Well done to the probation service in helping this prisoner rehabilitate himself after a stint in prison.
Chris Huhne has opened a new row over the “revolving door” between Whitehall and business after it emerged he landed a senior job with an energy company within three months of leaving prison.
@josiasJessop if there's one policy to gain the EU ecstatic support from the UKIP demographic, then giving caravan owners a hard time is it. My father would probably support capital punishment for caravan owners on the road in daylight hours.
Indeed. But there's also a large number of (invariably middle-class) caravan owners on the road. Being upper-middle class, we had a static caravan permanently in a walled garden in South Devon for holidays. ;-)
I'm just wondering what problem the proposed law is trying to solve.
Mr. Jessop, the EU is a stupid organisation. Would that we had a political Alexander to invade its mighty empire and slaughter its army of bureaucrats.
But it won't be birth certificates that causes Ye Great Rebellyon.
Agreed, but rather like spousal murder all of the resentments add up slowly - and then it's a tiny thing which finally tips an individual over the edge into UKIPery. Don't underestimate the drip of small things whilst waiting for the big bang event.
"Really? She killed him just for wiping it on the curtains?"
Wasn't there a man who murdered his wife for putting his mustard in the wrong place?
Anyway, yes, I concur, which is why I cited the UK's tea tax on the Yanks which caused the American Revolution. The Americans weren't really that fussed about tea, but it was the final insult, as they saw it, in a catalogue of imperial abuse, which made them go postal.
Taxes are incendiary, however small. I can see some silly little EU direct tax being the spark that lights the eurosceptic fire, finally.
From memory, I believe that tea was much more significant than you suggest. A lot of the resentment was about the requirement for goods to be carried on English ships and significant import duties.
As always, with our American friends, it comes down to money at the end of the day
Yes, but it wasn't tea as such: it was resentment at imperial taxes and imposts in general, within an insufficiently democratic polity. No taxation without representation.
It's not hard to see exactly the same thing happening in the virtually anti-democratic EU.
I don't disagree, but tea was a surprisingly important commodity those days, so don't neglect the specific. It also cut across all classes and interests and specifically riled a wealthy and important interest group (the Bostonian merchants).
Difficult to think of something that would be a similar trigger - additionally, I think the average person in the street is much more disengaged
But it won't be birth certificates that causes Ye Great Rebellyon.
Agreed, but rather like spousal murder all of the resentments add up slowly - and then it's a tiny thing which finally tips an individual over the edge into UKIPery. Don't underestimate the drip of small things whilst waiting for the big bang event.
"Really? She killed him just for wiping it on the curtains?"
Wasn't there a man who murdered his wife for putting his mustard in the wrong place?
Anyway, yes, I concur, which is why I cited the UK's tea tax on the Yanks which caused the American Revolution. The Americans weren't really that fussed about tea, but it was the final insult, as they saw it, in a catalogue of imperial abuse, which made them go postal.
Taxes are incendiary, however small. I can see some silly little EU direct tax being the spark that lights the eurosceptic fire, finally.
From memory, I believe that tea was much more significant than you suggest. A lot of the resentment was about the requirement for goods to be carried on English ships and significant import duties.
As always, with our American friends, it comes down to money at the end of the day
In Niall Ferguson's 'Empire' book, he argues the trigger was the _reduction_ of tea duty. (Key figures in the US revolution were involved in tea smuggling.)
"…most people assume [the Boston Tea Party] was a protest against a hike in the tax on tea. In fact the price of tea in question was exceptionally low, since the British government had just given the East India Company a rebate of the much higher duty the tea had incurred on entering Britain. In effect, the tea left Britain duty free and had to pay only the much lower American duty on arriving in Boston. Tea had never been cheaper in New England. The ‘Party’ was organized not by irate consumers but by Boston’s wealthy smugglers, who stood to lose out."
No worries, it's not compulsory, it's proposed, not mandated, that nations use it if they want to. Another unfounded scare story by sensation-seeking newspapers and kippers. Having said that, we don't want it.
Mr. Dave, although morris dancing is a splendid sight at any time of year it is predominantly in the summer that we wave our wiffle sticks and jingle our bells.
