On Ukraine - if we are gong for voting in the disputed areas.
1) Kick out the Russian soldiers or not? 2) Kick out the settlers the Russians have brought in? 3) Bring back the Ukrainians the Russians have deported?
Or are we talking "Facts on the Ground" as the the advocates of Stop The War Now in the Balkans used to say. i.e. accept whatever ethnic cleansing has happened?
EDIT: If we are going to go with Facts On The Ground, are we applying this in Israel/Palestine, as well?
I read a very interesting book on that latter point.
If the Israeli strategy of 'facts on the ground' is applied it's going to be very hard to deny them the West Bank.
But if you then include Gaza, the old Mandate probably already has a Muslim majority.
Which is why Sharon withdrew from it.
Yup. And why Netan-yahoo is carrying on the "good work" creating "facts on the ground" as fast as he can.
Are we talking about his housebuilding policy or his love life?
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
On Ukraine - if we are gong for voting in the disputed areas.
1) Kick out the Russian soldiers or not? 2) Kick out the settlers the Russians have brought in? 3) Bring back the Ukrainians the Russians have deported?
Or are we talking "Facts on the Ground" as the the advocates of Stop The War Now in the Balkans used to say. i.e. accept whatever ethnic cleansing has happened?
EDIT: If we are going to go with Facts On The Ground, are we applying this in Israel/Palestine, as well?
I read a very interesting book on that latter point.
If the Israeli strategy of 'facts on the ground' is applied it's going to be very hard to deny them the West Bank.
But if you then include Gaza, the old Mandate probably already has a Muslim majority.
Which is why Sharon withdrew from it.
Yup. And why Netan-yahoo is carrying on the "good work" creating "facts on the ground" as fast as he can.
Are we talking about his housebuilding policy or his love life?
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers. Plus whole life terms for serial killers and terrorists and those who murder children or the police
Sleep well, England, under the sheltering aegis of the Bravermen Belle. No channel crossings this night or any nights to come. That shit is handled.
Curious colour scheme - sort of pretending to be lo-viz like a Typhoon but not really. Sort of pretend military like a TV licensing contractor pretends to be a state official with legal powers.
In any case - isn't it illegal for a civvy plane, the odd old WW2 warbird aside, to cam up?
And where are the civilian registrations? Don't they want to be reported by ground observers?
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers
You should hear what childless aunts and uncles have to say about the IHT policy.
Sleep well, England, under the sheltering aegis of the Bravermen Belle. No channel crossings this night or any nights to come. That shit is handled.
Curious colour scheme - sort of pretending to be lo-viz like a Typhoon but not really. Sort of pretend military like a TV licensing contractor pretends to be a state official with legal powers.
In any case - isn't it illegal for a civvy plane, the odd old WW2 warbird aside, to cam up?
And where are the civilian registrations? Don't they want to be reported by ground observers?
That's not camo, just a dull paint scheme. I thought it was photoshopped.
"Trump has become like Captain Ahab, obsessed with the whale who bit his leg off. But you know how it ends - Ahab's obsession brings about his own death as well as those of all but one of his crew members. It's like watching a real-life version of Moby Dick."
"Trump has become like Captain Ahab, obsessed with the whale who bit his leg off. But you know how it ends - Ahab's obsession brings about his own death as well as those of all but one of his crew members. It's like watching a real-life version of Moby Dick."
True Dat
Three words need deleting.
I think we can all agree that in observing Trump we are watching a real life Dick.
There seems to be a pretty healthy debate on Ukraine today that doesn't involve vituperative (nice word) shutting down of arguments.
Actually quite surprising we don't have at least 2 or 3 parallel debates going on. Not even on LTNs or housebuilding.
As Dura points out most of the so called popular front for the liberation of Ukraine (aka people who don't trust any assurances Russia might give in a future peace deal) are not into vituperation. I assume I'm considered part of that camp, and I don't come on here with the purpose of insulting or having enjoyable snarky banter. It's a matter of taste - some people enjoy it, some don't. I come here because there's an interesting range of opinions and experience.
I think that some here do respond to any non-hawkish comment on Ukraine by speculating on the motives of the writer, which does have a chilling effect, especially for those of us who choose to be identifiable. So I don't comment very often. But I'll take your invitation as encouragement, and FWIW my view is:
(1) Russia's invasion is mostly pretty straightforward imperialism - "we want your territory and we'll take it by force of arms". As such, it's appalling. (2) Russia did have reason to complain about the way NATO was expanding up to its border (in much the same way as the US got worried about Cuba), and could reasonably have objected vehemently but peacefully to Ukraine joining in. That option was closed off by the invasion (which is why the invasion was stupid as well as appalling), and Ukraine should be welcomed into NATO once the war is either over or frozen, so that any future Russian attacks become an attack on the whole alliance and the invasion is seen to have failed in its primary aim. (3) Our dislike of the invasion shouldn't lead us to think that Ukrainian nationalism is wonderful and needs to be embraced in toto. The willingness of nationalists to continue to celebrate Hitler collaborators like Bandera is repulsive, the prewar treatment of the Russophile minority was dubious and the insistence on regaining every inch of disputed territory regardless of the views of current residents* is not a war aim we should prioritise. (4) Some Ukrainian sources admit that much of the area that is not yet recaptured has significant pro-Russian sympathies, and we could do with some more non-aligned media reporting from the east as we're getting an unremitting stream of one-sided coverage. There was one al-Jazeera piece some months back, which IIRC basically said that the Russians had some active support but the majority simply wanted the war to stop without being counter-liberated - which seems plausible, even given the constraints on people speaking their minds. (5) We should therefore aim to encourage a cease-fire ultimately followed by referendums in each region on where they want to belong - the Slesvig-Holstein solution. We should continue to give Ukraine support to make further Russian advances impossible, but shouldn't escalate with new weapon systems or seek to encourage the maximal war aim in (3) by suggesting we'll give more and more until total victory (since that would boost the "no compromise" approach),
It's a minority view, and I have zero influence on the issue, so it doesn't actually matter what I think, but maybe it helps in the interest of a full-spectrum debate.
* As in all referendums, the issue of "what is a current resident" will be a problem if we ever get that far - if pro-Ukraine residents have fled to the west of the country, do they get a vote in what happens in the east? But we're a very long way from even discussing that.
A measured comment from Nick - too measured IMO. A quick response.
1. Yes. Indeed, it's pretty much entirely imperialism, both practically and psychologically. Indeed, worse, it's ethnic nationalism aimed at Russifying Ukraine and eliminating Ukraine as a nation. (This is probably an unachievable objective for Russia now but that was the aim).
2. Russia had little reason to complain. Indeed, in retrospect, NATO should have expanded further and faster. The war would not be taking place now if it had. The failure to incorporate Ukraine was tacit agreement that Ukraine fell within Russia's legitimate sphere of interest and, as such, if push came to shove, it could intervene there because the West would only offer token opposition. The false-equality drawn here should not be drawn. NATO expansion has happened at the request of the states joining; it is wholly different from the Russian imperialist power projection.
3. True. However, in an existential crisis, you take the allies you can find - as Churchill said of Stalin and the devil.
4/5. The areas captured by Russia have been subject to extensive ethnic cleansing / importation. They may have had Russian sympathies pre-2022 but that is of no consequence now. Both as a matter of justice and of consequence, Russia should not be allowed to gain from the war, irrespective of opinions beforehand, never mind of Russians who have occupied displaced or murdered Ukrainians. As and when the lost territories are regained, Russian settlers or collaborators need expelling. The precedent is there from Poland / Czechoslovakia post-WW2.
To go back to [1], this is (or was) aimed at being a genocidal war, with the elimination of Ukraine as a nation. That is not something that any fair person should compromise with, both on its own account and because perceived weakness will only lead to a further round later, when there is a less firm approach from the White House.
Interesting that there wasn't even a measured majority in Russia for the invasion, despite the political environment there. But so much has happened since then that popular opinion in neither Russia nor in the invaded and despoiled territories should count for much.
