The public ‘prefer’ Jenrick to the even more unpopular Badenoch – politicalbetting.com

Comments

• Scott_xP Posts: 35,895

  November 1

  @WIRED
  
  NEW: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who has spent over $100 million supporting Trump, appears to have worked in the US without authorization. Experts say if he did and lied about it as part of the immigration process, he could be denaturalized.
  
  https://x.com/WIRED/status/1852087062993998107

  2
• Scott_xP Posts: 35,895

  November 1

  Used my quota for the day
  
  https://x.com/mluckovichajc/status/1852331994648084872

  1
• numbertwelve Posts: 6,772

  November 1

  All hypothetical right now, with people not paying much attention to the Tories. Will start taking these kinds of polls seriously in the new year.

  2
• Tim_in_Ruislip Posts: 433

  November 1

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  0
• williamglenn Posts: 51,346

  November 1 edited November 1

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  The problem is clearly having to choose a British politician. We could be innovative and create an international transfer market.
  
  Having done a stint as British PM could become a way for ambitious American politicians to build a path to the White House, as an alternative to governing a state, or it could be a career progression for an experienced Australian politician

  0
• viewcode Posts: 21,800

  November 1

  Which candidate is talking to the conference, and which is sulking?

  0
• ydoethur Posts: 71,164

  November 1

  Scott_xP said:

  @WIRED
  
  NEW: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who has spent over $100 million supporting Trump, appears to have worked in the US without authorization. Experts say if he did and lied about it as part of the immigration process, he could be denaturalized.
  
  https://x.com/WIRED/status/1852087062993998107

  Have you met my dog? Lovely animal to some people. She's called Karma.

  2
• WhisperingOracle Posts: 9,050

  November 1

  williamglenn said:

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  The problem is clearly having to choose a British politician. We could be innovative and create an international transfer market.

  Robert F. Kennedy could be the leader of the Tories.
  
  Bernie Sanders could be the next Labour leader, after Starner.

  0
• Stuartinromford Posts: 17,069

  November 1

  ydoethur said:

  Scott_xP said:

  @WIRED
  
  NEW: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who has spent over $100 million supporting Trump, appears to have worked in the US without authorization. Experts say if he did and lied about it as part of the immigration process, he could be denaturalized.
  
  https://x.com/WIRED/status/1852087062993998107

  Have you met my dog? Lovely animal to some people. She's called Karma.

  Trump winning would be a Bad Thing, obviously.
  
  But Trump winning and then deporting Musk, even after he spent so much money on the Orange One's election campaign... It would be funny.
  
  (Albeit the sort of thing Jeffrey Archer would scrub from a political saga as too implausible.)

  0
• rottenborough Posts: 62,401

  November 1

  Scott_xP said:

  @WIRED
  
  NEW: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who has spent over $100 million supporting Trump, appears to have worked in the US without authorization. Experts say if he did and lied about it as part of the immigration process, he could be denaturalized.
  
  https://x.com/WIRED/status/1852087062993998107

  He can the first one that Trump's goons round-up for the deportation camps on federal land.

  0
• DecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,580

  November 1

  Scott_xP said:

  @WIRED
  
  NEW: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who has spent over $100 million supporting Trump, appears to have worked in the US without authorization. Experts say if he did and lied about it as part of the immigration process, he could be denaturalized.
  
  https://x.com/WIRED/status/1852087062993998107

  Couldn't happen to a nicer fellow, and of course, it won't.

  4
• WildernessPt2 Posts: 663

  November 1

  She is so below anyone’s radar. A total unknown.

  1
• Tim_in_Ruislip Posts: 433

  November 1 edited November 1

  williamglenn said:

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  The problem is clearly having to choose a British politician. We could be innovative and create an international transfer market.
  
  Having done a stint as British PM could become a way for ambitious American politicians to build a path to the White House, as an alternative to governing a state, or it could be a career progression for an experienced Australian politician

  Are Germans disqualified?

  0
• ydoethur Posts: 71,164

  November 1 edited November 1

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  williamglenn said:

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  The problem is clearly having to choose a British politician. We could be innovative and create an international transfer market.
  
  Having done a stint as British PM could become a way for ambitious American politicians to build a path to the White House, as an alternative to governing a state, or it could be a career progression for an experienced Australian politician

  Are Germans disqualified?

  Not individually. They are disqualified by the Hun dread.

  5
• DecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,580

  November 1

  TwiX is getting excited about Epstein dissing Trump's work habits, as if anyone does not already know or care that Trump's World's Top Boss mug was a present from himself.

  0
• Foxy Posts: 48,480

  November 1

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  williamglenn said:

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  The problem is clearly having to choose a British politician. We could be innovative and create an international transfer market.
  
  Having done a stint as British PM could become a way for ambitious American politicians to build a path to the White House, as an alternative to governing a state, or it could be a career progression for an experienced Australian politician

  Are Germans disqualified?

  As politicians, but not monarchs.

  0
• Foxy Posts: 48,480

  November 1

  WildernessPt2 said:

  She is so below anyone’s radar. A total unknown.

  She is the invisible woman.

  0
• slade Posts: 2,023

  November 1

  Big Lib Dem gain in Hampshire. Backs up their GE performance there.

  0
• kamski Posts: 5,127

  November 1 edited November 1

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Scott_xP said:

  @WIRED
  
  NEW: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who has spent over $100 million supporting Trump, appears to have worked in the US without authorization. Experts say if he did and lied about it as part of the immigration process, he could be denaturalized.
  
  https://x.com/WIRED/status/1852087062993998107

  Couldn't happen to a nicer fellow, and of course, it won't.

  I believe the same is (probably) true of Melania Trump. Though slightly more likely to happen to her if her husband wins...

  1
• Big_G_NorthWales Posts: 62,749

  November 1

  WildernessPt2 said:

  She is so below anyone’s radar. A total unknown.

  Even I know little about her nor have I any idea how either of them will progress
  
  Time will tell

  0
• slade Posts: 2,023

  November 1

  slade said:

  Big Lib Dem gain in Hampshire. Backs up their GE performance there.

  LD 2210
  Con 1431
  Green 477
  Lab 115

  0
• Stuartinromford Posts: 17,069

  November 1

  Meanwhile, in "not even bothering to get on the ship, which may say something for its seaworthiness" news,
  
  Excellent lunch with the FT, you really get a sense of what Cleverly is like person-to-person. Plus Lucy gets an exclusive from him that he WON'T be staying in the Shadow Cabinet.
  
  https://bsky.app/profile/stephenkb.bsky.social/post/3l7vijcgibl26

  0
• Jim_Miller Posts: 2,960

  November 1

  FPT: A reminder: The US election is also for the House and Senate (And, literally thousands of state and local offices).
  
  As of now, I think it likely that the Republicans will take control of the Senate, and that the odds slightly favor the Democrats taking control of the House. (For the record, I'm in favor of both.)
  
  If both those things happen, whoever wins the presidency will be severely limited in how many of their promises they can keep.

  2
• Big_G_NorthWales Posts: 62,749

  November 1

  Many congratulations to @Casino_Royale (FPT)

  6
• Nigelb Posts: 70,513

  November 1

  Under-appreciated election point.
  
