Friday 4th September

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 6:37 pm

HindleA wrote:Gets nervous about mortgage,not interest only thankfully,currently on track to be paid off in a few years.Interest tied to B of E +1% =1.5% for over six years now,it was 6.79% at the beginning.

In the article I read it said if anyone has one of those mortgages and thinks they won't be able to cover a rise in interest rates it would be wise to get advice now...

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 6:41 pm

It was one of the big ironies for us that we sold up when my husband took the opportunity to pack up working at 56. Cleared the rest of our mortgage, downsized spectacularly, now live in a shoe box.

If we had known we were only 18 months away from years of plummeting interest rates we'd have stayed and paid it off.

Oh for a crystal ball.
Anyone care to guess what'll happen to electricity prices ?
We've got to decide on a year's term or three years fixed when our contract is up next month.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 6:41 pm

ohsocynical wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote: How about people who sucked up to Assad?
Yes. And the arms dealers. Lots and lots of dirty hands...
Oh and I know you were being sly there Tubby. Once again, I might be under educated but I'm not stupid.

Anyone who has facilitated violence has blood on their hands.

Yep.

I was being sly at Galloway, not you, to be clear.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 6:47 pm

yahyah wrote:@ Tubby -

I really think you are underestimating him, and the approach he will take.

He looks as if he will take a different approach to the way new policies are made, as well as working towards different types of new policies.
He knows the history of Europe, he knows our history, economic & social, he believes in discussion.

He will be collaborative.

The economy is likely to hit some big problems when the Tories go full throttle, those sales figures today are a sign of what's to come. People may be ready for a change then, and more open to see the truth of what austerity really does.

He's lived through a lot, seen it first hand, not learnt it in a unversity PPE class.

Give him a chance....then complain if it goes the way you predict.

I wouldn't bet on austerity being that big a vote loser. When Osborne saw it was a problem before, he slowed it down considerably. He slowed it down between his last budget as Coalition Chancellor and Tory Chancellor. He doesn't particularly care about it.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 6:50 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:Just out of interest, here's the data on mortgages in arrears and repossessions - I've highlighted the two recessionary periods. The mortgages in arrears numbers are pretty interesting too...

Before the recession in 1990, the house I jointly owned with my sister and parents for 29 years was valued at just over £300,000. In 1995 when we sold it, it fetched £138,000. It didn't matter though because all property prices had plummeted, so we got our next property dead cheap.

Good lesson though. Never buy at the height of a boom.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 6:52 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:
ohsocynical wrote: Yes. And the arms dealers. Lots and lots of dirty hands...
Oh and I know you were being sly there Tubby. Once again, I might be under educated but I'm not stupid.

Anyone who has facilitated violence has blood on their hands.
Yep.

I was being sly at Galloway, not you, to be clear.

That's why I put: It's Galloway but. in front of the Tweet.

No offence taken...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 6:53 pm

TB Free England
4 hrs ·
What spreads Bovine TB?
That would be the Government... Well, the inept workers who managed to close a lab by smashing a test tube containing M.bovis.
Last year we had a report that the AHVLA accidentally posted anthrax and now this... Is it any wonder people don't trust their policies?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;…/tb-scare-government-lab-after-637…

howsillyofme1 · Post by **howsillyofme1** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 6:55 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
yahyah wrote:@ Tubby -

I really think you are underestimating him, and the approach he will take.

He looks as if he will take a different approach to the way new policies are made, as well as working towards different types of new policies.
He knows the history of Europe, he knows our history, economic & social, he believes in discussion.

He will be collaborative.

The economy is likely to hit some big problems when the Tories go full throttle, those sales figures today are a sign of what's to come. People may be ready for a change then, and more open to see the truth of what austerity really does.

He's lived through a lot, seen it first hand, not learnt it in a unversity PPE class.

Give him a chance....then complain if it goes the way you predict.
I wouldn't bet on austerity being that big a vote loser. When Osborne saw it was a problem before, he slowed it down considerably. He slowed it down between his last budget as Coalition Chancellor and Tory Chancellor. He doesn't particularly care about it.