There's often a disconnect between what a country's political leadership wants and what the country (ie most of the people in it) wants. It's especially true in countries ruled by strongmen dictators and I think it applies in spades here. This whole sorry episode is about Putin gratification not the wants and needs of the Russian people.
Ok they can be seduced by propaganda into supporting 'their side' in a war situation (that's normal) but what tangible benefit does the typical citizen of Russia get from a long and bloody conflict with Ukraine and pariah status with half the world? The impact on most Russians is zero to negative surely? A big negative for many.
Sleep well, England, under the sheltering aegis of the Bravermen Belle. No channel crossings this night or any nights to come. That shit is handled.
Curious colour scheme - sort of pretending to be lo-viz like a Typhoon but not really. Sort of pretend military like a TV licensing contractor pretends to be a state official with legal powers.
In any case - isn't it illegal for a civvy plane, the odd old WW2 warbird aside, to cam up?
And where are the civilian registrations? Don't they want to be reported by ground observers?
That's not camo, just a dull paint scheme. I thought it was photoshopped.
Modern plane camo is very often a very dull plain grey overall. Camo doesn't have to be disruptive, which is perhaps what you are thinking of?
Here it is - together with the decolorisation of the markings typical of modern monotone camo.
"Trump has become like Captain Ahab, obsessed with the whale who bit his leg off. But you know how it ends - Ahab's obsession brings about his own death as well as those of all but one of his crew members. It's like watching a real-life version of Moby Dick."
True Dat
Very unfair on Ahab, who had a philosophy beyond that of the spoiled brat throwing a tantrum.
On Ukraine - if we are gong for voting in the disputed areas.
1) Kick out the Russian soldiers or not? 2) Kick out the settlers the Russians have brought in? 3) Bring back the Ukrainians the Russians have deported?
Or are we talking "Facts on the Ground" as the the advocates of Stop The War Now in the Balkans used to say. i.e. accept whatever ethnic cleansing has happened?
EDIT: If we are going to go with Facts On The Ground, are we applying this in Israel/Palestine, as well?
I'm struggling to understand what point you're trying to make. Both are terrible or Russia is much worse than Israel? Either way your post has failed for me.
Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps · 5h A late summer heat wave is about to sweep parts of Europe, specially France and Switzerland. Temperatures will be at record levels (at least for August) specially in SE France and Western Switzerland, including the cities of Lyon and Geneva which will live a historic heat wave.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers
You should hear what childless aunts and uncles have to say about the IHT policy.
We could of course go further and have a manifesto commitment to scrap IHT completely at the next election so aunts and uncles can leave their estate to whoever they want tax free or at least raise the threshold to £1 million for all estates.
The top rate of income tax cut from 50% under Brown to 45% now too for the highest earners
Sleep well, England, under the sheltering aegis of the Bravermen Belle. No channel crossings this night or any nights to come. That shit is handled.
Curious colour scheme - sort of pretending to be lo-viz like a Typhoon but not really. Sort of pretend military like a TV licensing contractor pretends to be a state official with legal powers.
In any case - isn't it illegal for a civvy plane, the odd old WW2 warbird aside, to cam up?
And where are the civilian registrations? Don't they want to be reported by ground observers?
That's not camo, just a dull paint scheme. I thought it was photoshopped.
Modern plane camo is very often a very dull plain grey overall. Camo doesn't have to be disruptive, which is perhaps what you are thinking of?
Here it is - together with the decolorisation of the markings typical of modern monotone camo.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers
You should hear what childless aunts and uncles have to say about the IHT policy.
We could of course go further and have a manifesto commitment to scrap IHT completely at the next election so aunts and uncles can leave their estate to whoever they want tax free or at least raise the threshold to £1 million for all estates.
The top rate of income tax cut from 50% under Brown to 45% now too for the highest earners
No. That would be fiscally irresponsible. You know, what "Conservatives" aren't supposed to be. Nor are they supposed to be spivs. Much better to cancel RNRB so that the state and the body politic claws back some of the unearned capital gain on property.
Still better to abolish IHT and have CGT on all property transfers, including inheritance, like it used to be.
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
Sleep well, England, under the sheltering aegis of the Bravermen Belle. No channel crossings this night or any nights to come. That shit is handled.
Curious colour scheme - sort of pretending to be lo-viz like a Typhoon but not really. Sort of pretend military like a TV licensing contractor pretends to be a state official with legal powers.
In any case - isn't it illegal for a civvy plane, the odd old WW2 warbird aside, to cam up?
And where are the civilian registrations? Don't they want to be reported by ground observers?
That's not camo, just a dull paint scheme. I thought it was photoshopped.
Modern plane camo is very often a very dull plain grey overall. Camo doesn't have to be disruptive, which is perhaps what you are thinking of?
Here it is - together with the decolorisation of the markings typical of modern monotone camo.
Good point re photoshop. Makes one wonder what is being left on or missed off sort of accidentally on purpose.
I did know that military aircraft now have a low-visibility finish and desaturated rondels and other markings, and that's been common for some time.
What I didn't know is that it was still referred to as "camo".
Hmm, you might have a point about terminology in use - I can't answer that. And yet it's all camouflage, to merge into the background, whether uniform or contrasty. That pic is of a sort of pretend version, anyway, like a cinema commissionaire is a pretend version of an admiral. The decolorisation of the UJ is very telling.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers
You should hear what childless aunts and uncles have to say about the IHT policy.
We could of course go further and have a manifesto commitment to scrap IHT completely at the next election so aunts and uncles can leave their estate to whoever they want tax free or at least raise the threshold to £1 million for all estates.
The top rate of income tax cut from 50% under Brown to 45% now too for the highest earners
No. That would be fiscally irresponsible. You know, what "Conservatives" aren't supposed to be. Nor are they supposed to be spivs. Much better to cancel RNRB so that the state and the body politic claws back some of the unearned capital gain on property.
Still better to abolish IHT and have CGT on all property transfers, including inheritance, like it used to be.
The Conservatives are supposed to conserve wealth, private estates and inheritance, the clue is in the title. If it was a manifesto commitment endorsed by voters it would have a mandate too
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
The mods could presumably say for sure (I assume they a decent search facility) but I believe in his Leon guise our esteemed travel hack has flounced for weeks at a stretch before returning.
I hope he does return, he's quite amusing in his twattish bigoted way.
Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps · 5h A late summer heat wave is about to sweep parts of Europe, specially France and Switzerland. Temperatures will be at record levels (at least for August) specially in SE France and Western Switzerland, including the cities of Lyon and Geneva which will live a historic heat wave.
The all time record for the closest Met station to our French place, Macon, is a relatively low 39.8C from August 2003. It didn’t manage to beat that in 2019 or 2022. Could be beaten in the next few days.
Next time we’re there is end of August so the heatwave should have dissipated by then.
Sleep well, England, under the sheltering aegis of the Bravermen Belle. No channel crossings this night or any nights to come. That shit is handled.
Curious colour scheme - sort of pretending to be lo-viz like a Typhoon but not really. Sort of pretend military like a TV licensing contractor pretends to be a state official with legal powers.
In any case - isn't it illegal for a civvy plane, the odd old WW2 warbird aside, to cam up?
And where are the civilian registrations? Don't they want to be reported by ground observers?
That's not camo, just a dull paint scheme. I thought it was photoshopped.
Modern plane camo is very often a very dull plain grey overall. Camo doesn't have to be disruptive, which is perhaps what you are thinking of?
Here it is - together with the decolorisation of the markings typical of modern monotone camo.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
"Trump has become like Captain Ahab, obsessed with the whale who bit his leg off. But you know how it ends - Ahab's obsession brings about his own death as well as those of all but one of his crew members. It's like watching a real-life version of Moby Dick."
True Dat
Very unfair on Ahab, who had a philosophy beyond that of the spoiled brat throwing a tantrum.
Quite erudite as well - he figures out the migration pattern of whales, as part of his obsession.