  I love my dudes but if there is a nationwide contest between men and women that goes to the group that manages to show up at the right place and fill out their forms on time and do all those things, the men would need to start with an advantage of several million to be competitive..
  https://x.com/ryangrim/status/1851781543112642839

  3
• DecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,580

  November 1

  Stuartinromford said:

  Meanwhile, in "not even bothering to get on the ship, which may say something for its seaworthiness" news,
  
  Excellent lunch with the FT, you really get a sense of what Cleverly is like person-to-person. Plus Lucy gets an exclusive from him that he WON'T be staying in the Shadow Cabinet.
  
  https://bsky.app/profile/stephenkb.bsky.social/post/3l7vijcgibl26

  Cleverly repeats the mistake of all those Labour shadow ministers who refused to serve under Jeremy Corbyn, none of whom are currently Prime Minister.

  2
• Jim_Miller Posts: 2,960

  November 1

  Some will find this Jill Stein endorsement appalling, others will find it amusing: "Former KKK leader David Duke endorses Jill Stein in US presidential race
  Leading white supremacist and antisemite says he’s backing the Jewish candidate over Trump because of former president’s ‘full-throated subservience to Israel and the Jewish lobby’"
  
  (Me? I lean toward the first, but won't deny that I did smile when I heard about the endorsement.)

  0
• Scott_xP Posts: 35,895

  November 1

  Nigelb said:

  Under-appreciated election point.
  
  I love my dudes but if there is a nationwide contest between men and women that goes to the group that manages to show up at the right place and fill out their forms on time and do all those things, the men would need to start with an advantage of several million to be competitive..
  https://x.com/ryangrim/status/1851781543112642839

  I think the argument that republicans are trying to make right now is they do start with that advantage cos their wives do all that shit for them and vote how they are told...

  0
• DecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,580

  November 1

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  0
• rcs1000 Posts: 56,934

  November 1

  Elon Musk is not going to be denaturalized and deported, irrespective of who wins the election.
  
  What this is - however - is a classic example of how some people don't believe the rules apply to them.
  
  

  7
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  rcs1000 said:

  Elon Musk is not going to be denaturalized and deported, irrespective of who wins the election.
  
  What this is - however - is a classic example of how some people don't believe the rules apply to them.
  
  

  Absolutely right!

  0
• rcs1000 Posts: 56,934

  November 1

  slade said:

  slade said:

  Big Lib Dem gain in Hampshire. Backs up their GE performance there.

  LD 2210
  Con 1431
  Green 477
  Lab 115

  You probably should mention how Westmoreland is erecting roadblocks and barring the entry of non Liberal Democrat councillors into the constituency.

  0
• Casino_Royale Posts: 60,002

  November 1

  FPT @Stuartinromford thanks for your post.
  
  Lots of companies pile pressure, targets and stress onto workers and then telegraph that they couldn't care less about them. Simple things, like a thank you or a bit of appreciation and recognition, that cost nothing, would go a long way - but so many just don't want to engage with their staff as people.

  9
• Mexicanpete Posts: 28,190

  November 1

  TOPPING said:

  Nigelb said:

  david_herdson said:

  Nigelb said:

  TOPPING said:

  Nigelb said:

  TOPPING said:

  MightyAlex said:

  TOPPING said:

  eek said:

  TOPPING said:

  eek said:

  A_View_From_Cumbria5 said:

  Pulpstar said:

  theProle said:

  nico679 said:

  Re farming what happens if those inheriting land can’t raise the IHT liability ?
  
  It’s not like property which would generally be easier to sell .

  Farmland is easy enough to sell. Phone the local auctioneers, cash lands in the bank about a month later.
  
  There are lots of reasons why this policy is bad, but this isn't one.

  Scenario: Farm is valued at 10k/acre for inheritance tax purposes. Farm is lets say 300 acres, so the bill is £200k (We'll assume the lad owns all the equipment and/or it's all depreciated for the sake of argument). The old Farmer's son sticks 20 acres up for sale, and only gets 5k/acre. A bit extreme, but just putting it out there for the sake of argument...
  Does the farm now get revalued to 1.5 million so the 200k isn't due ?

  If the land is sold in open auction that is the value. It is really a bad idea but totally expected. It will also trash other businesses where succession is important. My ex MP says the first suicide has happened, not sure if that is true. We really have a vile incompetent government with a vile incompetent Prime Minister. But we knew that.

  We seem to have a lot of press writing half baked incorrect stories to scare farmers.
  
  It's been badly announced but I don't actually think there are many people at all who understand what the changes are yet alone the actual impact it has on people.

  There is a story going around (no idea if it's true) on a supposed farmers' fb page describing a suicide which is getting everyone enraged.
  
  I think farmers generally (can) have a very rough time and the suicide rate is very high. That said, governments of the past decades have prioritised mass market affordability of farm produce over farmers' well-being and it is difficult to argue that that has been the wrong policy.
  
  Also it has long been known that buying agricultural land is a good tax avoidance wheeze but, a situation affecting 0.0n% of the farmers, still less of the population is not I believe good grounds for policy-making.

  Removing a good tax avoidance wheeze is something that a sensible Government should be doing.
  
  The suicide could be caused by a lot of things with this being the final one of a lot of straws. Farmer suicide is scarily high anyway as it's a lonely business that can feeling never ending..

  I don't doubt but it is getting everyone agitated. Plus ISAs are a good tax avoidance wheeze.

  An ISA is not tax avoidance.
  
  “Tax avoidance is bending the rules of the tax system to gain a tax advantage, that parliament never intended.” (HMRC, 2015)

  "It involves operating within the letter, but not the spirit, of the law".
  
  So in other words it is perfectly legal and this description is designed a) to give The State more power over you at their sole discretion and whim; and b) scare you. Which latter it appears to have done.

  Or an understandable reaction by the revenue to rich people's accountants regularly taking the piss.
  
  And no, it's often not 'perfectly legal' as the guidance goes on to explain:
  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-avoidance-an-introduction

  Nothing in that link (which both Mighty Alex and I used) says anything about it not being legal.
  
  By "do not work" I presume they mean they aren't tax avoidance but are, rather, illegal.

  You've clearly not followed all those stories about tax advisers who sold tax avoidance schemes as 'perfectly legal', only for their clients to loses court cases against HMRC... and have to repay millions ?
  
  The guidance was intended to prevent more such embarrassments. Accountants (reputable ones, at least) now tend to run such schemes by the revenue, before marketing them to innocent punters.

  Tax avoidance is legal; tax evasion is illegal. Sometimes it is not clear which a particular scheme is because it's pushing the line on something where the law is unclear or open to interpretation. That lack of clarity does not imply legality.

  That's the point, though.
  A financial adviser simply describing something as "tax avoidance" doesn't make it legal. Where the boundaries lie is often unclear - but it's usually pretty obvious to a taxpayer if they're entering into a scheme with the intention of avoiding tax. All the revenue is saying (albeit somewhat forcefully) is that honest belief that you're entering into a legal avoidance scheme doesn't exempt you from potential penalties if it's not legal.
  
  If it's pre-approved by them then you're in the clear.

  Exactly. No one is saying all tax advisors have it right. I am saying that tax avoidance is legal, that tax evasion is illegal, and that the HMRC has weasel words on its website designed to scare people.
  
  Buying agricultural land as a tax avoidance wheeze is just the same as gifting possessions hoping to live for another seven years, or taking out an ISA.
  
  I think it was @Mexicanpete who said that the govt should close down "tax avoidance wheezes".
  
  And I disagreed with this.

  I don't remember writing that, but it does read like something I would have written.
  
  It does depend what you mean by a "tax avoidance wheeze". Reasonable incentives to encourage either saving or spending (whatever floats the Government boat) are fine. Unfair piss takes on the other hand not so much.
  
