bit bigger than tablet sized occasionally, with a keyboard for typing. Chromebook looks appealing, we already use Cloud storage and printing, and if, as looks likely, Chrome offers Office type software, and the ability to convert Windows Office documents, then it might be a good move for us.
Any thoughts?
"Direct from the Conservative homepage, volunteers can join Team2015 and work to secure victory in our 40/40 target seats. This has already allowed nearly 3,000 people to make a very meaningful contribution to the campaign. "
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thecolumnists/2013/09/from-grantshapps-.html
I'm not sure if that means Team 2015 is succeeding, or failing.
No one has yet invented a tandem bicycle which is designed to go backwards and forwards at the same time.
But if they do I am sure there will be a ready market for the product in Warwickshire.
You will though have to first agree with Southam Observer who sits on the front saddle looking forward and who sits on back seat facing the rear.
But to help you reach a quick decision, I undertake to grant SO the patent rights and you an exclusive manufacturing licence the moment I have completed the blueprint.
I would suggest it might better for you Southern chappies if you could find someone who understands things other than asset inflation.
I thought a large part was due to the decline in oil & gas production (a verty high productity segment) - much the same as why there was a drag on GDP without a similar decline in employment.
That said, it really depends on what you want to do with it.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030096/how-i-survived-7-days-in-chromebook-exile.html
If that case study sounds like you then sure, just don't expect to be able to do much on it... Photoshop for instance is probably a no-no.
Personally i'd feel very wary about giving all my docs etc to the chocolate factory.
"...from 2010 to 2012 membership fell a further 44,000 to 133,000. "
http://copov.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-decline-and-fall-of-conservative.html
Parents of infant school children collect their kids from school and gather at the school gates whilst waiting, exchanging gossip.
So the policy of free school meals for children at infant school will get plenty of discussion and exposure amongst mothers of young children. Rather than asking economic think tanks, media interviewers should gather at school gates if they want opinions.
Also parents of young children are far less likely to have the wealth of older people and more likely to be hard pressed. So although one group of taxpayers is subsidising the lunches of the children of another group, there is some logic to the arrangement.
So overall a very good political move by the Lib Dems and a mildly sensible one too.
Similarly, if fracking gets going, then a lot of "productivity" for relatively small extra employment.
Extracts from Godfrey Bloom's auto-biog arrive: 'I don't remember the 70s as I spent the decade completely pissed.' Cd be a short book...
I would look at a Samsung or Sony. Decent build quality and good battery life. Make sure you buy a laptop with a Haswell processor (I know it doesn't mean much, but once you start looking you will see why).
The problem with Chromebooks is that the cheaper ones all favour cloud storage over local storage, making them unsuitable for anything more than light usage. Unless you are on the market for the Pixel which comes with a 256GB SSD the rest all top out at 32GB from what I remember, and you are limited to just two brands, Acer and Samsung. I have personally vowed never to buy another Acer laptop because they all have horrible build quality.
The other option is to look at a powerful Android tablet, the Galaxy Note 10.1 2 is out pretty soon, and the Xperia Tablet Z is also very nice (I have one). Photoshop touch edition is getting better and on the Note it is great because of the Wacom pen, text input remains an issue, but you can get add on keyboards for almost any tablet these days.
"ONS have released a bulletin today, "International Comparison of Productivity - First Estimates, 2012", which highlights one of the main problem areas of the UK economy.
Here are the key findings:
Key points
• Output per hour in the UK was 16 percentage points below the average for the rest of the major industrialised economies in 2012, the widest productivity gap since 1994. On an output per worker basis, UK productivity was 19 percentage points below the average for the rest of the G7 in 2012.
• UK output per hour and output per worker fell in 2012 compared with 2011. By contrast, these measures both increased in 2012 on average across the rest of the G7."
Since the public sector represent half the economy, I wonder if it is in schools, hospitals etc that the low productivity exists? Just asking.
I find this attitude very offputting - it risks coming across as a hatred of marriage and, by implication, of married people.
There are cost benefits of a school catering for a higher % of pupils - for a non statist I'm comfortable with this minor splurge.
'Do you believe Scotland should leave the United Kingdom and become and Independent country'
Are the Yes campaign scared to mention leaving the UK?