Recent winters have not been conducive to dancing outside.
Evening all and another poll within the current trend. I look forward to seeing the reaction in the polls when the Conservatives announce a manifesto pledge to reduce the size of the House of Commons which the LibDems and Labour thwarted last year.
Evening all and another poll within the current trend. I look forward to seeing the reaction in the polls when the Conservatives announce a manifesto pledge to reduce the size of the House of Commons which the LibDems and Labour thwarted last year.
Evening all and another poll within the current trend. I look forward to seeing the reaction in the polls when the Conservatives announce a manifesto pledge to reduce the size of the House of Commons which the LibDems and Labour thwarted last year.
Evenin' Easterross. I'm in Arisaig, after a week on Skye, and I've been asking people, since I arrived, what they intend to vote next year. Overwhelmingly they say they're gonna vote No.
Is this a Hebridean thing? Do you have data for the geographical spread of No and Yes independence voters? I'm curious, because you've been hinting that a Yes is very possible, yet my feeble one-man straw poll implies No by a distance.
However perhaps the Western Isles are historically different (I expected them to be some of the most pro-independence) thanks to the religious history, or the midges, or whatever.
Where is the Yes vote concentrated? Glasgow? The prosperous east coast?
Genuinely curious.
Evening Sean and glad you are enjoying our wonderful west coast. Skye is not in the Western Isles politically and there are now probably more people born in England on the island than born on Skye. In the Western Isles itself, there is a strong vein of Yes support as there is around the country. The vote will come down to what happens in the closing weeks of the campaign. The SNP has an incredible habit of pulling rabbits out of a hat. It just needs London based journalists or politicians to make a series of cras comments to sway the swayable.
How about reducing the size of the Lords, the only Upper House in the world that's larger than its respective Lower House?
Size is secondary to function, as I frequently need to remind people. If we went back to the revising chamber/hereditaries only model, capping the size of the chamber so that new hereditary lines were only created when an existing line disappeared, then we'd be in a much better position.
Not sure how many episodes (perhaps six) I'm into season 3, but it's been very good so far. I liked two a lot but this season's even better.
Zombie apocalypse is really overdone as an idea, but there are instances of it being done extremely well. The Walking Dead and The Last Of Us are both fantastic.
Fresh forced marriage warning. Primitive, despicable, unacceptable. If @ risk call Forced Marriage Unit 020 7008 0151 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-236390
This tory impresses me more and more,anyone else agree ?
Evening all and another poll within the current trend. I look forward to seeing the reaction in the polls when the Conservatives announce a manifesto pledge to reduce the size of the House of Commons which the LibDems and Labour thwarted last year.
Where is the Yes vote concentrated? Glasgow? The prosperous east coast?
Genuinely curious.
Evening Sean and glad you are enjoying our wonderful west coast. Skye is not in the Western Isles politically and there are now probably more people born in England on the island than born on Skye. In the Western Isles itself, there is a strong vein of Yes support as there is around the country. The vote will come down to what happens in the closing weeks of the campaign. The SNP has an incredible habit of pulling rabbits out of a hat. It just needs London based journalists or politicians to make a series of cras comments to sway the swayable.
Talking of Skye and the English, I had the most Macdonaldy moment imaginable t'other day.
I was sitting in Kinloch Lodge, in Sleat, when Lord Macdonald, the 34th clan chief of the Macdonalds, the Macdonald of Macdonald, Macdonald of the isles, walked into his ancestral lodge, hunting home of the Macdonald of Macdonald since the Macdonalds of Sleat built it in about 1600, on ancient land of the Macdonalds.
I just wish I'd been eating a Big Mac at the time.
I chatted with the clan chief and his agreeable wife and their accents were pure RP Etonian English. Intriguing.
I demur with your POV on the referendum. I know you are much better informed than me, but my Tom Knox antennae tell me that No is going to win, by a very considerable canter. There just isn't a hunger for divorce. Scots can't be arsed with the stress, let alone anything else.
Rest assured Sean, Godfrey and Claire Macdonald of Macdonald are very much resident locals. Their daughter Isabella runs the business now. Lady Claire is constantly busy with her media work.