  I am less keen on unearned income being free of tax and earned income being caned by the treasury. We paid tax at 40% to rent out my mother in law's home to pay for her care costs so I don't see why Jeremy Clarkson doesn't pay an inheritance tax for his faux farm when his kin inherit the estate.

  0
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  rottenborough said:

  Scott_xP said:

  @WIRED
  
  NEW: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who has spent over $100 million supporting Trump, appears to have worked in the US without authorization. Experts say if he did and lied about it as part of the immigration process, he could be denaturalized.
  
  https://x.com/WIRED/status/1852087062993998107

  He can the first one that Trump's goons round-up for the deportation camps on federal land.

  Things change fast. One day you are my friend. The next.......

  0
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  WhisperingOracle said:

  williamglenn said:

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  The problem is clearly having to choose a British politician. We could be innovative and create an international transfer market.

  Robert F. Kennedy could be the leader of the Tories.
  
  Bernie Sanders could be the next Labour leader, after Starner.

  Bernie is up for it!

  0
• Scott_xP Posts: 35,895

  November 1

  @yashar
  NEW
  
  Kamala Harris’ final ad in Pennsylvania features her sitting next to Josh Shapiro while both of them speak straight to camera.
  
  I don’t remember any other time a major candidate has filmed an ad just like this.
  
  I remember some ads where rally footage features the state’s governor or senator, but not like this.
  
  Speaks to how popular Shapiro is.
  
  https://x.com/yashar/status/1852356742640030010

  0
• Mexicanpete Posts: 28,190

  November 1

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  Liz who?

  2
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  Scott_xP said:

  Nigelb said:

  Under-appreciated election point.
  
  I love my dudes but if there is a nationwide contest between men and women that goes to the group that manages to show up at the right place and fill out their forms on time and do all those things, the men would need to start with an advantage of several million to be competitive..
  https://x.com/ryangrim/status/1851781543112642839

  I think the argument that republicans are trying to make right now is they do start with that advantage cos their wives do all that shit for them and vote how they are told...

  living in the dark ages.

  0
• NickyBreakspear Posts: 771

  November 1

  rcs1000 said:

  slade said:

  slade said:

  Big Lib Dem gain in Hampshire. Backs up their GE performance there.

  LD 2210
  Con 1431
  Green 477
  Lab 115

  You probably should mention how Westmoreland is erecting roadblocks and barring the entry of non Liberal Democrat councillors into the constituency.

  Not that by-election gain, the one in Hampshire - Bishops Waltham https://democracy.hants.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=706&RPID=43997341

  0
• Scott_xP Posts: 35,895

  November 1

  rcs1000 said:

  Elon Musk is not going to be denaturalized and deported, irrespective of who wins the election.

  It's actually MORE likely if Trump wins, since he falls out with everybody eventually

  0
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  And my hedge fund friends need to make money!

  2
• DecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,580

  November 1

  Mexicanpete said:

  TOPPING said:

  Nigelb said:

  david_herdson said:

  Nigelb said:

  TOPPING said:

  Nigelb said:

  TOPPING said:

  MightyAlex said:

  TOPPING said:

  eek said:

  TOPPING said:

  eek said:

  A_View_From_Cumbria5 said:

  Pulpstar said:

  theProle said:

  nico679 said:

  Re farming what happens if those inheriting land can’t raise the IHT liability ?
  
  It’s not like property which would generally be easier to sell .

  Farmland is easy enough to sell. Phone the local auctioneers, cash lands in the bank about a month later.
  
  There are lots of reasons why this policy is bad, but this isn't one.

  Scenario: Farm is valued at 10k/acre for inheritance tax purposes. Farm is lets say 300 acres, so the bill is £200k (We'll assume the lad owns all the equipment and/or it's all depreciated for the sake of argument). The old Farmer's son sticks 20 acres up for sale, and only gets 5k/acre. A bit extreme, but just putting it out there for the sake of argument...
  Does the farm now get revalued to 1.5 million so the 200k isn't due ?

  If the land is sold in open auction that is the value. It is really a bad idea but totally expected. It will also trash other businesses where succession is important. My ex MP says the first suicide has happened, not sure if that is true. We really have a vile incompetent government with a vile incompetent Prime Minister. But we knew that.

  We seem to have a lot of press writing half baked incorrect stories to scare farmers.
  
  It's been badly announced but I don't actually think there are many people at all who understand what the changes are yet alone the actual impact it has on people.

  There is a story going around (no idea if it's true) on a supposed farmers' fb page describing a suicide which is getting everyone enraged.
  
  I think farmers generally (can) have a very rough time and the suicide rate is very high. That said, governments of the past decades have prioritised mass market affordability of farm produce over farmers' well-being and it is difficult to argue that that has been the wrong policy.
  
  Also it has long been known that buying agricultural land is a good tax avoidance wheeze but, a situation affecting 0.0n% of the farmers, still less of the population is not I believe good grounds for policy-making.

  Removing a good tax avoidance wheeze is something that a sensible Government should be doing.
  
  The suicide could be caused by a lot of things with this being the final one of a lot of straws. Farmer suicide is scarily high anyway as it's a lonely business that can feeling never ending..

  I don't doubt but it is getting everyone agitated. Plus ISAs are a good tax avoidance wheeze.

  An ISA is not tax avoidance.
  
  “Tax avoidance is bending the rules of the tax system to gain a tax advantage, that parliament never intended.” (HMRC, 2015)

  "It involves operating within the letter, but not the spirit, of the law".
  
  So in other words it is perfectly legal and this description is designed a) to give The State more power over you at their sole discretion and whim; and b) scare you. Which latter it appears to have done.

  Or an understandable reaction by the revenue to rich people's accountants regularly taking the piss.
  
  And no, it's often not 'perfectly legal' as the guidance goes on to explain:
  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-avoidance-an-introduction

  Nothing in that link (which both Mighty Alex and I used) says anything about it not being legal.
  
  By "do not work" I presume they mean they aren't tax avoidance but are, rather, illegal.

  You've clearly not followed all those stories about tax advisers who sold tax avoidance schemes as 'perfectly legal', only for their clients to loses court cases against HMRC... and have to repay millions ?
  
  The guidance was intended to prevent more such embarrassments. Accountants (reputable ones, at least) now tend to run such schemes by the revenue, before marketing them to innocent punters.

  Tax avoidance is legal; tax evasion is illegal. Sometimes it is not clear which a particular scheme is because it's pushing the line on something where the law is unclear or open to interpretation. That lack of clarity does not imply legality.

  That's the point, though.
  A financial adviser simply describing something as "tax avoidance" doesn't make it legal. Where the boundaries lie is often unclear - but it's usually pretty obvious to a taxpayer if they're entering into a scheme with the intention of avoiding tax. All the revenue is saying (albeit somewhat forcefully) is that honest belief that you're entering into a legal avoidance scheme doesn't exempt you from potential penalties if it's not legal.
  
  If it's pre-approved by them then you're in the clear.

  Exactly. No one is saying all tax advisors have it right. I am saying that tax avoidance is legal, that tax evasion is illegal, and that the HMRC has weasel words on its website designed to scare people.
  
  Buying agricultural land as a tax avoidance wheeze is just the same as gifting possessions hoping to live for another seven years, or taking out an ISA.
  
  I think it was @Mexicanpete who said that the govt should close down "tax avoidance wheezes".
  
  And I disagreed with this.

  I don't remember writing that, but it does read like something I would have written.
  