Well point out what a big bloody liar he is......you and others bang on about Corbyn's numbers not adding up but when we point out what a pile of crap comes out of the mouth of the Tories - it is 'I wouldn't bet on austerity being a big vote loser'

Tell that to the poor bastards affected by this corrupt, incompetent and venal Government.

The right of the Labour Party seems not to want to point this out...his policies have been a disaster but still there are those who want to give him the benefit of the doubt - with enemies like this then there is no need for friends!

No wonder Corbyn is popular

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:02 pm

BBC Wales Politics ‏@WalesPolitics 3h3 hours ago
"We welcome news that the UK Government has found its moral compass", says @WelshGovernment after David Cameron announcement on refugees.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:03 pm

yahyah wrote:It was one of the big ironies for us that we sold up when my husband took the opportunity to pack up working at 56. Cleared the rest of our mortgage, downsized spectacularly, now live in a shoe box.

If we had known we were only 18 months away from years of plummeting interest rates we'd have stayed and paid it off.

Oh for a crystal ball.
Anyone care to guess what'll happen to electricity prices ?
We've got to decide on a year's term or three years fixed when our contract is up next month.

It's a nightmare isn't it. I'm just trying to organise a plumber. Scared to think what's it's going to cost. However much it'll be a big lump out of our shrinking nest egg.

As for Electric prices, God knows. On past form they'll not be giving much away. Oil prices are supposed to be coming down again, but to be honest I didn't see a huge difference in my gas or electricity charges last year when they dropped apart from the savings I made.
I think a lot depends on how much fuel you use. If you have a big house or large family then a few pennies on or off will make more of a difference.

I'm lazy. Any deal has to take my breath away to make it worth hassle.

howsillyofme1 · Post by **howsillyofme1** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:04 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
BBC Wales Politics ‏@WalesPolitics 3h3 hours ago
"We welcome news that the UK Government has found its moral compass", says @WelshGovernment after David Cameron announcement on refugees.

Bit too generous......no sincerity

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:07 pm

@ohsocynical I am fine,seeing advisor shortly due to change of circumstances,the outstanding mortgage has been gradually reducing over the last few years,and currently forcasted to be paid off in a few years and then some,I could pay it off now ,which may give me piece of mind but may not be the best way financially,adding interest rate increases into the mix makes me bonce ache .

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:11 pm

howsillyofme1 wrote:
AngryAsWell wrote:
howsillyofme1 wrote:
Perhaps....but doesn't this happen to any election though....how many promises are actually kept.

Anyway, I am not the biggest Corbyn fan but my take on it is - if he is so bad why are we all so deeply unimpressed with his opposition?

There is no left wing Labour candidate around who can make us want to vote for them - all we have are people tainted by the smell of being only too happy to accommodate Tory thinking.....

What happened to the left....did they all leave in the period following 2003? Why have we been left with such a godawful set of MPs? Miliband excluded of course but then he was hated by most of them as well if the amount of briefing against him is to be believed
I hate these sweeping statements.
Who are you talking about?
Maria Eagle, Gloria De Piero, Michael Dugher, Angela Eagle, Sadiq Khan, Jo Cox, Chi Onwurah, Dan Jarvis, Lisa Nandy, Sarah Champion, Chris Bryant ? or perhaps pick any one from here

http://www.labour.org.uk/people/filter/ ... in-content" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are some wonderful Labour people who you have just swept away as "godawful" without thought or examination of who they are or what they do day-today for their constituents.
A timely reminder :
What Labour achieved, lest we forget

https://kittysjones.wordpress.com/2013/ ... we-forget/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Achieved, I should add, by many of the "godawful" people you so seem to despise.

Well we have had to put up with so many sweeping statements by those on the right I thought I would join in...

Labour did some great things in history, even some in the Blair years

but it is not the left that despises the legacy (apart from Iraq and deregulation) but those on the right of the party who agree that 'Labour caused the rising by spending to much' and who so much love big business and 'aspiration'

The MPs you mentioned are, you rightly point out, not godawful, but neither is Corbyn

I wish some of them would have stood for the leadership....why didn't they? Was it because the rest of the PLP didn't want to give them their nominations? The deputy leader field is actually much more impressive than the leadership one.