You are correct that many Scots simply are not yet that interested in the Referendum. The worry is that as in 1998, the Unionist side (this time led by Labour, last time by the Tories) will blow things by some London based twit pontificating about how "grateful" we Scots should be to our over generous English neighbours. That sort of line will drive otherwise lukewarm Scots into the Yes camp. I personally think a great many people who are lukewarm unionist could easily be swayed by negative campaigning by the No camp. I hope you are correct.
The Sunday Times editorial is quite damning about Dave
The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that Dave, for lack of a better word, is good. Dave is right, Dave works. Dave clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Dave, in all of his forms; Dave for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And Dave, you mark my words, will not only save the Tory Party, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the UK. Thank you very much.
The Sunday Times have analysed Tory membership figures for Cabinet Ministers.
And it is pretty grim.
The worst-affected cabinet member is Pickles, whose Brentwood and Ongar constituency posted a 49.3% fall in membership between 2009 and 2012.
Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, saw her membership numbers plummet 43.9% from 787 in 2009 to 441 in 2012. In the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency of Duncan Smith, numbers fell by 37% between 2009 and 2012.
The Sunday Times have analysed Tory membership figures for Cabinet Ministers.
And it is pretty grim.
The worst-affected cabinet member is Pickles, whose Brentwood and Ongar constituency posted a 49.3% fall in membership between 2009 and 2012.
Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, saw her membership numbers plummet 43.9% from 787 in 2009 to 441 in 2012. In the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency of Duncan Smith, numbers fell by 37% between 2009 and 2012.
In Ferdinand Mount's "The New Few" I think he argued that the Cameroons don't care about membership numbers. They think they can win with direct mail and databases.
The feelgood factor is filtering through to consumers, with just under a third believing there are signs of recovery, up from 14% in April, according to the latest YouGov poll for The Sunday Times.
About seven years ago we had a holiday in the Hebrides, in our campervan.
I had also recently come across Claire Macdonald and had bought one of her cookery books. So I was determined that we would seek out Kinloch Lodge and if possible both dine and stay there.
We tracked them down and were able to book a table for dinner but they were full up for accommodation. However they kindly agreed to let us sleep in our van, in their grounds.
IIRC it was late August and I had backed a horse at decent odds to win a race at the York Ebor meeting, the same day. The horse won nicely, paying for the excellent dinner. With the accommodation being free, it was a very agreeable experience. I may well have reported the whole occasion on these pages at the time.
Clare Macdonald's recipe for onion tart in walnut and parmesan pastry is a particular favourite of mine and one I have managed to reproduce, to local acclaim, over the intervening years.
Broken, sleazy Tories on the slide? Or, more simply, nothing much happened this month?
Well according to the Sunday Times, the narrative is changing.
They are saying, given the relatively good economic news, why aren't the Tories doing better.
Edit: The Sunday Times reason is that Dave is a bit crap
I've never been convinced that economic revival on any plausible scale will do much for the Tories. The indicators are in practice always mixed - this is up, that's down - and the fact that people are actually worse off makes them irritated by too many claims of wonderfulness. The election won't be won on the economy by either side, since people correctly see it as largely a global problem to which neither side has an obviously brilliant solution. The Labour 38ish vote (I think the 41 is an outlier, as was 36) is mainly comprised of people who seriously dislike other aspects of the Government.
An interesting, yet tantalisingly rubbish piece by John Simpson, predicting radical change in China, perhaps even competitive elections within 5 years. He bases this on a chap daring to wear a different tie, on a middle-ranking bureaucrat being willing to talk to him (yes, it's a preview of a broadcast of the interview) and saying vaguely pleasant things, on the fact that he got bored during the leader's speech at the same time as he once got bored by a Gorbachev speech (you think I'm kidding? Only marginally - read it and you'll see what I mean), and by a visit to an arty section of Beijing where people don't much care about politics (I was there 3 years ago and it was just the same then). It's one of the most flagrant pieces of broadcasting puffery I've seen. Doesn't mean it's not also right.