  It does depend what you mean by a "tax avoidance wheeze". Reasonable incentives to encourage either saving or spending (whatever floats the Government boat) are fine. Unfair piss takes on the other hand not so much.
  
  I am less keen on unearned income being free of tax and earned income being caned by the treasury. We paid tax at 40% to rent out my mother in law's home to pay for her care costs so I don't see why Jeremy Clarkson doesn't pay an inheritance tax for his faux farm when his kin inherit the estate.

  Jeremy Clarkson's racehorse, The Hawkstonian, has failed to win on his debut at Uttoxeter just now. Quite what he was doing even running in this race is beyond me.

  1
• MattW Posts: 22,703

  November 1

  FPT:

  theProle said:

  MattW said:

  Eabhal said:

  Mexicanpete said:

  Eabhal said:

  Fuel duty freeze saves the richest quintile 2.96x as much as the lowest quintile. If you want a cost-effective way to help poor people out with a tax cut, this ain't it.
  
  
  

  From someone leaning left it was a pretty crap budget. Crap, but not from the same perspective as that of the PB glitterati.

  You could have bought 600,000 cars at £5k each and given them to poor families in rural areas for £3 billion. That's 10% of all car-less households in England and Wales.

  That doesn't help the 25% of adults who do not have, or cannot have, a driving license.
  
  That imo is why equality is a, or even the, core issue around making sure that there are realistic, safe, practical alternatives to motor vehicles everywhere,

  How many of those cannot have a license, e.g. on medical grounds? I've a lot of sympathy for them, but I would be surprised if it's as much as 1%.
  
  The rest - their choice, it's a free world, why should we spend a fortune rather than just encouraging them to get licenses?
  
  Probably be cheaper in a lot of cases to bin rural bus routes that mostly shift round fresh air and provide the genuinely unable to drive with taxis as required.

  It's a lot more than 1% for medical reasons, I think, though I don't know where to get a researched total number. It would need to include people such as my former landlord in London who knew he had always had an eye condition that [prevented driving, and never tried to get one. (I'd punt for something like perhaps 3-5m, and a large number of elderly people on top.
  
  1% of population is 670K of people, or restrict it to age groups 18 and above and 1% is around 500k from 51million. Total drivers licences in issue are 41.5 million, so 1% of that 410k.
  
  Drivers licences revoked for medical reasons in the decade 2014 to 2024 are 650k, so 65k per annum. And the total numbers of medically revoked licences will be several times that - depending how many get them back.
  
  I think the bigger question is perhaps your focus on driving at the centre.
  
  We have talked about people who cannot drive for medical reasons. But those who choose not to drive are equally lawful users of the public highway and have equal rights / privileges to those who choose to use a motor vehicle.
  
  We have 41.5 million driving licences in issue, and that means we have 26 million people who do not have a driving licence who need equal consideration.
  
  That 26 million comprise non-drivers for medical reasons, non-drivers by choice, non-drivers by circumstance eg can't afford to, almost everyone under 17, elderly for whatever reason, and any other categories.
  
  That is just under 40% who need to be considered. Freedom of choice an equal opportunity matters - why should we be nudging them to spend £££ on a motor vehicle that they may not be able to, or want to, afford?
  
  The fairly stark stats in the budgets are that there was about £7 billion of extra expenditure for vehicle drivers, and £100m for public highways users walking, wheeling or cycling. That is without looking at existing budgets.
  
  

  0
• Nigelb Posts: 70,513

  November 1

  ..

  highwayparadise306 said:

  WhisperingOracle said:

  williamglenn said:

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  The problem is clearly having to choose a British politician. We could be innovative and create an international transfer market.

  Robert F. Kennedy could be the leader of the Tories.
  
  Bernie Sanders could be the next Labour leader, after Starner.

  Bernie is up for it!

  And probably to the right of Starmer ?

  0
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  Stuartinromford said:

  ydoethur said:

  Scott_xP said:

  @WIRED
  
  NEW: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who has spent over $100 million supporting Trump, appears to have worked in the US without authorization. Experts say if he did and lied about it as part of the immigration process, he could be denaturalized.
  
  https://x.com/WIRED/status/1852087062993998107

  Have you met my dog? Lovely animal to some people. She's called Karma.

  Trump winning would be a Bad Thing, obviously.
  
  But Trump winning and then deporting Musk, even after he spent so much money on the Orange One's election campaign... It would be funny.
  
  (Albeit the sort of thing Jeffrey Archer would scrub from a political saga as too implausible.)

  There is honour and respect involved in this.

  0
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  Nigelb said:

  ..

  highwayparadise306 said:

  WhisperingOracle said:

  williamglenn said:

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  The problem is clearly having to choose a British politician. We could be innovative and create an international transfer market.

  Robert F. Kennedy could be the leader of the Tories.
  
  Bernie Sanders could be the next Labour leader, after Starner.

  Bernie is up for it!

  And probably to the right of Starmer ?

  Perhaps so.

  0
• Malmesbury Posts: 49,590

  November 1

  Casino_Royale said:

  FPT @Stuartinromford thanks for your post.
  
  Lots of companies pile pressure, targets and stress onto workers and then telegraph that they couldn't care less about them. Simple things, like a thank you or a bit of appreciation and recognition, that cost nothing, would go a long way - but so many just don't want to engage with their staff as people.

  I was given an interview without coffee, in one job.
  
  My offence was, apparently, being too positive in reviews for reports. Apparently, Real Management is making sure that for every nice thing you say, you say something shit about them.

  2
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  highwayparadise306 said:

  Nigelb said:

  ..

  highwayparadise306 said:

  WhisperingOracle said:

  williamglenn said:

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  The problem is clearly having to choose a British politician. We could be innovative and create an international transfer market.

  Robert F. Kennedy could be the leader of the Tories.
  
  Bernie Sanders could be the next Labour leader, after Starner.

  Bernie is up for it!

  And probably to the right of Starmer ?

  Perhaps so.

  Or maybe to the left?

  0
• LostPassword Posts: 18,080

  November 1 edited November 1

  rcs1000 said:

  Elon Musk is not going to be denaturalized and deported, irrespective of who wins the election.
  
  What this is - however - is a classic example of how some people don't believe the rules apply to them.

  What I took from it is that a legal framework has been created where it is very hard to stay on the right side of the law 100% of the time. So if you annoy the wrong person they can find a way to set the law onto you.

  1
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Mexicanpete said:

  TOPPING said:

  Nigelb said:

  david_herdson said:

  Nigelb said:

  TOPPING said:

  Nigelb said:

  TOPPING said:

  MightyAlex said:

  TOPPING said:

  eek said:

  TOPPING said:

  eek said:

  A_View_From_Cumbria5 said:

  Pulpstar said:

  theProle said:

  nico679 said:

  Re farming what happens if those inheriting land can’t raise the IHT liability ?
  
  It’s not like property which would generally be easier to sell .

  Farmland is easy enough to sell. Phone the local auctioneers, cash lands in the bank about a month later.
  
  There are lots of reasons why this policy is bad, but this isn't one.

  Scenario: Farm is valued at 10k/acre for inheritance tax purposes. Farm is lets say 300 acres, so the bill is £200k (We'll assume the lad owns all the equipment and/or it's all depreciated for the sake of argument). The old Farmer's son sticks 20 acres up for sale, and only gets 5k/acre. A bit extreme, but just putting it out there for the sake of argument...
  Does the farm now get revalued to 1.5 million so the 200k isn't due ?