Can't imagine Trump doing bleeding edge biological research and getting it right. No, bleach doesn't count.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers
You should hear what childless aunts and uncles have to say about the IHT policy.
We could of course go further and have a manifesto commitment to scrap IHT completely at the next election so aunts and uncles can leave their estate to whoever they want tax free or at least raise the threshold to £1 million for all estates.
The top rate of income tax cut from 50% under Brown to 45% now too for the highest earners
No. That would be fiscally irresponsible. You know, what "Conservatives" aren't supposed to be. Nor are they supposed to be spivs. Much better to cancel RNRB so that the state and the body politic claws back some of the unearned capital gain on property.
Still better to abolish IHT and have CGT on all property transfers, including inheritance, like it used to be.
The Conservatives are supposed to conserve wealth, private estates and inheritance, the clue is in the title. If it was a manifesto commitment endorsed by voters it would have a mandate too
Nonsense. Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. It's so much more than private estates and inheritance.
Sleep well, England, under the sheltering aegis of the Bravermen Belle. No channel crossings this night or any nights to come. That shit is handled.
Curious colour scheme - sort of pretending to be lo-viz like a Typhoon but not really. Sort of pretend military like a TV licensing contractor pretends to be a state official with legal powers.
In any case - isn't it illegal for a civvy plane, the odd old WW2 warbird aside, to cam up?
And where are the civilian registrations? Don't they want to be reported by ground observers?
That's not camo, just a dull paint scheme. I thought it was photoshopped.
It looks a bit like a BBC outside broadcast van with wings.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers
You should hear what childless aunts and uncles have to say about the IHT policy.
We could of course go further and have a manifesto commitment to scrap IHT completely at the next election so aunts and uncles can leave their estate to whoever they want tax free or at least raise the threshold to £1 million for all estates.
The top rate of income tax cut from 50% under Brown to 45% now too for the highest earners
No. That would be fiscally irresponsible. You know, what "Conservatives" aren't supposed to be. Nor are they supposed to be spivs. Much better to cancel RNRB so that the state and the body politic claws back some of the unearned capital gain on property.
Still better to abolish IHT and have CGT on all property transfers, including inheritance, like it used to be.
The Conservatives are supposed to conserve wealth, private estates and inheritance, the clue is in the title. If it was a manifesto commitment endorsed by voters it would have a mandate too
Nonsense. Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. It's so much more than private estates and inheritance.
Conservatism in the UK (specifically England, come to think of it) is a political party dedicated to preserving the interests of the upper and upper-middle classes, whatever they may be at a given point in time. All principles are retconned to justify actions to preserve those interests. @HYUFD is the only one on here who ever got this.
If they were bad it would be embarrassing that she's in charge of education.
If they were any good it would be depressing to think A-levels are worthless.
(The latter point applies with particular force to Spielman, whom I believe has a large number of A-levels with good grades.)
Her point is correct and I have told my kids this many times (not that she said it, but that her core point is a truth). Once you have done your degree no-one cares about A levels and O-levels/GCSEs. Once you have a shedload of experience no-one cares what university you went to - well perhaps except a few twatty snobs with sad unfulfilled careers who still want to live their glory days of when they went to St Uptight's College Camford) .
Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps · 5h A late summer heat wave is about to sweep parts of Europe, specially France and Switzerland. Temperatures will be at record levels (at least for August) specially in SE France and Western Switzerland, including the cities of Lyon and Geneva which will live a historic heat wave.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Several countries have put policies in place to stop this - they don't want huge piles of retirees gumming up their medical systems etc.
Not sure the EU would see anything in that for them to like.
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
Don't want that Eadric back. Real handful. Used to make me tremble.
If they were bad it would be embarrassing that she's in charge of education.
If they were any good it would be depressing to think A-levels are worthless.
(The latter point applies with particular force to Spielman, whom I believe has a large number of A-levels with good grades.)
Her point is correct and I have told my kids this many times (not that she said it, but that her core point is a truth). Once you have done your degree no-one cares about A levels and O-levels/GCSEs. Once you have a shedload of experience no-one cares what university you went to - well perhaps except a few twatty snobs with sad unfulfilled careers who still want to live their glory days of when they went to St Uptight's College Camford) .
Well, perhaps you'd tell most recruiters that so they stop demanding them on application forms.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Several countries have put policies in place to stop this - they don't want huge piles of retirees gumming up their medical systems etc.
Not sure the EU would see anything in that for them to like.
That’s the challenge. Need to hoodwink them somehow.
Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps · 5h A late summer heat wave is about to sweep parts of Europe, specially France and Switzerland. Temperatures will be at record levels (at least for August) specially in SE France and Western Switzerland, including the cities of Lyon and Geneva which will live a historic heat wave.
Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps · 5h A late summer heat wave is about to sweep parts of Europe, specially France and Switzerland. Temperatures will be at record levels (at least for August) specially in SE France and Western Switzerland, including the cities of Lyon and Geneva which will live a historic heat wave.
Well above average. Maxes in the high 20s for the next week, possibly touching 30. Minima in the high teens. August is already running at 16.5C, 0.7C above average. Could well end up above 17 for the second year in a row.
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
The mods could presumably say for sure (I assume they a decent search facility) but I believe in his Leon guise our esteemed travel hack has flounced for weeks at a stretch before returning.
I hope he does return, he's quite amusing in his twattish bigoted way.
I am missing him already. Actually I am. I like to take the piss out of him and to be fair to him he often takes it in good humour.
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
The mods could presumably say for sure (I assume they a decent search facility) but I believe in his Leon guise our esteemed travel hack has flounced for weeks at a stretch before returning.
I hope he does return, he's quite amusing in his twattish bigoted way.
I am missing him already. Actually I am. I like to take the piss out of him and to be fair to him he often takes it in good humour.
So am I. I enjoy the travelogues. When he goes all sink the boats and PBers are thick wankers I just switch off and wait for the storm to pass.
Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps · 5h A late summer heat wave is about to sweep parts of Europe, specially France and Switzerland. Temperatures will be at record levels (at least for August) specially in SE France and Western Switzerland, including the cities of Lyon and Geneva which will live a historic heat wave.
Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps · 5h A late summer heat wave is about to sweep parts of Europe, specially France and Switzerland. Temperatures will be at record levels (at least for August) specially in SE France and Western Switzerland, including the cities of Lyon and Geneva which will live a historic heat wave.
Well above average. Maxes in the high 20s for the next week, possibly touching 30. Minima in the high teens. August is already running at 16.5C, 0.7C above average. Could well end up above 17 for the second year in a row.
It does not matter how bad the weather is, the temperature is always above average
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers
You should hear what childless aunts and uncles have to say about the IHT policy.
We could of course go further and have a manifesto commitment to scrap IHT completely at the next election so aunts and uncles can leave their estate to whoever they want tax free or at least raise the threshold to £1 million for all estates.
The top rate of income tax cut from 50% under Brown to 45% now too for the highest earners
No. That would be fiscally irresponsible. You know, what "Conservatives" aren't supposed to be. Nor are they supposed to be spivs. Much better to cancel RNRB so that the state and the body politic claws back some of the unearned capital gain on property.
Still better to abolish IHT and have CGT on all property transfers, including inheritance, like it used to be.
The Conservatives are supposed to conserve wealth, private estates and inheritance, the clue is in the title. If it was a manifesto commitment endorsed by voters it would have a mandate too
Nonsense. Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. It's so much more than private estates and inheritance.
Conservatism in the UK (specifically England, come to think of it) is a political party dedicated to preserving the interests of the upper and upper-middle classes, whatever they may be at a given point in time. All principles are retconned to justify actions to preserve those interests. @HYUFD is the only one on here who ever got this.
Plenty of lower middle class people and even skilled working class people in the South especially own property they want to pass on to their children tax free too and have also voted Conservative accordingly
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
The mods could presumably say for sure (I assume they a decent search facility) but I believe in his Leon guise our esteemed travel hack has flounced for weeks at a stretch before returning.