And anyone who believes UKiP will poll 17% in a GE is insane. If they poll 10% then David Cameron is the most disastrous politician for the side he supposedly represents since Tony Benn. He'll have blown the unloseable election, split the right and driven Tory membership down below 100,000. He's second rate but no one is that second rate
As I said earlier, even as a UKIP member I agree with you. But the Lib Dems below 10% seems far more realistic. I suspect under the right circumstances it may well turn into a close fight between UKIp and the Lib Dems for 3rd place but with both of them below 10%.
(OT) Today I found out something interesting while reading Charles Moore's Authorized Biography of Margaret Thatcher.
At Oxford University, Margaret Roberts had an unrequited crush on Neil Findlay, who was the father of Max Findlay, who owns Fenton, who chased the deer across Richmond Park in 2011.
Thinking about the current state of the economy, which of the following best reflects your view? The economy is still getting worse: 25 (43) (August/April) The economy has stopped getting worse, but there are no signs of any recovery yet: 34 (36) The economy is in a bad way, but is starting to show signs of recovery: 30 (13) The economy is improving and on the way to full recovery: 5(1) DK: 5 (4)
Thinking about the government's policies on the economy, do you think... They have made the economy worse, and made the recession last longer than it would have done: 36 They have helped the economy, and made the changes necessary for a recovery to begin: 32 They haven't really made much difference to the economy one way or the other: 23 DK: 8
Looking forward to the next election in 2015, who would you trust more to run the British economy after 2015? David Cameron and the Conservatives: 34 (LD; 31; UKIP:45) Ed Miliband and Labour: 30 (LD;20; UKIP:7) Not sure: 36 (LD: 49; UKIP:48)
From what you know, do you think exams like A- Levels have got harder or easier over the last ten years, or have they stayed the same? [Only asked to respondents in England and Wales n=1692] Have got harder: 9 Easier: 41 Same: 23 DK: 27
Following tougher marking rules introduced last year, the number of pupils achieving A grades at A-level dropped for the first time in 21 years. Thinking about this, which of these statements comes closer to your view? [Only asked to respondents in England and Wales n=1692] It was right to introduce tougher marking rules; exams had become too easy meaning the best students couldn't stand out: 53 It was wrong to introduce tougher marking rules; it puts current pupils at a disadvantage to previous students: 21 Neither: 10 DK: 15
I bought a Kindle a few months ago and a Nook e-reader a few weeks ago. Book shops are dead except for second hand ones that sell books which are not available on electronic format.
If you live in or were brought up in a town that is miles away from a bookshop, it must be liberating that you can get a book almost simultaneously without having to travel or leave your home.
Thinking about the current state of the economy, which of the following best reflects your view? The economy is still getting worse: 25 (43) (August/April) The economy has stopped getting worse, but there are no signs of any recovery yet: 34 (36) The economy is in a bad way, but is starting to show signs of recovery: 30 (13) The economy is improving and on the way to full recovery: 5(1) DK: 5 (4)
Thinking about the government's policies on the economy, do you think... They have made the economy worse, and made the recession last longer than it would have done: 36 They have helped the economy, and made the changes necessary for a recovery to begin: 32 They haven't really made much difference to the economy one way or the other: 23 DK: 8
Looking forward to the next election in 2015, who would you trust more to run the British economy after 2015? David Cameron and the Conservatives: 34 (LD; 31; UKIP:45) Ed Miliband and Labour: 30 (LD;20; UKIP:7) Not sure: 36 (LD: 49; UKIP:48)
From what you know, do you think exams like A- Levels have got harder or easier over the last ten years, or have they stayed the same? [Only asked to respondents in England and Wales n=1692] Have got harder: 9 Easier: 41 Same: 23 DK: 27
Following tougher marking rules introduced last year, the number of pupils achieving A grades at A-level dropped for the first time in 21 years. Thinking about this, which of these statements comes closer to your view? [Only asked to respondents in England and Wales n=1692] It was right to introduce tougher marking rules; exams had become too easy meaning the best students couldn't stand out: 53 It was wrong to introduce tougher marking rules; it puts current pupils at a disadvantage to previous students: 21 Neither: 10 DK: 15
Generally speaking, do you think standards in the NHS have got better or worse over the last TEN years? Better: 20 Same: 19 Worse: 54
Looking forward, do you think we will still have an NHS that is free at the point of use in the future, or will it be impossible to afford? It may become more expensive as people live for longer, but it will be possible to keep having an NHS that is free at the point of use in the future : 51 As people live for longer and need more care there will probably come a time when we can no longer afford a free NHS and need to charge people : 38
In principle, would you support or oppose means testing NHS treatment, so that treatment remained free at the point of use for those on low incomes, but people with high incomes would have to pay for treatment? Support: 29 Oppose: 58
And in principle, would you support or oppose cutting back on the services the NHS offered for free, so that some services like IVF treatment for infertile couples was no longer available for free? Support: 47 Oppose: 37
Mr. Labour, you probably know this already but if you like classical history quite a few of them are available for free on e-books, as are books that have otherwise had their copyright expired.