  If the land is sold in open auction that is the value. It is really a bad idea but totally expected. It will also trash other businesses where succession is important. My ex MP says the first suicide has happened, not sure if that is true. We really have a vile incompetent government with a vile incompetent Prime Minister. But we knew that.

  We seem to have a lot of press writing half baked incorrect stories to scare farmers.
  
  It's been badly announced but I don't actually think there are many people at all who understand what the changes are yet alone the actual impact it has on people.

  There is a story going around (no idea if it's true) on a supposed farmers' fb page describing a suicide which is getting everyone enraged.
  
  I think farmers generally (can) have a very rough time and the suicide rate is very high. That said, governments of the past decades have prioritised mass market affordability of farm produce over farmers' well-being and it is difficult to argue that that has been the wrong policy.
  
  Also it has long been known that buying agricultural land is a good tax avoidance wheeze but, a situation affecting 0.0n% of the farmers, still less of the population is not I believe good grounds for policy-making.

  Removing a good tax avoidance wheeze is something that a sensible Government should be doing.
  
  The suicide could be caused by a lot of things with this being the final one of a lot of straws. Farmer suicide is scarily high anyway as it's a lonely business that can feeling never ending..

  I don't doubt but it is getting everyone agitated. Plus ISAs are a good tax avoidance wheeze.

  An ISA is not tax avoidance.
  
  “Tax avoidance is bending the rules of the tax system to gain a tax advantage, that parliament never intended.” (HMRC, 2015)

  "It involves operating within the letter, but not the spirit, of the law".
  
  So in other words it is perfectly legal and this description is designed a) to give The State more power over you at their sole discretion and whim; and b) scare you. Which latter it appears to have done.

  Or an understandable reaction by the revenue to rich people's accountants regularly taking the piss.
  
  And no, it's often not 'perfectly legal' as the guidance goes on to explain:
  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-avoidance-an-introduction

  Nothing in that link (which both Mighty Alex and I used) says anything about it not being legal.
  
  By "do not work" I presume they mean they aren't tax avoidance but are, rather, illegal.

  You've clearly not followed all those stories about tax advisers who sold tax avoidance schemes as 'perfectly legal', only for their clients to loses court cases against HMRC... and have to repay millions ?
  
  The guidance was intended to prevent more such embarrassments. Accountants (reputable ones, at least) now tend to run such schemes by the revenue, before marketing them to innocent punters.

  Tax avoidance is legal; tax evasion is illegal. Sometimes it is not clear which a particular scheme is because it's pushing the line on something where the law is unclear or open to interpretation. That lack of clarity does not imply legality.

  That's the point, though.
  A financial adviser simply describing something as "tax avoidance" doesn't make it legal. Where the boundaries lie is often unclear - but it's usually pretty obvious to a taxpayer if they're entering into a scheme with the intention of avoiding tax. All the revenue is saying (albeit somewhat forcefully) is that honest belief that you're entering into a legal avoidance scheme doesn't exempt you from potential penalties if it's not legal.
  
  If it's pre-approved by them then you're in the clear.

  Exactly. No one is saying all tax advisors have it right. I am saying that tax avoidance is legal, that tax evasion is illegal, and that the HMRC has weasel words on its website designed to scare people.
  
  Buying agricultural land as a tax avoidance wheeze is just the same as gifting possessions hoping to live for another seven years, or taking out an ISA.
  
  I think it was @Mexicanpete who said that the govt should close down "tax avoidance wheezes".
  
  And I disagreed with this.

  I don't remember writing that, but it does read like something I would have written.
  
  It does depend what you mean by a "tax avoidance wheeze". Reasonable incentives to encourage either saving or spending (whatever floats the Government boat) are fine. Unfair piss takes on the other hand not so much.
  
  I am less keen on unearned income being free of tax and earned income being caned by the treasury. We paid tax at 40% to rent out my mother in law's home to pay for her care costs so I don't see why Jeremy Clarkson doesn't pay an inheritance tax for his faux farm when his kin inherit the estate.

  Jeremy Clarkson's racehorse, The Hawkstonian, has failed to win on his debut at Uttoxeter just now. Quite what he was doing even running in this race is beyond me.

  The ego boost did not work. When will he appear on Rogans podcast?

  1
• Nigelb Posts: 70,513

  November 1

  ydoethur said:

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  williamglenn said:

  Tim_in_Ruislip said:

  Somebody’s got to run the damn country….

  The problem is clearly having to choose a British politician. We could be innovative and create an international transfer market.
  
  Having done a stint as British PM could become a way for ambitious American politicians to build a path to the White House, as an alternative to governing a state, or it could be a career progression for an experienced Australian politician

  Are Germans disqualified?

  Not individually. They are disqualified by the Hun dread.

  They'd probably make a Boche of it anyway ?

  0
• Anabobazina Posts: 23,478

  November 1 edited November 1

  Malmesbury said:

  Casino_Royale said:

  FPT @Stuartinromford thanks for your post.
  
  Lots of companies pile pressure, targets and stress onto workers and then telegraph that they couldn't care less about them. Simple things, like a thank you or a bit of appreciation and recognition, that cost nothing, would go a long way - but so many just don't want to engage with their staff as people.

  I was given an interview without coffee, in one job.
  
  My offence was, apparently, being too positive in reviews for reports. Apparently, Real Management is making sure that for every nice thing you say, you say something shit about them.

  Yes the old 'shit sandwich' technique remains popular with 'managers' despite the fact that it is provably detrimental (research shows staff are conditioned to only hear the negative stuff).
  
  Big congratters to @Casino_Royale on the new job. Fab news for a Friday afternoon – time to hug the wife and open a bottle of something cold and bubbly.

  3
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  Scott_xP said:

  rcs1000 said:

  Elon Musk is not going to be denaturalized and deported, irrespective of who wins the election.

  It's actually MORE likely if Trump wins, since he falls out with everybody eventually

  That is entirely possible. The epotime of disfuction.

  0
• rottenborough Posts: 62,401

  November 1

  highwayparadise306 said:

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  And my hedge fund friends need to make money!

  I'm sure they are making plenty shorting the pound.

  0
• MattW Posts: 22,703

  November 1 edited November 1

  Scott_xP said:

  @WIRED
  
  NEW: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who has spent over $100 million supporting Trump, appears to have worked in the US without authorization. Experts say if he did and lied about it as part of the immigration process, he could be denaturalized.
  
  https://x.com/WIRED/status/1852087062993998107

  Is that not just what the man is like, and perhaps yet another occurrence?
  
  We know he thinks he is above the law personally and in the way he runs his business.
  
  We already have:
  
  - His attitude to regulation by the European Commission.
  - His unlawful sacking of workers, which Trump stated he admired,
  - His working illegally in the USA when he had no correct visa.
  - His attitude to UK law in the comments he makes about our politics here.
  
  He comes across as just another numbskull redneck Republican.

  0
• Andy_JS Posts: 32,229

  November 1

  Big_G_NorthWales said:

  Many congratulations to @Casino_Royale (FPT)

  What's the news?

  0
• Cookie Posts: 13,585

  November 1

  kinabalu said:

  Daveyboy1961 said:

  kinabalu said:

  Huge day today anyway. 1st Nov is when I switch from frozen peas to mushy.

  Is that when your freezer gets turned off?
  

  Lol. No, it's my rite of passage into winter. Also switch lager for bitter. I like to have these rituals to give shape to things. It can all be a bit daunting otherwise.

  Our winter ritual today; changed the L-shape sofa from looking out of the room to looking in. Will change it back when the clocks change. I like these little rituals too.