The Labour achievements listed above all took place under Blair, not "even some in the Blair years".
Without big business this county would cease to function, not a reason they should not pay their share of tax though. What's wrong with aspiration? (other than it's over use) I want my kids & grandkids to have a better life than I've manage to (thanks to Thatcher who almost drove us to the wall from which it took 15/20 years to recover...).
Why didn't others stand? Maybe they have enough commitments and didn't want to take on more.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:11 pm

ohsocynical wrote: Before the recession in 1990, the house I jointly owned with my sister and parents for 29 years was valued at just over £300,000. In 1995 when we sold it, it fetched £138,000. It didn't matter though because all property prices had plummeted, so we got our next property dead cheap.

Good lesson though. Never buy at the height of a boom.

Me and the wife were reminiscing today about our first house which we were sorting out exactly 30 years ago - 2 bed terraced for £38,500.

When we sold about 3 years later it went for £72,500...now that is what I call inflation!

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:11 pm

Deaf Benefit Claimant Wrongly Sanctioned For Arriving 10 Minutes Late To Meeting
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09 ... _hp_ref=uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:34 pm

Though apparently the claimant commitment is a coproduced affair which both parties agree with ,that is why there are a hundred home visits a week to the "vulnerable" to ascertain whether a sanction should be applied due to non compliance and why they didn't comply with something they supposedly agreed with and were capable of and over half of all sanctions overturned,because of course this is bollox.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:43 pm

Lib Dems query Herts Valleys CCG qualified audit report
http://chriswhite.mycouncillor.org.uk/2 ... it-report/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I wonder what the general state of CCG accounts is - how unusual or common this might be?

We hear about the service provider wings / trusts being in trouble all the time. What about the CCGs?

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:45 pm

howsillyofme1 wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote:
yahyah wrote:@ Tubby -

I really think you are underestimating him, and the approach he will take.

He looks as if he will take a different approach to the way new policies are made, as well as working towards different types of new policies.
He knows the history of Europe, he knows our history, economic & social, he believes in discussion.

He will be collaborative.

The economy is likely to hit some big problems when the Tories go full throttle, those sales figures today are a sign of what's to come. People may be ready for a change then, and more open to see the truth of what austerity really does.

He's lived through a lot, seen it first hand, not learnt it in a unversity PPE class.

Give him a chance....then complain if it goes the way you predict.
I wouldn't bet on austerity being that big a vote loser. When Osborne saw it was a problem before, he slowed it down considerably. He slowed it down between his last budget as Coalition Chancellor and Tory Chancellor. He doesn't particularly care about it.

Well point out what a big bloody liar he is......you and others bang on about Corbyn's numbers not adding up but when we point out what a pile of crap comes out of the mouth of the Tories - it is 'I wouldn't bet on austerity being a big vote loser'

Tell that to the poor bastards affected by this corrupt, incompetent and venal Government.

The right of the Labour Party seems not to want to point this out...his policies have been a disaster but still there are those who want to give him the benefit of the doubt - with enemies like this then there is no need for friends!

No wonder Corbyn is popular

I do point out bollocks the Tories talk.

On the deficit specifically, they've worked out that they can miss their targets and respond with "you'd borrow even more". What they've done is work out (chance upon?) a formula that works- ie talk extremely austere and act less so.

I've said before that what it needs to build up spending again is middle class tax rises- ie what Labour did up to and including 1992. What Corbyn is currently offering is paying for lots of good things without doing that. I am not buying it.

It's an irony that what I'm proposing is probably less electable than Corbyn, as I've acknowledged before. But what I am advocating would at least provide money for investment and services. I don't think Corbyn's programme will do that.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:55 pm

HindleA wrote:@ohsocynical I am fine,seeing advisor shortly due to change of circumstances,the outstanding mortgage has been gradually reducing over the last few years,and currently forcasted to be paid off in a few years and then some,I could pay it off now ,which may give me piece of mind but may not be the best way financially,adding interest rate increases into the mix makes me bonce ache .