Price is a matter of great variance, as some books cost the same or even more in e-book form (which both perplexes and annoys me). Mind you, some are very inexpensive. I got my Kindle a couple of years ago now, and though I prefer a physical book to an e-book, expense, convenience and space are all great aspects of the e-reader.
In principle, would you support or oppose means testing NHS treatment, so that treatment remained free at the point of use for those on low incomes, but people with high incomes would have to pay for treatment? Support: 29 Oppose: 58
I have no idea how I could answer that question meaningfully. I neither support nor oppose means testing because I think everyone should have insurance (or not) and the subject wouldn't arise.
And in principle, would you support or oppose cutting back on the services the NHS offered for free, so that some services like IVF treatment for infertile couples was no longer available for free? Support: 47 Oppose: 37
Why ask a (fairly) sensible question and then give an example which will skew the results for those who have a vested interest or sympathy in that particular thing? Why not pick tattoo removal? Why, in fact, skew the result with *any* example?
The questions in this survey seem odd. I wonder who commissioned it?
The Sunday Times have analysed Tory membership figures for Cabinet Ministers.
And it is pretty grim.
The worst-affected cabinet member is Pickles, whose Brentwood and Ongar constituency posted a 49.3% fall in membership between 2009 and 2012.
Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, saw her membership numbers plummet 43.9% from 787 in 2009 to 441 in 2012. In the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency of Duncan Smith, numbers fell by 37% between 2009 and 2012.
Broken, barren, sleazy Tories on the slide. Why are the members deserting the party ? Are they leaving to join UKIP ? Are they leaving in protest ? Or, are they just dying ?
Why are the members deserting the party ? Are they leaving to join UKIP ? Are they leaving in protest ? Or, are they just dying ?
Why should it be anything so complicated? The era of mass membership political parties has just passed into history; like the Roman Empire, like the glorious age of steam, and like all of the music TSE listens to.
People have got better things to do with their time and money and enthusiasm.
Just had 2 days at the test. Broad was magnificent yesterday, probably the best bowling I have seen in person. He was incredibly unlucky to only have 4 wickets. Jimmy seriously needs a break and I think Swann has a problem too, he was lightly bowled yesterday and ineffective.
I think this test was lost on the first day thanks to some remarkably cavalier batting. Durham is a lovely ground but should tests really be given to grounds without lights? Poor light might be England's only hope.
On topic these polls once again show us that what we political obsessives on here argue about has almost no resonance with the general public at all. Guessing what will influence the Great British Public is frankly a mug's game and Ed's self imposed purdah for a month really is not troubling the majority at all.
The Sunday Times have analysed Tory membership figures for Cabinet Ministers.
And it is pretty grim.
The worst-affected cabinet member is Pickles, whose Brentwood and Ongar constituency posted a 49.3% fall in membership between 2009 and 2012.
Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, saw her membership numbers plummet 43.9% from 787 in 2009 to 441 in 2012. In the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency of Duncan Smith, numbers fell by 37% between 2009 and 2012.
Broken, barren, sleazy Tories on the slide. Why are the members deserting the party ? Are they leaving to join UKIP ? Are they leaving in protest ? Or, are they just dying ?
The Conservatives are + 1 in this poll, I thought we had to look at the share not the lead ?
Camerons summer offensive against UKIP, seems to have reversed the loonies fruitcakes and closet racists into normal discourse.