  4
• Cookie Posts: 13,585

  November 1

  Congrats to @Casino_Royale , by the way. Excellent news.

  4
• Nigelb Posts: 70,513

  November 1

  The Met covering up for Al Fayed goes back at least a decade earlier than previously reported.
  
  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg7nk5dx0wo
  (1995)...Emma recalls that the police told Samantha: “We’ve added it to a pile of other female names that we’ve got that have made the same complaint against Mohamed Al Fayed.”
  “So we know that they had other reports,” she says. Samantha also told the News of the World that the police said she was “not the first” and they had “files inches high” about Al Fayed...

  0
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  rottenborough said:

  highwayparadise306 said:

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  And my hedge fund friends need to make money!

  I'm sure they are making plenty shorting the pound.

  Absolutely correct. And after Brexit they cashed up. Mogg etc. Disgrace.

  0
• Renegade_pollster Posts: 179

  November 1

  Scott_xP said:

  @yashar
  NEW
  
  Kamala Harris’ final ad in Pennsylvania features her sitting next to Josh Shapiro while both of them speak straight to camera.
  
  I don’t remember any other time a major candidate has filmed an ad just like this.
  
  I remember some ads where rally footage features the state’s governor or senator, but not like this.
  
  Speaks to how popular Shapiro is.
  
  https://x.com/yashar/status/1852356742640030010

  Also shows how she should have chosen Shapiro as her VP pick.
  
  Harris does not look entirely comfortable in that clip.
  
  Interesting balancing act for Shapiro - he wants to run in 2028 for the D nomination but obviously has to be seen as helping out the campaign.
  
  Don't think it will move the dial but it will help out Shapiro for the next run.

  0
• Anabobazina Posts: 23,478

  November 1

  Mexicanpete said:

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  Liz who?

  Liz TRUSS

  0
• Big_G_NorthWales Posts: 62,749

  November 1

  Andy_JS said:

  Big_G_NorthWales said:

  Many congratulations to @Casino_Royale (FPT)

  What's the news?

  New job

  0
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  highwayparadise306 said:

  rottenborough said:

  highwayparadise306 said:

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  And my hedge fund friends need to make money!

  I'm sure they are making plenty shorting the pound.

  Absolutely correct. And after Brexit they cashed up. Mogg etc. Disgrace.

  Crispin odey and quite a few across the pond joined the cash up.

  0
• OldKingCole Posts: 33,344

  November 1

  Malmesbury said:

  Casino_Royale said:

  FPT @Stuartinromford thanks for your post.
  
  Lots of companies pile pressure, targets and stress onto workers and then telegraph that they couldn't care less about them. Simple things, like a thank you or a bit of appreciation and recognition, that cost nothing, would go a long way - but so many just don't want to engage with their staff as people.

  I was given an interview without coffee, in one job.
  
  My offence was, apparently, being too positive in reviews for reports. Apparently, Real Management is making sure that for every nice thing you say, you say something shit about them.

  Sometimes I'm really, really glad I'm retired.
  Apart from getting a pension or two.

  3
• OnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,687

  November 1

  rottenborough said:

  highwayparadise306 said:

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  And my hedge fund friends need to make money!

  I'm sure they are making plenty shorting the pound.

  Depends when they put on the trade. Cable is up 1.7% since the start of the year and 1.5% since the election.

  1
• rottenborough Posts: 62,401

  November 1

  
  Republicans against Trump
  @RpsAgainstTrump
  
  Absolutely disgusting. MAGA parade in Mount Pleasant, PA depicted Vice President Harris in chains behind a golf cart bearing American flags and Donald Trump campaign signs
  
  This should be condemned by all.
  
  https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1852381369936040131

  1
• Stuartinromford Posts: 17,069

  November 1 edited November 1

  Casino_Royale said:

  FPT @Stuartinromford thanks for your post.
  
  Lots of companies pile pressure, targets and stress onto workers and then telegraph that they couldn't care less about them. Simple things, like a thank you or a bit of appreciation and recognition, that cost nothing, would go a long way - but so many just don't want to engage with their staff as people.

  Yup, and also its much more challenging twin- telling someone off but also reassembling them in such a way that they can go out and perform five minutes later. The best people I've worked for did both of those brilliantly, but at significant cost to their relationship with their higher-ups. Which has always been my excuse for avoiding the whole business.
  
  Don't want to sound too much like an Unherd columnist, but my hunch it's that we don't get organisational scale right now. Once an organisation gets beyond a certain size, you have to manage people as cells on a spreadsheet and their humanity fades into an emoji. Communications tech means that people can do management stuff for a thousand staff, but I'm less convinced that they can manage a thousand people.

  2
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  OnlyLivingBoy said:

  rottenborough said:

  highwayparadise306 said:

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  And my hedge fund friends need to make money!

  I'm sure they are making plenty shorting the pound.

  Depends when they put on the trade. Cable is up 1.7% since the start of the year and 1.5% since the election.

  I agree with you. On a different point after the Brexit vote the traders cashed in and our companies and properties in the UK were sold with a good discount to our USA cousins and European brothers.

  0
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  rottenborough said:

  
  Republicans against Trump
  @RpsAgainstTrump
  
  Absolutely disgusting. MAGA parade in Mount Pleasant, PA depicted Vice President Harris in chains behind a golf cart bearing American flags and Donald Trump campaign signs
  
  This should be condemned by all.
  
  https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1852381369936040131

  I agree.

  0
• Scott_xP Posts: 35,895

  November 1

  @RedfieldWilton
  
  Kamala Harris enjoys a wide advantage on abortion over Donald Trump among swing state voters.
  
  Majorities of voters in every state (52%-60%) trust Harris more than Trump on abortion.
  
  Only 28%-31% of voters trust Trump more than Harris on this issue.
  
  https://x.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1852393984833769717

  0
• Nigelb Posts: 70,513

  November 1

  Big_G_NorthWales said:

  Andy_JS said:

  Big_G_NorthWales said:

  Many congratulations to @Casino_Royale (FPT)

  What's the news?

  New job

  I thought you were retired ?

  1
• OldKingCole Posts: 33,344

  November 1

  Stuartinromford said:

  Casino_Royale said:

  FPT @Stuartinromford thanks for your post.
  
  Lots of companies pile pressure, targets and stress onto workers and then telegraph that they couldn't care less about them. Simple things, like a thank you or a bit of appreciation and recognition, that cost nothing, would go a long way - but so many just don't want to engage with their staff as people.

  Yup, and also it's much more challenging twin- telling someone off but also reassembling them in such a way that they can go out and perform five minutes later. The best people I've worked for did both of those brilliantly, but at significant cost to their relationship with their higher-ups. Which has always been my excuse for avoiding the whole business.
  
  Don't want to sound too much like an Unherd columnist, but my hunch it's that we don't get organisational scale right now. Once an organisation gets beyond a certain size, you have to manage people as cells on a spreadsheet and their humanity fades into an emoji. Communications tech means that people can do management stuff for a thousand staff, but I'm less convinced that they can manage a thousand people.

  It's a bit like the subdivisions of the British Army isn't it; the basic fighting unit is the 'company' with about 150-200 men. The Romans, too, worked on units of no more than 100.

  1
• Nigelb Posts: 70,513

  November 1

  ‘Fox & Friends’ rips Drudge for ‘totally irresponsible’ Trump-Cheney headline
  https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4965880-fox-and-friends-rips-drudge-for-totally-irresponsible-trump-cheney-headline/
  
  It's come to something when it's Drudge calling out Trump's bullshit.
  