When my dad died I was executor. There's such a lot of things that need sorting straight away. I can't decide whether having to be busy so soon after a loss was a good thing or not.

Pace yourself and take care.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 7:55 pm

A warning from the Labour party: The difference between leadership and management
http://www.libdemvoice.org/a-warning-fr ... 47339.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good piece. (couple of eyebrow raises but it felt plausible otherwise).

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:05 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:
ohsocynical wrote: Before the recession in 1990, the house I jointly owned with my sister and parents for 29 years was valued at just over £300,000. In 1995 when we sold it, it fetched £138,000. It didn't matter though because all property prices had plummeted, so we got our next property dead cheap.

Good lesson though. Never buy at the height of a boom.
Me and the wife were reminiscing today about our first house which we were sorting out exactly 30 years ago - 2 bed terraced for £38,500.

When we sold about 3 years later it went for £72,500...now that is what I call inflation!

£6,750 for a seven bedroom Victorian semi in 1967.

. It'll be going for a good whack now.
Mind you, at the time Mr Ohso's wage was around £12 a week and our share of the mortgage was £4. We'd been in a council house and the rent on that was £4 a week.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:17 pm

@ ohsocynical

Good to be busy,but with some things some thought needs to be made.A balance as you rightly say.I realise I am more fortunate than many;no children and family help if need be.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:22 pm

HindleA wrote:@ ohsocynical

Good to be busy,but with some things some thought needs to be made.A balance as you rightly say.

Yes. That's really important. And to go by your instincts.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:25 pm

@yahyah - in particular - do you know about this?

Women Against State Pension Inequality
Justice for women born in the 1950s
https://www.crowdjustice.co.uk/case/wom ... n-justice/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:31 pm

Council won't take sharps unless in sharps bin;chemists will not take sharps;sharp bin "prescription"stopped because better half no longer here,bloody district nurses locked our last one as they "borrowed" it ,no longer come here.Have to go to doctors for them either to take them or refer to council for restart of service and prescription route for bin which would be silly given I no longer need it beyond getting rid of what is left.bonce ache.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:34 pm

Listening to Ken Livingstone on Any Questions ... he's known Corbyn for 30 years.

Takes me back to a day about 25 years ago when I watched someone peel a hard boiled egg for Ken in a student digs at Guildford Uni.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:34 pm

Mortgages: interest-only deals a 'ticking time bomb' for one million homeowners

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/busin ... 85906.html

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:37 pm

And from October Council will only take five bins if you cannot get to the surgery.All I want is a bloody small bin and someone to give to.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:43 pm

Twaddle

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:44 pm

Twaddle continuation.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:48 pm

Just one local council byelection yesterday:

Caerphilly - Labour hold, though their vote share dropped to under half as there was a modest swing to Plaid. This contest attracted some interest due to the ultimately unsuccessful runner up - none other than the former Welsh Secretary, Ron "moment of madness" Davies. He was first elected to one of the predecessor councils here in the late 1960s as a young man, and following his fall from grace returned to elected politics as an Independent councillor here in 2008 (topping the poll as Indies took the first two places) only to lose three years ago as a Plaid candidate as Labour made a clean sweep of all four councillors here. Indies also took one of the seats here in 2004, but missed out this time as two combined candidates barely outscored between them third placed UKIP who scored 10% in their first ever effort here (despite their candidate being disowned by the party after some distinctly dodgy social media musings - not for the first time of course) Tories also stood here for the first time in recent years and got a little over 5%, that was just enough to beat one of the Independents though.

Six contests next week - the last before Labour's D-day - including a double vacancy in Scotland (the first there since STV was introduced)

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:57 pm

From that Indy article.

But the problems are expected to start in 2017 when endowment mortgages sold in the 1990s reach their peak period of maturing. Banks and building societies have been told by regulators to write to their customers to warn them that they could be in financial danger, according to the BBC.