I hope he does return, he's quite amusing in his twattish bigoted way.
I am missing him already. Actually I am. I like to take the piss out of him and to be fair to him he often takes it in good humour.
So am I. I enjoy the travelogues. When he goes all sink the boats and PBers are thick wankers I just switch off and wait for the storm to pass.
PB did get over the departure of the original Tim.
PB rules are PB rules, so no argument - I'd be happy to see all the dispelled back though.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers
You should hear what childless aunts and uncles have to say about the IHT policy.
We could of course go further and have a manifesto commitment to scrap IHT completely at the next election so aunts and uncles can leave their estate to whoever they want tax free or at least raise the threshold to £1 million for all estates.
The top rate of income tax cut from 50% under Brown to 45% now too for the highest earners
No. That would be fiscally irresponsible. You know, what "Conservatives" aren't supposed to be. Nor are they supposed to be spivs. Much better to cancel RNRB so that the state and the body politic claws back some of the unearned capital gain on property.
Still better to abolish IHT and have CGT on all property transfers, including inheritance, like it used to be.
The Conservatives are supposed to conserve wealth, private estates and inheritance, the clue is in the title. If it was a manifesto commitment endorsed by voters it would have a mandate too
Nonsense. Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. It's so much more than private estates and inheritance.
So it includes private estates and inheritance, thank you
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Brexit has made this harder, of course. The solution is for everyone to look after their health and be prepared to work for longer. But when I venture outside London and see a land of obese fifty somethings tootling to the off license in their mobility scooters I don't have a sense that this is a message people are likely to respond well to. So immigration is inevitable (unfortunately, if you don't like immigration; personally I am fine with it).
If they were bad it would be embarrassing that she's in charge of education.
If they were any good it would be depressing to think A-levels are worthless.
(The latter point applies with particular force to Spielman, whom I believe has a large number of A-levels with good grades.)
Her point is correct and I have told my kids this many times (not that she said it, but that her core point is a truth). Once you have done your degree no-one cares about A levels and O-levels/GCSEs. Once you have a shedload of experience no-one cares what university you went to - well perhaps except a few twatty snobs with sad unfulfilled careers who still want to live their glory days of when they went to St Uptight's College Camford) .
Well, perhaps you'd tell most recruiters that so they stop demanding them on application forms.
It may well happen. In the private sector the focus is beginning to move toward removing things that might direct someone toward conscious or unconscious bias. There are few bigger biases than around people's alma mater. The university that someone attended is often in direct correlation with their social or ethnic group. If someone were to use something as antiquated as an application form and one needed to establish the level of education I would ask a binary question to establish secondary or tertiary, masters etc. If someone has ten years experience that is relevant to the job, their educational establishment is irrelevant other than establishing whether they are "a person like us", which is now largely not considered a good criteria to use.
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
The mods could presumably say for sure (I assume they a decent search facility) but I believe in his Leon guise our esteemed travel hack has flounced for weeks at a stretch before returning.
I hope he does return, he's quite amusing in his twattish bigoted way.
I am missing him already. Actually I am. I like to take the piss out of him and to be fair to him he often takes it in good humour.
So am I. I enjoy the travelogues. When he goes all sink the boats and PBers are thick wankers I just switch off and wait for the storm to pass.
PB did get over the departure of the original Tim.
PB rules are PB rules, so no argument - I'd be happy to see all the dispelled back though.
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
The mods could presumably say for sure (I assume they a decent search facility) but I believe in his Leon guise our esteemed travel hack has flounced for weeks at a stretch before returning.
I hope he does return, he's quite amusing in his twattish bigoted way.
I am missing him already. Actually I am. I like to take the piss out of him and to be fair to him he often takes it in good humour.
So am I. I enjoy the travelogues. When he goes all sink the boats and PBers are thick wankers I just switch off and wait for the storm to pass.
The first week is hardest after an escape. So if he makes it that long I'd give him a decent chance of freedom. All eyes on the gates until then.
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
The mods could presumably say for sure (I assume they a decent search facility) but I believe in his Leon guise our esteemed travel hack has flounced for weeks at a stretch before returning.
I hope he does return, he's quite amusing in his twattish bigoted way.
I am missing him already. Actually I am. I like to take the piss out of him and to be fair to him he often takes it in good humour.
So am I. I enjoy the travelogues. When he goes all sink the boats and PBers are thick wankers I just switch off and wait for the storm to pass.
PB did get over the departure of the original Tim.
PB rules are PB rules, so no argument - I'd be happy to see all the dispelled back though.
Farmer Tupac?
That was the original doxxing.
No idea what that means and whilst we're at it I've no idea about the meaning of 'Finchley Road'.
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
And the popularity of Blair among the general public has been overstated. He was very popular in the London media. The reception was a bit cooler in the country at large.
I disagree, in 1997 Blair's win was like Jesus Christ Superstar and the second coming. After Diana died his approval ratings were higher than any PMs before or since. He also got 47%NEV in the 1995 locals, Starmer got just 35% NEV for Labour in the equivalent councils up this May.
Many voters are voting LD for example who would have voted for Blair and New Labour in the 1990s and Blair also won white working class areas like Harlow, Basildon, Dartford and Walsall and Dudley the Tories held in May. Starmer will probably win but not with great enthusiasm for him just a desire to get rid of the Tories, in 1997 by contrast there was real enthusiasm for the charismatic Blair too which lasted largely until the Iraq War
I think Blair, like Trump and Johnson, was very energetic and positive about the future with him. This is very appealing - in contrast to a dour realistic approach.
Like Johnson and Trump, Blair was also policy lite so not much to disagree with. It's a winning combination until they are found out.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers
You should hear what childless aunts and uncles have to say about the IHT policy.
We could of course go further and have a manifesto commitment to scrap IHT completely at the next election so aunts and uncles can leave their estate to whoever they want tax free or at least raise the threshold to £1 million for all estates.
The top rate of income tax cut from 50% under Brown to 45% now too for the highest earners
No. That would be fiscally irresponsible. You know, what "Conservatives" aren't supposed to be. Nor are they supposed to be spivs. Much better to cancel RNRB so that the state and the body politic claws back some of the unearned capital gain on property.
Still better to abolish IHT and have CGT on all property transfers, including inheritance, like it used to be.
The Conservatives are supposed to conserve wealth, private estates and inheritance, the clue is in the title. If it was a manifesto commitment endorsed by voters it would have a mandate too
Nonsense. Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. It's so much more than private estates and inheritance.
So it includes private estates and inheritance, thank you
You're a very silly person.
Tell me, do you stand to benefit from some vast inheritance or have one to pass on?
If not, why are you so obsessed with the topic, obsessed to a much greater level than your party it would seem given their persistent support for inheritance taxes over many decades?
I’ve been in relationships that have last shorter than a Leon flounce.
Is that with or without premature ejaculation?
There’s no such thing as premature ejaculation only perfect timing.
It’s not a guy’s fault if she cannot keep up with his pace.
What makes you think I was referring to the man?
I assumed you were referring to someone speaking too soon. Having been something of a fan of Agatha Christie, I have noticed that Hastings seems to ejaculate on a regular basis, whilst Poirot less so. Poirot seems to hold back a little more. It might account for his edginess.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Several countries have put policies in place to stop this - they don't want huge piles of retirees gumming up their medical systems etc.
Not sure the EU would see anything in that for them to like.
So long as there was some way for the British government to pay for healthcare, it could be win-win for all concerned.
Firstly, the cost of medical care is dramatically lower in Spain / Portugal / Greece / Italy. Right now, we're struggling with keeping the NHS going, and a 10+% pay rise for junior doctors will only make budget pressures worse. Why not pay Spain to treat our oldies?
Secondly, in many places in Southern Spain and Portugal, or indeed in much of Italy, there is substantial overbuilding. Italian house prices are 20% below where they were a decade ago. There are four million empty homes in Spain - one for every 10 Spaniards! It would benefit both Club Med and the UK if we freed up housing capacity in the UK, and helped close the surplus of homes in these areas.