  0
• Malmesbury Posts: 49,590

  November 1

  Stuartinromford said:

  Casino_Royale said:

  FPT @Stuartinromford thanks for your post.
  
  Lots of companies pile pressure, targets and stress onto workers and then telegraph that they couldn't care less about them. Simple things, like a thank you or a bit of appreciation and recognition, that cost nothing, would go a long way - but so many just don't want to engage with their staff as people.

  Yup, and also its much more challenging twin- telling someone off but also reassembling them in such a way that they can go out and perform five minutes later. The best people I've worked for did both of those brilliantly, but at significant cost to their relationship with their higher-ups. Which has always been my excuse for avoiding the whole business.
  
  Don't want to sound too much like an Unherd columnist, but my hunch it's that we don't get organisational scale right now. Once an organisation gets beyond a certain size, you have to manage people as cells on a spreadsheet and their humanity fades into an emoji. Communications tech means that people can do management stuff for a thousand staff, but I'm less convinced that they can manage a thousand people.

  It is a basic tenant of management theory that you can't manage a 1000 people directly. You can manage a flatish hierarchy of managers with teams broken down to maybe 15 people in each.

  3
• numbertwelve Posts: 6,772

  November 1

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  Oh go away, Liz….

  4
• rottenborough Posts: 62,401

  November 1

  Cookie said:

  kinabalu said:

  Daveyboy1961 said:

  kinabalu said:

  Huge day today anyway. 1st Nov is when I switch from frozen peas to mushy.

  Is that when your freezer gets turned off?
  

  Lol. No, it's my rite of passage into winter. Also switch lager for bitter. I like to have these rituals to give shape to things. It can all be a bit daunting otherwise.

  Our winter ritual today; changed the L-shape sofa from looking out of the room to looking in. Will change it back when the clocks change. I like these little rituals too.

  Just finished making soul cakes.
  
  All Soul's Day tomorrow.

  1
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  Nigelb said:

  ‘Fox & Friends’ rips Drudge for ‘totally irresponsible’ Trump-Cheney headline
  https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4965880-fox-and-friends-rips-drudge-for-totally-irresponsible-trump-cheney-headline/
  
  It's come to something when it's Drudge calling out Trump's bullshit.
  

  Interesting.

  0
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  numbertwelve said:

  DecrepiterJohnL said:

  Liz Truss writes in the Telegraph...
  
  The economic blob that brought me down is shielding a failing Chancellor
  Getting rid of Rachel Reeves won’t unleash economic growth alone – the Quangocracy needs to be dismantled
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/01/the-economic-blob-that-brought-me-down-is-shielding-reeves/ (£££)
  

  Oh go away, Liz….

  That would be a good idea.

  0
• MattW Posts: 22,703

  November 1 edited November 1

  Malmesbury said:

  Stuartinromford said:

  Casino_Royale said:

  FPT @Stuartinromford thanks for your post.
  
  Lots of companies pile pressure, targets and stress onto workers and then telegraph that they couldn't care less about them. Simple things, like a thank you or a bit of appreciation and recognition, that cost nothing, would go a long way - but so many just don't want to engage with their staff as people.

  Yup, and also its much more challenging twin- telling someone off but also reassembling them in such a way that they can go out and perform five minutes later. The best people I've worked for did both of those brilliantly, but at significant cost to their relationship with their higher-ups. Which has always been my excuse for avoiding the whole business.
  
  Don't want to sound too much like an Unherd columnist, but my hunch it's that we don't get organisational scale right now. Once an organisation gets beyond a certain size, you have to manage people as cells on a spreadsheet and their humanity fades into an emoji. Communications tech means that people can do management stuff for a thousand staff, but I'm less convinced that they can manage a thousand people.

  It is a basic tenant of management theory that you can't manage a 1000 people directly. You can manage a flatish hierarchy of managers with teams broken down to maybe 15 people in each.

  It's also basic that the more people you manage (or support) directly, and the more relationships you have, the less rich and more transactional those relationships become.
  
  It's a branch of applied sociology of leadership. Not as a assumption or constraint, but an observation of how human being work effectively in groups or teams.

  1
• Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,231

  November 1

  I don't really know much about Liz Cheney, and what I do know, I don't particularly like. This 'shoot Liz Cheney' meme seems to be an attempt to create a counter moment to Biden's garbage comment, which was itself a counter-moment to the Trump rally Puerto Rico comment, but I don't think it's really got legs. I suspect most people don't think that Trump is about to put Liz Cheney before a firing squad, and I also suspect they feel that Liz is big and ugly enough to look after herself.

  0
• Nigelb Posts: 70,513

  November 1

  My winter ritual tonight - eating the left over candy from Halloween.
  
  No doubt the importation of this colonial habit will trigger the odd PBer.

  0
• rottenborough Posts: 62,401

  November 1

  Early election night - watch for Baldwin, GA result says Wasserman:
  
  
  Washington Journal
  
  @cspanwj
  
  WATCH: "There are a couple of bellwether counties worth watching for clues on election night in the presidential race."
  
  -
  @CookPolitical's David Wasserman (@Redistrict) on what he's watching as election results start coming in Tuesday night.
  
  https://x.com/cspanwj/status/1852350597724336608

  3
• OldKingCole Posts: 33,344

  November 1 edited November 1

  Deleted

  0
• Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,231

  November 1

  Nigelb said:

  My winter ritual tonight - eating the left over candy from Halloween.
  
  No doubt the importation of this colonial habit will trigger the odd PBer.

  I really don't care how many sweets you eat, but the word 'candy' is giving me a bilious attack.

  3
• highwayparadise306 Posts: 1,273

  November 1

  OldKingCole said:

  Malmesbury said:

  Casino_Royale said:

  FPT @Stuartinromford thanks for your post.
  
  Lots of companies pile pressure, targets and stress onto workers and then telegraph that they couldn't care less about them. Simple things, like a thank you or a bit of appreciation and recognition, that cost nothing, would go a long way - but so many just don't want to engage with their staff as people.

  I was given an interview without coffee, in one job.
  
  My offence was, apparently, being too positive in reviews for reports. Apparently, Real Management is making sure that for every nice thing you say, you say something shit about them.

  Sometimes I'm really, really glad I'm retired.
  Apart from getting a pension or two.

  If you were in a full time job we would miss your comments on here and your sense of humour!
  

  1
• Nigelb Posts: 70,513

  November 1

  Wut ?
  
  Update: Tucker Carlson Describes Being ‘Mauled By A Demon!’ Mid-Sleep: ‘Left Claw Marks On My Sides’
  https://www.infowars.com/posts/tucker-carlson-describes-being-mauled-by-a-demon-mid-sleep-left-claw-marks-on-my-sides

  0
• rottenborough Posts: 62,401

  November 1

  Jessica Taylor
  @JessicaTaylor
  ·
  4h
  Our final @CookPolitical Senate projections are a GOP gain of between 2 and 5 seats, giving GOP somewhere between a 51 and a 54 seat majority.
  
  https://x.com/JessicaTaylor/status/1852332692152410520

  1
• kamski Posts: 5,127

  November 1 edited November 1

  Tucker Carlson news:
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/01/tucker-carlson-demon-attack
  
  Carlson, who said he still bears the scars, said his assailant was a “demon”. He added: “Or by something unseen that left claw marks on my sides.”
  
  He said at the time of the attack, he was asleep in bed. I was “totally confused, I woke up, and I couldn’t breathe, and I thought I was going to suffocate”, he said.
  