I thought by law they had to tell you annually what the expected return was going to be based on a range of future interest rates.

We paid our mortgage off with the money from when we sold my mum's house and she downsized but left the endowment running so what comes out in 2017 is bunce. It's not far off track now - maybe a couple of thousand short. I guess that's what they mean by this.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 8:59 pm

HindleA wrote:I don't fully understand the Independent article.I have a plan,which is on track and nearly complete.

I know what you mean. The mis-selling scandal was compensated for years ago. Anyone still with an endowment or interest only mortgage must know what they've got and the risks, as mortgage lenders were told to inform their customers where they stood years ago. Anyone paying adequately into an endowment or making capital repayments won't have much sympathy for people who have enjoyed having extra money in their pocket because they haven't really been covering the cost of their house. I've been paying for mine and it's been a struggle. Is the worry the housing market is going to be flooded with repossessed houses which will send prices tumbling? Surely we're not supposed to feel sorry for people living in houses they could never really afford? I have far more sympathy for those facing sky-high private rents - they get neither low interest-only monthly payments or a house at the end of it.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:03 pm

Don't understand either Roger ,that is what they do with us and is guaranteed if you do as they suggest.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:05 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:From that Indy article.

But the problems are expected to start in 2017 when endowment mortgages sold in the 1990s reach their peak period of maturing. Banks and building societies have been told by regulators to write to their customers to warn them that they could be in financial danger, according to the BBC.
I thought by law they had to tell you annually what the expected return was going to be based on a range of future interest rates.

We paid our mortgage off with the money from when we sold my mum's house and she downsized but left the endowment running so what comes out in 2017 is bunce. It's not far off track now - maybe a couple of thousand short. I guess that's what they mean by this.

I kept a record over the years of what the shortfalls might be and back in 2008 it could have been something like £12k which worried me a bit but held off increasing the monthly amount and as i said the shortfall is now only a couple of grand. The shortfall has been reducing steadily over the years - the time to worry was 2008 but not really now.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:06 pm

"us" -sigh.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:07 pm

Well, good evernooniethingywotsit.

HindleA, Esq - good to see you and good to hear the day was a celebration of love and life as you said goodbye for now. Thinking of you.

Having had a little mini-break, I see we're not any further on - although I was interested to read that one bunch of economists who wrote a letter a few weeks ago are much much less knowledgeable, allegedly, than the other bunch who wrote a letter the other day on the grounds that some of the latter are at Russell Group universities. That's nice for them. Not that it did the likes of Osborne any good......

Jeremy Corbyn is such a rebel that he has voted with his party just over 85% of the time - over decades. I would also respectfully suggest that if MPs generally spent less time schmoozing and brown-nosing in the many taxpayer-subsidised bars and restaurants, they might get a bit more work done. Being pubbable and clubbable does not mean you are a good MP. It means you like pubs and clubs.

With these two issues in mind, I now demand that ALL economists work at LSE or Harvard, and not just any old Russell Group university. We can't have the likes of Ha Joon Chang (Cambridge) or Skidelsky (Oxford) getting ideas above themselves and writing letters that are not as good as the one written by all those other Russell Group professors, now can we? That nice Kitty Ussher who helped to write that second letter is sooooo good at money stuff she had to resign from government when she accidentally forgot to pay the tax on a home we'd helped her to pay for.....but she's really really clever, and the chaps at Portman who flog alcohol so very responsibly pay her handsomely to prove it!
I also demand that all MPs take at least two full days off a week to go to the pubs/bars/restaurants/clubs at Westminster. Not to do so should be seen as a dereliction of duty; and if they end up missing a vote or two because they're stuck in the khazi, who are we to argue with that? I'm sure dear Kitty wouldn't - after all, we all know how responsible our senior politicians are with their little snifters (and snorters, even).