Thirdly, the areas where British retirees would go tend to be the unemployment hotspots of the PIIGS. They're not heading to Milan or Madrid, they're going to cheaper coastal communities where unemployment is often 25%+. And they're going to demand services, which is going to mean lots of local employment.
Fourthly, we could potentially pay less in pensions. Money goes further in Spain or Portugal. If we could make sure healthcare was covered (as we'd be paying for it anyway in the UK), then the Med is a pretty attractive place for oldies to go to. Perhaps in return for them getting better medical care, year run sunshine and lower costs of living, the oldies could accept pension rises capped at 3% pa.
If they were bad it would be embarrassing that she's in charge of education.
If they were any good it would be depressing to think A-levels are worthless.
(The latter point applies with particular force to Spielman, whom I believe has a large number of A-levels with good grades.)
Her point is correct and I have told my kids this many times (not that she said it, but that her core point is a truth). Once you have done your degree no-one cares about A levels and O-levels/GCSEs. Once you have a shedload of experience no-one cares what university you went to - well perhaps except a few twatty snobs with sad unfulfilled careers who still want to live their glory days of when they went to St Uptight's College Camford) .
Well, perhaps you'd tell most recruiters that so they stop demanding them on application forms.
It may well happen. In the private sector the focus is beginning to move toward removing things that might direct someone toward conscious or unconscious bias. There are few bigger biases than around people's alma mater. The university that someone attended is often in direct correlation with their social or ethnic group. If someone were to use something as antiquated as an application form and one needed to establish the level of education I would ask a binary question to establish secondary or tertiary, masters etc. If someone has ten years experience that is relevant to the job, their educational establishment is irrelevant other than establishing whether they are "a person like us", which is now largely not considered a good criteria to use.
Well, Indeed and Total Jobs both still demand educational institutions. So they could clearly benefit from this input.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Brexit has made this harder, of course. The solution is for everyone to look after their health and be prepared to work for longer. But when I venture outside London and see a land of obese fifty somethings tootling to the off license in their mobility scooters I don't have a sense that this is a message people are likely to respond well to. So immigration is inevitable (unfortunately, if you don't like immigration; personally I am fine with it).
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Several countries have put policies in place to stop this - they don't want huge piles of retirees gumming up their medical systems etc.
Not sure the EU would see anything in that for them to like.
So long as there was some way for the British government to pay for healthcare, it could be win-win for all concerned.
Firstly, the cost of medical care is dramatically lower in Spain / Portugal / Greece / Italy. Right now, we're struggling with keeping the NHS going, and a 10+% pay rise for junior doctors will only make budget pressures worse. Why not pay Spain to treat our oldies?
Secondly, in many places in Southern Spain and Portugal, or indeed in much of Italy, there is substantial overbuilding. Italian house prices are 20% below where they were a decade ago. There are four million empty homes in Spain - one for every 10 Spaniards! It would benefit both Club Med and the UK if we freed up housing capacity in the UK, and helped close the surplus of homes in these areas.
Thirdly, the areas where British retirees would go tend to be the unemployment hotspots of the PIIGS. They're not heading to Milan or Madrid, they're going to cheaper coastal communities where unemployment is often 25%+. And they're going to demand services, which is going to mean lots of local employment.
Fourthly, we could potentially pay less in pensions. Money goes further in Spain or Portugal. If we could make sure healthcare was covered (as we'd be paying for it anyway in the UK), then the Med is a pretty attractive place for oldies to go to. Perhaps in return for them getting better medical care, year run sunshine and lower costs of living, the oldies could accept pension rises capped at 3% pa.
Oi, Starmer: pay attention!
This is your golden ticket to solving Britain’s economic problems, while improving electoral demographics
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers. Plus whole life terms for serial killers and terrorists and those who murder children or the police
' taking the lowest earners out of income tax'? Aren't you confusing the Tories with the LDs?
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
The mods could presumably say for sure (I assume they a decent search facility) but I believe in his Leon guise our esteemed travel hack has flounced for weeks at a stretch before returning.
I hope he does return, he's quite amusing in his twattish bigoted way.
I am missing him already. Actually I am. I like to take the piss out of him and to be fair to him he often takes it in good humour.
So am I. I enjoy the travelogues. When he goes all sink the boats and PBers are thick wankers I just switch off and wait for the storm to pass.
PB did get over the departure of the original Tim.
PB rules are PB rules, so no argument - I'd be happy to see all the dispelled back though.
Farmer Tupac?
That was the original doxxing.
No idea what that means and whilst we're at it I've no idea about the meaning of 'Finchley Road'.
@Tim stated that he was a farmer - a barley baron, IIRC. Big subsidies etc.
He was extremely broad ranging in his learning, including a very considerable knowledge of hip-hop music. Hence someone christened him Farmer Tupac.
He provoked a lot of people and started quite a few arguments. A couple of people took it on themselves to doxx him (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxing) - publicly reveal his true identity.
Among quite considerable uproar, he left the site and has not returned. Not banned.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers
You should hear what childless aunts and uncles have to say about the IHT policy.
We could of course go further and have a manifesto commitment to scrap IHT completely at the next election so aunts and uncles can leave their estate to whoever they want tax free or at least raise the threshold to £1 million for all estates.
The top rate of income tax cut from 50% under Brown to 45% now too for the highest earners
No. That would be fiscally irresponsible. You know, what "Conservatives" aren't supposed to be. Nor are they supposed to be spivs. Much better to cancel RNRB so that the state and the body politic claws back some of the unearned capital gain on property.
Still better to abolish IHT and have CGT on all property transfers, including inheritance, like it used to be.
The Conservatives are supposed to conserve wealth, private estates and inheritance, the clue is in the title. If it was a manifesto commitment endorsed by voters it would have a mandate too
Nonsense. Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. It's so much more than private estates and inheritance.
Conservatism in the UK (specifically England, come to think of it) is a political party dedicated to preserving the interests of the upper and upper-middle classes, whatever they may be at a given point in time. All principles are retconned to justify actions to preserve those interests. @HYUFD is the only one on here who ever got this.
That is complete bollox.
The Conservative Party (before the Johnson and Brexit madness) was a party that philosophically believed in self-development and aspiration. It is about enabling people of whatever social grouping to improve themselves with minimal interference from the state. (I hate the word "class", its such a fucking stupid concept)
The Labour Party believes that nanny knows best. More than it hates people who are from inherited wealth, it loathes even more people that they regard as "working class" becoming well off or monetarily successful (Labour people love the class word)
So Leon has really left the site? I thought he was just bluffing.
Indeed. And in common with other flounceteers like Eadric, Lady_G, and many others, he will go and never come back, leaving us only with a whisper of a memory. Ah, those who have gone before us, the memory fades...
The mods could presumably say for sure (I assume they a decent search facility) but I believe in his Leon guise our esteemed travel hack has flounced for weeks at a stretch before returning.
I hope he does return, he's quite amusing in his twattish bigoted way.
I am missing him already. Actually I am. I like to take the piss out of him and to be fair to him he often takes it in good humour.
So am I. I enjoy the travelogues. When he goes all sink the boats and PBers are thick wankers I just switch off and wait for the storm to pass.
PB did get over the departure of the original Tim.
PB rules are PB rules, so no argument - I'd be happy to see all the dispelled back though.
Farmer Tupac?
That was the original doxxing.
No idea what that means and whilst we're at it I've no idea about the meaning of 'Finchley Road'.
@Tim stated that he was a farmer - a barley baron, IIRC. Big subsidies etc.
He was extremely broad ranging in his learning, including a very considerable knowledge of hip-hop music. Hence someone christened him Farmer Tupac.
He provoked a lot of people and started quite a few arguments. A couple of people took it on themselves to doxx him (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxing) - publicly reveal his true identity.
Among quite considerable uproar, he left the site and has not returned. Not banned.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Several countries have put policies in place to stop this - they don't want huge piles of retirees gumming up their medical systems etc.