  It's a real mystery that one. Oh wait I missed this detail:
  
  "I got attacked while I was asleep with my wife and four dogs and mauled, physically mauled.”

  0
• BartholomewRoberts Posts: 21,829

  November 1 edited November 1

  MattW said:

  FPT:
  

  theProle said:

  MattW said:

  Eabhal said:

  Mexicanpete said:

  Eabhal said:

  Fuel duty freeze saves the richest quintile 2.96x as much as the lowest quintile. If you want a cost-effective way to help poor people out with a tax cut, this ain't it.
  
  
  

  From someone leaning left it was a pretty crap budget. Crap, but not from the same perspective as that of the PB glitterati.

  You could have bought 600,000 cars at £5k each and given them to poor families in rural areas for £3 billion. That's 10% of all car-less households in England and Wales.

  That doesn't help the 25% of adults who do not have, or cannot have, a driving license.
  
  That imo is why equality is a, or even the, core issue around making sure that there are realistic, safe, practical alternatives to motor vehicles everywhere,

  How many of those cannot have a license, e.g. on medical grounds? I've a lot of sympathy for them, but I would be surprised if it's as much as 1%.
  
  The rest - their choice, it's a free world, why should we spend a fortune rather than just encouraging them to get licenses?
  
  Probably be cheaper in a lot of cases to bin rural bus routes that mostly shift round fresh air and provide the genuinely unable to drive with taxis as required.

  It's a lot more than 1% for medical reasons, I think, though I don't know where to get a researched total number. It would need to include people such as my former landlord in London who knew he had always had an eye condition that [prevented driving, and never tried to get one. (I'd punt for something like perhaps 3-5m, and a large number of elderly people on top.
  
  1% of population is 670K of people, or restrict it to age groups 18 and above and 1% is around 500k from 51million. Total drivers licences in issue are 41.5 million, so 1% of that 410k.
  
  Drivers licences revoked for medical reasons in the decade 2014 to 2024 are 650k, so 65k per annum. And the total numbers of medically revoked licences will be several times that - depending how many get them back.
  
  I think the bigger question is perhaps your focus on driving at the centre.
  
  We have talked about people who cannot drive for medical reasons. But those who choose not to drive are equally lawful users of the public highway and have equal rights / privileges to those who choose to use a motor vehicle.
  
  We have 41.5 million driving licences in issue, and that means we have 26 million people who do not have a driving licence who need equal consideration.
  
  That 26 million comprise non-drivers for medical reasons, non-drivers by choice, non-drivers by circumstance eg can't afford to, almost everyone under 17, elderly for whatever reason, and any other categories.
  
  That is just under 40% who need to be considered. Freedom of choice an equal opportunity matters - why should we be nudging them to spend £££ on a motor vehicle that they may not be able to, or want to, afford?
  
  The fairly stark stats in the budgets are that there was about £7 billion of extra expenditure for vehicle drivers, and £100m for public highways users walking, wheeling or cycling. That is without looking at existing budgets.
  
  

  £7 billion* is piss all considering the amount of taxes we pay and the amount we bring to the economy.
  
  £100m is massive for the amount of taxes paid and the amount brought to the economy.
  
  * Though I'd like to see a citation on that claim. What expenditure and where? Not increasing a tax beyond its current level is not "expenditure".

  0
• Nigelb Posts: 70,513

  November 1

  Luckyguy1983 said:

  Nigelb said:

  My winter ritual tonight - eating the left over candy from Halloween.
  
  No doubt the importation of this colonial habit will trigger the odd PBer.

  I really don't care how many sweets you eat, but the word 'candy' is giving me a bilious attack.

  I called it.

  0
• MattW Posts: 22,703

  November 1

  Nigelb said:

  Wut ?
  
  Update: Tucker Carlson Describes Being ‘Mauled By A Demon!’ Mid-Sleep: ‘Left Claw Marks On My Sides’
  https://www.infowars.com/posts/tucker-carlson-describes-being-mauled-by-a-demon-mid-sleep-left-claw-marks-on-my-sides

  Is he having an affair as well?

  0
• rottenborough Posts: 62,401

  November 1

  Nigelb said:

  Wut ?
  
  Update: Tucker Carlson Describes Being ‘Mauled By A Demon!’ Mid-Sleep: ‘Left Claw Marks On My Sides’
  https://www.infowars.com/posts/tucker-carlson-describes-being-mauled-by-a-demon-mid-sleep-left-claw-marks-on-my-sides

  We are in the twilight now of the Enlightenment.
  
  America on the edge of falling into an abyss.
  
  Brace.

  1
• numbertwelve Posts: 6,772

  November 1

  rottenborough said:

  Jessica Taylor
  @JessicaTaylor
  ·
  4h
  Our final @CookPolitical Senate projections are a GOP gain of between 2 and 5 seats, giving GOP somewhere between a 51 and a 54 seat majority.
  
  https://x.com/JessicaTaylor/status/1852332692152410520

  If it’s President Harris, I think she can work with a 51-49 GOP-DEM Senate.
  
  Anything above that on the GOP side, and it’s going to be very tough.
  

  0
• williamglenn Posts: 51,346

  November 1

  Watch this CNN report on Trump/Cheney. The deliberate misreading of his comments is so blatant.
  
  https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/01/politics/donald-trump-liz-cheney-war-hawk-battle/index.html

  0
• ydoethur Posts: 71,164

  November 1 edited November 1

  kamski said:

  Tucker Carlson news:
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/01/tucker-carlson-demon-attack
  
  Carlson, who said he still bears the scars, said his assailant was a “demon”. He added: “Or by something unseen that left claw marks on my sides.”
  
  He said at the time of the attack, he was asleep in bed. I was “totally confused, I woke up, and I couldn’t breathe, and I thought I was going to suffocate”, he said.
  
  It's a real mystery that one. Oh wait I missed this detail:
  
  "I got attacked while I was asleep with my wife and four dogs and mauled, physically mauled.”

  I'm not surprised. If I had the misfortune to be married to Tucker Carlson, I'd be tempted to make him think he was being mauled by demons as well.
  
  I'm surprised he sleeps with his dogs though. A good Welshman would never do that. Frightens the sheep.

  2
• MikeL Posts: 7,680

  November 1 edited November 1

  YOUGOV TIMES POLL:
  
  Poll being published later tonight but "exclusive" per Times Radio:
  
  Harris ahead in all three of PA, MI and WI (enough to win).
  
  Harris also ahead in one other battleground state (ie one of NC, GA, AZ, NV).

  2
• kamski Posts: 5,127

  November 1

  williamglenn said:

  Watch this CNN report on Trump/Cheney. The deliberate misreading of his comments is so blatant.
  
  https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/01/politics/donald-trump-liz-cheney-war-hawk-battle/index.html

  what about your deliberate misreading earlier? where you inserted the words "if" and "how would" she feel, when Trump used no 'if' or 'would'?
  
  "Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let's see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face."
  
  

  0
• Nigelb Posts: 70,513

  November 1

  rottenborough said:

  Early election night - watch for Baldwin, GA result says Wasserman:
  ..
  WATCH: "There are a couple of bellwether counties worth watching for clues on election night in the presidential race."
  
  @CookPolitical's David Wasserman (@Redistrict) on what he's watching as election results start coming in Tuesday night.
  
  https://x.com/cspanwj/status/1852350597724336608

  If Harris takes both Baldwin and Washington in Georgia, then she's very likely won the state. One on its own, not quite so determinative.

  0