First, and so far only confirmed, leadership debate in Australia between Abbott and Rudd coming up in less than an hour (6.30pm Aussie time, 9.30am UK time).
Comments
I'm just wondering what problem the proposed law is trying to solve.
Difficult to think of something that would be a similar trigger - additionally, I think the average person in the street is much more disengaged
"…most people assume [the Boston Tea Party] was a protest against a hike in the tax on tea. In fact the price of tea in question was exceptionally low, since the British government had just given the East India Company a rebate of the much higher duty the tea had incurred on entering Britain. In effect, the tea left Britain duty free and had to pay only the much lower American duty on arriving in Boston. Tea had never been cheaper in New England. The ‘Party’ was organized not by irate consumers but by Boston’s wealthy smugglers, who stood to lose out."
http://www.swifteconomics.com/2009/04/24/tea-parties-and-the-real-tea-party/
I recall Ferguson did an economic history series a year or two ago, which was also really interesting.
Recent winters have not been conducive to dancing outside.
http://goo.gl/wX7X4g
I can take or leave a zombie apocalypse, but The Walking Dead is very enjoyable.
Edit: edited to avoid pedantry
Zombie apocalypse is really overdone as an idea, but there are instances of it being done extremely well. The Walking Dead and The Last Of Us are both fantastic.
Fresh forced marriage warning. Primitive, despicable, unacceptable. If @ risk call Forced Marriage Unit 020 7008 0151 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-236390
This tory impresses me more and more,anyone else agree ?
Our YouGov poll today shows that Labour, despite having been well-nigh invisible recently, still enjoys an eight-point lead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_mol6B9z00
Meanwhile, is Mr Burnham on manouvres ?
YouGov had been remarkably stable at 6 a fortnight before this week.
You are correct that many Scots simply are not yet that interested in the Referendum. The worry is that as in 1998, the Unionist side (this time led by Labour, last time by the Tories) will blow things by some London based twit pontificating about how "grateful" we Scots should be to our over generous English neighbours. That sort of line will drive otherwise lukewarm Scots into the Yes camp. I personally think a great many people who are lukewarm unionist could easily be swayed by negative campaigning by the No camp. I hope you are correct.
And it is pretty grim.
The worst-affected cabinet member is Pickles, whose Brentwood and Ongar constituency posted a 49.3% fall in membership between 2009 and 2012.
Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, saw her membership numbers plummet 43.9% from 787 in 2009 to 441 in 2012. In the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency of Duncan Smith, numbers fell by 37% between 2009 and 2012.
Lib Dem minister blasts 'hideous' solar farms (via the Paywall)
"in this life try everything once, except incest and morris dancing"
Delivering leaflets from mobility scooters is inefficient.
Ministers to be moved before September party conference amid concern over a lack of dynamism on the Labour front bench
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/aug/10/ed-miliband-fourth-reshuffle-shadow-cabinet?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Labour 41
Con 33
UKIP 10
LD 9
They are saying, given the relatively good economic news, why aren't the Tories doing better.
Edit: The Sunday Times reason is that Dave is a bit crap
I had also recently come across Claire Macdonald and had bought one of her cookery books. So I was determined that we would seek out Kinloch Lodge and if possible both dine and stay there.
We tracked them down and were able to book a table for dinner but they were full up for accommodation. However they kindly agreed to let us sleep in our van, in their grounds.
IIRC it was late August and I had backed a horse at decent odds to win a race at the York Ebor meeting, the same day. The horse won nicely, paying for the excellent dinner. With the accommodation being free, it was a very agreeable experience. I may well have reported the whole occasion on these pages at the time.
Clare Macdonald's recipe for onion tart in walnut and parmesan pastry is a particular favourite of mine and one I have managed to reproduce, to local acclaim, over the intervening years.
Coalition 42
Labour 41
OR if you prefer:
Tory/UKIP 43
Labour 41
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/10/china-xi-jinping-opens-door-reform
At Oxford University, Margaret Roberts had an unrequited crush on Neil Findlay, who was the father of Max Findlay, who owns Fenton, who chased the deer across Richmond Park in 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GRSbr0EYYU
Well/badly:
DC: -15 (-17)
EdM: -36(-41)
Economy:-44(-48)
Thinking about the current state of the
economy, which of the following best reflects
your view?