Not sure the EU would see anything in that for them to like.
So long as there was some way for the British government to pay for healthcare, it could be win-win for all concerned.
Firstly, the cost of medical care is dramatically lower in Spain / Portugal / Greece / Italy. Right now, we're struggling with keeping the NHS going, and a 10+% pay rise for junior doctors will only make budget pressures worse. Why not pay Spain to treat our oldies?
Secondly, in many places in Southern Spain and Portugal, or indeed in much of Italy, there is substantial overbuilding. Italian house prices are 20% below where they were a decade ago. There are four million empty homes in Spain - one for every 10 Spaniards! It would benefit both Club Med and the UK if we freed up housing capacity in the UK, and helped close the surplus of homes in these areas.
Thirdly, the areas where British retirees would go tend to be the unemployment hotspots of the PIIGS. They're not heading to Milan or Madrid, they're going to cheaper coastal communities where unemployment is often 25%+. And they're going to demand services, which is going to mean lots of local employment.
Fourthly, we could potentially pay less in pensions. Money goes further in Spain or Portugal. If we could make sure healthcare was covered (as we'd be paying for it anyway in the UK), then the Med is a pretty attractive place for oldies to go to. Perhaps in return for them getting better medical care, year run sunshine and lower costs of living, the oldies could accept pension rises capped at 3% pa.
The EU won’t agree to anything that’s not reciprocated. And the UK doesn’t want old EU nationals. We had a great system with FOM which the easily duped chucked in the bin .
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers. Plus whole life terms for serial killers and terrorists and those who murder children or the police
' taking the lowest earners out of income tax'? Aren't you confusing the Tories with the LDs?
IIRC after the end of the coalition, Cameron & Co. continued the policy of raising the tax free allowance by more than wage growth, each year.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Several countries have put policies in place to stop this - they don't want huge piles of retirees gumming up their medical systems etc.
Not sure the EU would see anything in that for them to like.
So long as there was some way for the British government to pay for healthcare, it could be win-win for all concerned.
Firstly, the cost of medical care is dramatically lower in Spain / Portugal / Greece / Italy. Right now, we're struggling with keeping the NHS going, and a 10+% pay rise for junior doctors will only make budget pressures worse. Why not pay Spain to treat our oldies?
Secondly, in many places in Southern Spain and Portugal, or indeed in much of Italy, there is substantial overbuilding. Italian house prices are 20% below where they were a decade ago. There are four million empty homes in Spain - one for every 10 Spaniards! It would benefit both Club Med and the UK if we freed up housing capacity in the UK, and helped close the surplus of homes in these areas.
Thirdly, the areas where British retirees would go tend to be the unemployment hotspots of the PIIGS. They're not heading to Milan or Madrid, they're going to cheaper coastal communities where unemployment is often 25%+. And they're going to demand services, which is going to mean lots of local employment.
Fourthly, we could potentially pay less in pensions. Money goes further in Spain or Portugal. If we could make sure healthcare was covered (as we'd be paying for it anyway in the UK), then the Med is a pretty attractive place for oldies to go to. Perhaps in return for them getting better medical care, year run sunshine and lower costs of living, the oldies could accept pension rises capped at 3% pa.
If even Kezia Dugdale has jacked it in with Labour ...
'The former MSP admitted she had “moved” on the independence issue and said she could not stand up for the Union in the same way as she did as part of the Better Together movement in 2014.
At one stage – although she appeared to stop short of switching to Yes outright –she hinted if she was presented with the option of Scottish independence in Europe against “little Boris Brexit Britain”, she would vote Yes.'
[...]
'She said: “It’s my European politics that means I’m not a member of the Labour party anymore.
"I believe in unions of people and unions of nations and I’ve got a great deal of ill feeling towards the Labour Party’s inability to make the case for the benefits of the UK in Europe, not just in the lead up to the EU referendum but in the days afterwards where we had the potential to limit the damage we all experienced.”'
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
Yes that's true. Corbynite PBers think courting popularity is a sell-out. Tory PBers think selling out in their direction makes him a hypocrite.
SKS knows that getting real people to change their mind is not easy. Much better to find out what's in their mind and then concentrate on packaging it nicely
Poster girl for the "start work at 16, get an employer to sponsor a useful degree when you've grown up" model.
And what she's said about A Level results isn't wrong, though it does rain on some well-deserved parades.
Not quite as dismal as Rishi hanging his comments (again, not wrong) off the annual Clarkson "I didn't get good grades and look at me now" tweet.
Fair cop.
But she isn't actually correct.
This is one reason why it's a real issue A-levels are in such a mess and the DfE are proposing to start monkeying with degree courses too.
DfE better start monkeying round with degree courses because unless they do inflation is going to force Universities to cut back UK numbers because the finances no longer stack up.
A quick look at the Bank of England inflation record tells me that £9250 in 2017 should be £11,500 or so now...
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Yes and a hugely popular policy which forced Brown to cancel his planned 2007 election when announced.
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID vaccines and ending free movement and replacing it with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled workers. Plus whole life terms for serial killers and terrorists and those who murder children or the police
' taking the lowest earners out of income tax'? Aren't you confusing the Tories with the LDs?
IIRC after the end of the coalition, Cameron & Co. continued the policy of raising the tax free allowance by more than wage growth, each year.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Brexit has made this harder, of course. The solution is for everyone to look after their health and be prepared to work for longer. But when I venture outside London and see a land of obese fifty somethings tootling to the off license in their mobility scooters I don't have a sense that this is a message people are likely to respond well to. So immigration is inevitable (unfortunately, if you don't like immigration; personally I am fine with it).
'...when I venture outside London...' ffs!
You should get out more.
Calm down, I get out plenty - this observation was prompted by several visits to Plymouth a few weeks ago. London has relatively few retirees and people have much lower BMIs than in the rest of the country owing to less driving and more money, so if you want to understand the demographic and health trends driving immigration you need to leave London, is all I am saying.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Several countries have put policies in place to stop this - they don't want huge piles of retirees gumming up their medical systems etc.
Not sure the EU would see anything in that for them to like.
So long as there was some way for the British government to pay for healthcare, it could be win-win for all concerned.
Firstly, the cost of medical care is dramatically lower in Spain / Portugal / Greece / Italy. Right now, we're struggling with keeping the NHS going, and a 10+% pay rise for junior doctors will only make budget pressures worse. Why not pay Spain to treat our oldies?
Secondly, in many places in Southern Spain and Portugal, or indeed in much of Italy, there is substantial overbuilding. Italian house prices are 20% below where they were a decade ago. There are four million empty homes in Spain - one for every 10 Spaniards! It would benefit both Club Med and the UK if we freed up housing capacity in the UK, and helped close the surplus of homes in these areas.
Thirdly, the areas where British retirees would go tend to be the unemployment hotspots of the PIIGS. They're not heading to Milan or Madrid, they're going to cheaper coastal communities where unemployment is often 25%+. And they're going to demand services, which is going to mean lots of local employment.
Fourthly, we could potentially pay less in pensions. Money goes further in Spain or Portugal. If we could make sure healthcare was covered (as we'd be paying for it anyway in the UK), then the Med is a pretty attractive place for oldies to go to. Perhaps in return for them getting better medical care, year run sunshine and lower costs of living, the oldies could accept pension rises capped at 3% pa.
The EU won’t agree to anything that’s not reciprocated. And the UK doesn’t want old EU nationals. We had a great system with FOM which the easily duped chucked in the bin .
This has nothing to do with the EU. This would be direct UK-Spain negotiations. Just as Spain issues work visas to South Americans all the time that give no rights for people to work or live in other EU states.
If even Kezia Dugdale has jacked it in with Labour ...
'The former MSP admitted she had “moved” on the independence issue and said she could not stand up for the Union in the same way as she did as part of the Better Together movement in 2014.