Votes chez ephie and show - Corbyn, no 2nd.pref; Watson, no 2nd.pref.
He did his before I did mine. We didn't tell each other.
(I told him mine - Show was forced to divulge his on pain of ripped elastoplast - yes, I'm still that annoyed)

yahyah - I watched bits of the debate and didn't comment as I was pointing at fish temporarily.
I saw nothing to make me wish I'd voted differently.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:11 pm

Yvette Cooper: change Labour's clause IV to champion equality
Labour leadership candidate says clause does not go far enough, and party needs to ‘tackle widening inequality itself’

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... CMP=twt_gu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:12 pm

BBC Newsnight ‏@BBCNewsnight 3m3 minutes ago
Ministers will start to make case for British military action in Syria next week @nickhopkinsnews learns http://bbc.in/1KvIWMq" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; MORE 22.30

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:42 pm

God help us.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:46 pm

@HindleA
I'm sure you didn't let her down.
I'm glad the day went well.

My mother didn't cry at my father's funeral, afterwards I asked her about it and she said he'd told her not to! Apparently he hated people crying at funerals, good job he couldn't see us then, the rest of us were in bits.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:48 pm

Evening All

I still don't know how to vote. How much longer do I have?

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:50 pm

There is one person I know I will not be voting for, but I'm not going to explain

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:51 pm

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Evening All

I still don't know how to vote. How much longer do I have?

About 7 days (or less, think it has to be in by noon on the 11th - will check that)

Nop - from my "vote now" email

Your vote must be received by 12 noon on Thursday 10 September to count

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:56 pm

Piece of work.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:58 pm

Yes it is.

It gets virtually no retweets which is something I suppose. The people who tweet under their real names largely ignore him. I bet he wouldn't dare tweet such stuff under his real name.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 9:58 pm

Sir Richard Leese ‏@SirRichardLeese 13m13 minutes ago
Deal with us, not Serco, say Greater Manchester's town hall leaders as they prepare for Syrian refugees http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ar_twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

I daren't look at that link. Is the government really considering contracting Serco to settle these people?

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 10:00 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:@yahyah - in particular - do you know about this?

Women Against State Pension Inequality
Justice for women born in the 1950s
https://www.crowdjustice.co.uk/case/wom ... n-justice/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was born in 1954, when I started work of course I expected my pension at 60, then under the first change it would have been 64 and one month, but we had plenty of notice of that.
The coalition changes were the only thing that's ever driven me to write to my MP and the local paper, I'm one of the worst affected and my pension age would have gone to 66.
There was an outcry at the time and the plans were changed, but because they were determined to keep the sex equality part of it, they only brought it back 6 months, so now I'm looking at 65.5.

My sisters, twins, are 3.5 years older than me and got their state pensions at 60 and a bit.
I know someone born 14 months before me who isn't affected by the second change at all - she still complains about the first one.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 10:06 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Sir Richard Leese ‏@SirRichardLeese 13m13 minutes ago
Deal with us, not Serco, say Greater Manchester's town hall leaders as they prepare for Syrian refugees http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ar_twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
I daren't look at that link. Is the government really considering contracting Serco to settle these people?

"Manchester's council leader has called on the government to deal directly with town halls when placing Syrian refugees - rather than controversial private contractor Serco.

Sir Richard Leese says the city will gladly play its part in housing destitute people, as the Prime Minister bowed to pressure and said the country would accept ‘thousands’ more Syrians into the country.

However he said Manchester needed to know who was coming, where from, and how many were children.

His view - an implicit criticism of both the government and Serco, which places asylum seekers on behalf of the Home Office - echoes that of council leaders across the region.

Serco have been repeatedly attacked by senior council figures for housing those seeking refugee status without informing the local authority.

They argue the system leaves them unable to plan for increased pressure on housing supply, education and health services."

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 04 Sep, 2015 10:15 pm

@gilsey .I truth I was fortunate in being prepared,she lived three months longer than all expected(apart from her)above all at home.Every day a bonus,regardless of what else occurred ,to be savoured.An intense closeness not enjoyed by all,it concentrated the mind as to the real important things in life.I would have been truly distraught if she didn't get what she had wanted,she did.Immense relief at that.It was a privilege to have met her and for her to share her life with me,despite choosing a Bay City Roller song for the funeral,but no one is perfect(she was to me really )