The economy is still getting worse: 25 (43) (August/April)
The economy has stopped getting worse, but there
are no signs of any recovery yet: 34 (36)
The economy is in a bad way, but is starting to
show signs of recovery: 30 (13)
The economy is improving and on the way to full
recovery: 5(1)
DK: 5 (4)
Thinking about the government's policies on
the economy, do you think...
They have made the economy worse, and made the
recession last longer than it would have done: 36
They have helped the economy, and made the
changes necessary for a recovery to begin: 32
They haven't really made much difference to the
economy one way or the other: 23
DK: 8
Looking forward to the next election in 2015,
who would you trust more to run the British
economy after 2015?
David Cameron and the Conservatives: 34 (LD; 31; UKIP:45)
Ed Miliband and Labour: 30 (LD;20; UKIP:7)
Not sure: 36 (LD: 49; UKIP:48)
From what you know, do you think exams like A-
Levels have got harder or easier over the last
ten years, or have they stayed the same?
[Only asked to respondents in England and Wales
n=1692]
Have got harder: 9
Easier: 41
Same: 23
DK: 27
Following tougher marking rules introduced
last year, the number of pupils achieving A
grades at A-level dropped for the first time in 21
years.
Thinking about this, which of these statements
comes closer to your view?
[Only asked to respondents in England and Wales
n=1692]
It was right to introduce tougher marking rules;
exams had become too easy meaning the best
students couldn't stand out: 53
It was wrong to introduce tougher marking rules; it
puts current pupils at a disadvantage to previous
students: 21
Neither: 10
DK: 15
I bought a Kindle a few months ago and a Nook e-reader a few weeks ago. Book shops are dead except for second hand ones that sell books which are not available on electronic format.
If you live in or were brought up in a town that is miles away from a bookshop, it must be liberating that you can get a book almost simultaneously without having to travel or leave your home.
Generally speaking, do you think standards in
the NHS have got better or worse over the last
TEN years?
Better: 20
Same: 19
Worse: 54
Looking forward, do you think we will still have
an NHS that is free at the point of use in the
future, or will it be impossible to afford?
It may become more expensive as people live for
longer, but it will be possible to keep having an NHS
that is free at the point of use in the future : 51
As people live for longer and need more care there
will probably come a time when we can no longer
afford a free NHS and need to charge people : 38
In principle, would you support or oppose
means testing NHS treatment, so that treatment
remained free at the point of use for those on
low incomes, but people with high incomes
would have to pay for treatment?
Support: 29
Oppose: 58
And in principle, would you support or oppose
cutting back on the services the NHS offered for
free, so that some services like IVF treatment
for infertile couples was no longer available for
free?
Support: 47
Oppose: 37
Mr. Labour, you probably know this already but if you like classical history quite a few of them are available for free on e-books, as are books that have otherwise had their copyright expired.
Price is a matter of great variance, as some books cost the same or even more in e-book form (which both perplexes and annoys me). Mind you, some are very inexpensive. I got my Kindle a couple of years ago now, and though I prefer a physical book to an e-book, expense, convenience and space are all great aspects of the e-reader.
The questions in this survey seem odd. I wonder who commissioned it?
Have you had a look at www.gutenberg.org ?
42,000 free classic and historic ebook on there if that's your sort of thing. It is mine; I am an avid reader from that site.
Are they leaving to join UKIP ? Are they leaving in protest ? Or, are they just dying ?
People have got better things to do with their time and money and enthusiasm.
I think this test was lost on the first day thanks to some remarkably cavalier batting. Durham is a lovely ground but should tests really be given to grounds without lights? Poor light might be England's only hope.
Maybe one thing we could learn from the French?
`The worst-affected cabinet member is Pickles, whose Brentwood and Ongar constituency posted a 49.3% fall in membership between 2009 and 2012.`
I think he ate them
Camerons summer offensive against UKIP, seems to have reversed the loonies fruitcakes and closet racists into normal discourse.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/