At one stage – although she appeared to stop short of switching to Yes outright –she hinted if she was presented with the option of Scottish independence in Europe against “little Boris Brexit Britain”, she would vote Yes.'
[...]
'She said: “It’s my European politics that means I’m not a member of the Labour party anymore.
"I believe in unions of people and unions of nations and I’ve got a great deal of ill feeling towards the Labour Party’s inability to make the case for the benefits of the UK in Europe, not just in the lead up to the EU referendum but in the days afterwards where we had the potential to limit the damage we all experienced.”'
She is maybe saying that Brexit was highly damaging and divisive and cut the UK off from the obvious benefits of being part of something larger, leading us toward instability and isolation as a smaller less significant entity. Scottish Independence on the other hand.................Lol
These Danish passport officers really are sticklers. Getting close to final call and still in the queue.
Made it. But that’s 2 days in a row stuck behind a problematic immigration case (overstayer perhaps).
Nevermind Brexit. If we were in Schengen (like non-EU Switzerland, not known for its soft touch on immigration) there wouldn’t even be that passport queue in the first place.
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
Yes that's true. Corbynite PBers think courting popularity is a sell-out. Tory PBers think selling out in their direction makes him a hypocrite.
SKS knows that getting real people to change their mind is not easy. Much better to find out what's in their mind and then concentrate on packaging it nicely
Is there such a thing as a Corbynite PBer? I'm not sure there're any Corbynites left anyway,
I strongly suspect he'll run for London Mayor. It'll be interesting as to how people choose to back him or otherwise.
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Several countries have put policies in place to stop this - they don't want huge piles of retirees gumming up their medical systems etc.
Not sure the EU would see anything in that for them to like.
So long as there was some way for the British government to pay for healthcare, it could be win-win for all concerned.
Firstly, the cost of medical care is dramatically lower in Spain / Portugal / Greece / Italy. Right now, we're struggling with keeping the NHS going, and a 10+% pay rise for junior doctors will only make budget pressures worse. Why not pay Spain to treat our oldies?
Secondly, in many places in Southern Spain and Portugal, or indeed in much of Italy, there is substantial overbuilding. Italian house prices are 20% below where they were a decade ago. There are four million empty homes in Spain - one for every 10 Spaniards! It would benefit both Club Med and the UK if we freed up housing capacity in the UK, and helped close the surplus of homes in these areas.
Thirdly, the areas where British retirees would go tend to be the unemployment hotspots of the PIIGS. They're not heading to Milan or Madrid, they're going to cheaper coastal communities where unemployment is often 25%+. And they're going to demand services, which is going to mean lots of local employment.
Fourthly, we could potentially pay less in pensions. Money goes further in Spain or Portugal. If we could make sure healthcare was covered (as we'd be paying for it anyway in the UK), then the Med is a pretty attractive place for oldies to go to. Perhaps in return for them getting better medical care, year run sunshine and lower costs of living, the oldies could accept pension rises capped at 3% pa.
The EU won’t agree to anything that’s not reciprocated. And the UK doesn’t want old EU nationals. We had a great system with FOM which the easily duped chucked in the bin .
This has nothing to do with the EU. This would be direct UK-Spain negotiations. Just as Spain issues work visas to South Americans all the time that give no rights for people to work or live in other EU states.
Would this be a reciprocal scheme . Not that many Spanish pensioners would make use of it given the UK weather . As an aside the UK should try and negotiate a 6 month continuous stay in the EU and not the current 90 days in every 180.
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
Yes that's true. Corbynite PBers think courting popularity is a sell-out. Tory PBers think selling out in their direction makes him a hypocrite.
SKS knows that getting real people to change their mind is not easy. Much better to find out what's in their mind and then concentrate on packaging it nicely
Is there such a thing as a Corbynite PBer? I'm not sure there're any Corbynites left anyway,
I strongly suspect he'll run for London Mayor. It'll be interesting as to how people choose to back him or otherwise.
In that case Corbyn enables the Tory to win which would be shameful .
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
Yes that's true. Corbynite PBers think courting popularity is a sell-out. Tory PBers think selling out in their direction makes him a hypocrite.
SKS knows that getting real people to change their mind is not easy. Much better to find out what's in their mind and then concentrate on packaging it nicely
Is there such a thing as a Corbynite PBer? I'm not sure there're any Corbynites left anyway,
I strongly suspect he'll run for London Mayor. It'll be interesting as to how people choose to back him or otherwise.
There are two: BJO (full fat corbynite) and NickPalmer (semi skimmed).
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
The amount of people who I know who will not have kids because they don't own their house scares me.
Build more fucking houses.
This is my occasional reminder that the current economic policy adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom is to import hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people per year to deliberately suppress the wages, housing and life chances of the working class, and the Labour Party supports this policy because they have forgotten who they are supposed to act for.
In the last 20 years the non working age population of this country has risen by 4.4 million people (a 22% increase) thanks to population ageing while the working age population has risen by 3.7 million (a 9% increase). That increase in working age population has been driven entirely by net migration, it would have declined in its absence. I struggle to see how an economy could deal with such a significant rise in its non-working population without an increase in its working age population given the additional demand for services created. Over the same period the participation rate has gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down, for working age people, suggesting that net migration has not led to fewer local people working. Perhaps a greater degree of automation might have been feasible, but if you think about the kind of service jobs an ageing society generates it looks less feasible. Another solution would have been to raise the pension age significantly more. But that wouldn't have been great for the working class, either, many of whom would die before they received their pension, while we would see even more on sickness benefit as many older people are too frail to work. It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing. On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Emigration could be the silver bullet. Emigration of our retired population to warmer and cheaper climes. It would be worth doing some sort of deal with the EU to make this as easy as possible, and then blanket bomb TV channels with episodes of a place in the Sun, build a new life abroad and escape to the chateau.
Several countries have put policies in place to stop this - they don't want huge piles of retirees gumming up their medical systems etc.
Not sure the EU would see anything in that for them to like.
So long as there was some way for the British government to pay for healthcare, it could be win-win for all concerned.
Firstly, the cost of medical care is dramatically lower in Spain / Portugal / Greece / Italy. Right now, we're struggling with keeping the NHS going, and a 10+% pay rise for junior doctors will only make budget pressures worse. Why not pay Spain to treat our oldies?
Secondly, in many places in Southern Spain and Portugal, or indeed in much of Italy, there is substantial overbuilding. Italian house prices are 20% below where they were a decade ago. There are four million empty homes in Spain - one for every 10 Spaniards! It would benefit both Club Med and the UK if we freed up housing capacity in the UK, and helped close the surplus of homes in these areas.
Thirdly, the areas where British retirees would go tend to be the unemployment hotspots of the PIIGS. They're not heading to Milan or Madrid, they're going to cheaper coastal communities where unemployment is often 25%+. And they're going to demand services, which is going to mean lots of local employment.
Fourthly, we could potentially pay less in pensions. Money goes further in Spain or Portugal. If we could make sure healthcare was covered (as we'd be paying for it anyway in the UK), then the Med is a pretty attractive place for oldies to go to. Perhaps in return for them getting better medical care, year run sunshine and lower costs of living, the oldies could accept pension rises capped at 3% pa.
The EU won’t agree to anything that’s not reciprocated. And the UK doesn’t want old EU nationals. We had a great system with FOM which the easily duped chucked in the bin .
This has nothing to do with the EU. This would be direct UK-Spain negotiations. Just as Spain issues work visas to South Americans all the time that give no rights for people to work or live in other EU states.
Well quite. Immigration, as separate from FoM, is not an EU competence, and member States are free to do what they like. Hence Spain, Portugual, Italy, and others, being at the forefront of the new “digital nomad visa” schemes.
Comments
Plus more choice for parents with free schools, the EBACC to boost standards, taking the lowest earners out of income tax, universal credit to make work pay so benefits aren't all withdrawn at once if you find part time work, the COVID
vaccines and ending free
movement and replacing it
with a points system which boosted pay for lower skilled
workers. Plus whole life terms for serial killers and terrorists and those who murder children or the police
In any case - isn't it illegal for a civvy plane, the odd old WW2 warbird aside, to cam up?
And where are the civilian registrations? Don't they want to be reported by ground observers?
"Trump has become like Captain Ahab, obsessed with the whale who bit his leg off. But you know how it ends - Ahab's obsession brings about his own death as well as those of all but one of his crew members. It's like watching a real-life version of Moby Dick."
True Dat
I think we can all agree that in observing Trump we are watching a real life Dick.
Ok they can be seduced by propaganda into supporting 'their side' in a war situation (that's normal) but what tangible benefit does the typical citizen of Russia get from a long and bloody conflict with Ukraine and pariah status with half the world? The impact on most Russians is zero to negative surely? A big negative for many.
Here it is - together with the decolorisation of the markings typical of modern monotone camo.
https://www.seaforces.org/marint/Royal-Navy/AIRCRAFT/Lynx-HMA8-RN.htm
Good point re photoshop. Makes one wonder what is being left on or missed off sort of accidentally on purpose.
As a dog returneth to its vomit...
Extreme Temperatures Around The World
@extremetemps
·
5h
A late summer heat wave is about to sweep parts of Europe, specially France and Switzerland. Temperatures will be at record levels (at least for August) specially in SE France and Western Switzerland, including the cities of Lyon and Geneva which will live a historic heat wave.
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1692104451471835618
I left the site yesterday evening and went to bed, then I lived a bit of life today but I've decided to return now. Did I ever really leave?
The top rate of income tax cut from 50% under Brown to 45% now too for the highest earners
What I didn't know is that it was still referred to as "camo".
Still better to abolish IHT and have CGT on all property transfers, including inheritance, like it used to be.
UK philanthropist gives almost £29m to heritage skills training
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/aug/10/uk-philanthropist-gives-almost-29m-to-heritage-skills-training
Some of the cash is going to flintknapping.
title. If it was a manifesto commitment endorsed by voters it would have a mandate too
I hope he does return, he's quite amusing in his twattish bigoted way.
Next time we’re there is end of August so the heatwave should have dissipated by then.
https://www.key.aero/article/uk-home-office-calls-dash-8-counter-small-boats
It is an easy slogan to claim that immigration is the source of our ills, but it's not true. The problem is ageing.
On the other hand, not building more homes is an unforgivable mistake.
Can't imagine Trump doing bleeding edge biological research and getting it right. No, bleach doesn't count.
C-GFMX, operated by PAL Aerospace for the Home Office
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10981384
https://www.jetphotos.com/info/DHC-8-410
https://www.key.aero/article/uk-home-office-calls-dash-8-counter-small-boats
Not sure the EU would see anything in that for them to like.
It’s not a guy’s fault if she cannot keep up with his pace.
PB rules are PB rules, so no argument - I'd be happy to see all the dispelled back though.
The solution is for everyone to look after their health and be prepared to work for longer. But when I venture outside London and see a land of obese fifty somethings tootling to the off license in their mobility scooters I don't have a sense that this is a message people are likely to respond well to. So immigration is inevitable (unfortunately, if you don't like immigration; personally I am fine with it).
A shitty white wine out of a tap at the SAS lounge in CPH.
That was the original doxxing.
Like Johnson and Trump, Blair was also policy lite so not much to disagree with. It's a winning combination until they are found out.
Tell me, do you stand to benefit from some vast inheritance or have one to pass on?
If not, why are you so obsessed with the topic, obsessed to a much greater level than your party it would seem given their persistent support for inheritance taxes over many decades?
Possible I may miss my flight.
Firstly, the cost of medical care is dramatically lower in Spain / Portugal / Greece / Italy. Right now, we're struggling with keeping the NHS going, and a 10+% pay rise for junior doctors will only make budget pressures worse. Why not pay Spain to treat our oldies?
Secondly, in many places in Southern Spain and Portugal, or indeed in much of Italy, there is substantial overbuilding. Italian house prices are 20% below where they were a decade ago. There are four million empty homes in Spain - one for every 10 Spaniards! It would benefit both Club Med and the UK if we freed up housing capacity in the UK, and helped close the surplus of homes in these areas.
Thirdly, the areas where British retirees would go tend to be the unemployment hotspots of the PIIGS. They're not heading to Milan or Madrid, they're going to cheaper coastal communities where unemployment is often 25%+. And they're going to demand services, which is going to mean lots of local employment.
Fourthly, we could potentially pay less in pensions. Money goes further in Spain or Portugal. If we could make sure healthcare was covered (as we'd be paying for it anyway in the UK), then the Med is a pretty attractive place for oldies to go to. Perhaps in return for them getting better medical care, year run sunshine and lower costs of living, the oldies could accept pension rises capped at 3% pa.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/who-is-gillian-keegan-11-facts-about-the-new-education-secretary/
Poster girl for the "start work at 16, get an employer to sponsor a useful degree when you've grown up" model.
And what she's said about A Level results isn't wrong, though it does rain on some well-deserved parades.
Not quite as dismal as Rishi hanging his comments (again, not wrong) off the annual Clarkson "I didn't get good grades and look at me now" tweet.
You should get out more.
This is your golden ticket to solving Britain’s economic problems, while improving electoral demographics
Ministry of Defence agree to talks after 50 workers at site in Ayrshire were due to walk out over pay
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/17/strikes-suspended-at-uk-munitions-plant-that-supplies-missiles-to-ukraine
But she isn't actually correct.
This is one reason why it's a real issue A-levels are in such a mess and the DfE are proposing to start monkeying with degree courses too.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/17/vote-for-spanish-congress-speaker-boosts-sanchezs-premiership-hopes
Election for the Speaker, which saw PP and Vox fall out and everyone else line up behind the PSOE candidate.
He was extremely broad ranging in his learning, including a very considerable knowledge of hip-hop music. Hence someone christened him Farmer Tupac.
He provoked a lot of people and started quite a few arguments. A couple of people took it on themselves to doxx him (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxing) - publicly reveal his true identity.
Among quite considerable uproar, he left the site and has not returned. Not banned.
The Conservative Party (before the Johnson and Brexit madness) was a party that philosophically believed in self-development and aspiration. It is about enabling people of whatever social grouping to improve themselves with minimal interference from the state. (I hate the word "class", its such a fucking stupid concept)
The Labour Party believes that nanny knows best. More than it hates people who are from inherited wealth, it loathes even more people that they regard as "working class" becoming well off or monetarily successful (Labour people love the class word)
https://www.thenational.scot/news/23730195.ex-scottish-labour-chief-cant-argue-union-like-used/
If even Kezia Dugdale has jacked it in with Labour ...
'The former MSP admitted she had “moved” on the independence issue and said she could not stand up for the Union in the same way as she did as part of the Better Together movement in 2014.
At one stage – although she appeared to stop short of switching to Yes outright –she hinted if she was presented with the option of Scottish independence in Europe against “little Boris Brexit Britain”, she would vote Yes.'
[...]
'She said: “It’s my European politics that means I’m not a member of the Labour party anymore.
"I believe in unions of people and unions of nations and I’ve got a great deal of ill feeling towards the Labour Party’s inability to make the case for the benefits of the UK in Europe, not just in the lead up to the EU referendum but in the days afterwards where we had the potential to limit the damage we all experienced.”'
SKS knows that getting real people to change their mind is not easy. Much better to find out what's in their mind and then concentrate on packaging it nicely
A quick look at the Bank of England inflation record tells me that £9250 in 2017 should be £11,500 or so now...
his press conference where he planned to refute Georgia’s charges.
Trump's legal advisers have told him that holding such a press conference could make a guilty verdict even more likely.
Don’t listen to them Donnie!
Nevermind Brexit. If we were in Schengen (like non-EU Switzerland, not known for its soft touch on immigration) there wouldn’t even be that passport queue in the first place.
I strongly suspect he'll run for London Mayor. It'll be interesting as to how people choose to back him or otherwise.