Friday 21st April 2017

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 3:24 am

Morning

Public safety threatened by possible break in emergency communications

http://www.parliament.uk/business/commi ... hed-16-17/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PAC Report.

NonOxCol · Post by **NonOxCol** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 7:58 am

Morning.

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Hi Rusty, if you're reading!

Feel free to raise the tone from here on in, everybody.

NonOxCol · Post by **NonOxCol** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 8:18 am

Frankly, I'd prefer Julian Glover to this rot:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... e-numbered" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

OK, Theresa May is not quite the politician of the old squirearchy, but she retains enough of its traditional values to despise the super-slick Blatcher poster-boy George Osborne and to understand the attraction of Brexit – notwithstanding the fact that it may well make us slightly poorer as a country. She is an old-fashioned politician who (quite rightly) wants to speak of our moral responsibilities and not just our legal rights.

It will be a long road back from the Blair/Thatcher consensus that has stained our soul so deeply. But a start has been made with us leaving the European Union.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 9:00 am

https://mainlymacro.blogspot.co.uk/2017 ... l?spref=tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GE2017: Why economic facts will be ignored once again

Mainlymacro

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 9:44 am

http://m.insidehousing.co.uk/7019705.ar ... esuccess=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The LHA cap raises problems for general needs housing too

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 9:45 am

#NationalTeaDay

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 10:07 am

Also national skipping day,apparently.

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 10:07 am

HindleA wrote:#NationalTeaDay

#ImDrinkingCoffeeToday

#Decaff

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 10:09 am

Traitor

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 10:15 am

HindleA wrote:Traitor

Yep. I'm getting into practice for when I move south.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 10:17 am

"Retail sales fall at fastest rate in 7 years in first quarter

In the first quarter overall, UK retail sales fell 1.4%, which was the biggest quarterly fall since 2010.

It looks like consumers are less willing to spend now that the impact of the weaker pound is translating into higher shop prices.

The pound is currently 14% lower against the dollar than it was on the day of the EU referendum in June. A weaker pound makes goods imported from abroad more expensive.

Kate Davies, senior statistician at the ONS, said prices are rising across the board:

Today’s retail sales figures show a decline on the month and on the three months to March, which coincides with quarter 1 in 2017. This is the first time we’ve seen a quarterly decline since 2013, and it seems to be a consequence of price increases across a whole range of sectors."

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 10:22 am

If serious,good luck with your move.

NonOxCol · Post by **NonOxCol** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 10:32 am

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Some of us have to state the obvious while others fall into line with the "strong leader" rhetoric, debate whether £70k makes you rich and attack the Christian hypocrisy of one leader while ignoring the far less palatable Christian hypocrisy of another.

Britain: sleepwalking to absolute disaster since 2010.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 10:45 am

NonOxCol wrote:Frankly, I'd prefer Julian Glover to this rot:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... e-numbered" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

OK, Theresa May is not quite the politician of the old squirearchy, but she retains enough of its traditional values to despise the super-slick Blatcher poster-boy George Osborne and to understand the attraction of Brexit – notwithstanding the fact that it may well make us slightly poorer as a country. She is an old-fashioned politician who (quite rightly) wants to speak of our moral responsibilities and not just our legal rights.

It will be a long road back from the Blair/Thatcher consensus that has stained our soul so deeply. But a start has been made with us leaving the European Union.

That anybody can still be a "Lexiteer" is pretty astonishing tbh.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 10:52 am

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org. ... d-policies" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What a snap election means for existing major bills and policies

(Though UC by 2018-clearly bollox,unless I misinterpreted)

NonOxCol · Post by **NonOxCol** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 10:54 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
NonOxCol wrote:Frankly, I'd prefer Julian Glover to this rot:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... e-numbered" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

OK, Theresa May is not quite the politician of the old squirearchy, but she retains enough of its traditional values to despise the super-slick Blatcher poster-boy George Osborne and to understand the attraction of Brexit – notwithstanding the fact that it may well make us slightly poorer as a country. She is an old-fashioned politician who (quite rightly) wants to speak of our moral responsibilities and not just our legal rights.

It will be a long road back from the Blair/Thatcher consensus that has stained our soul so deeply. But a start has been made with us leaving the European Union.
That anybody can still be a "Lexiteer" is pretty astonishing tbh.

Isn't it just?

A Lexiteer Christian incapable of spotting the holes in Theresa May's "morality" really is something else, though...

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 11:00 am

Well she claims to be a Christian and that is enough for the likes of Fraser (though didn't Mr Tony, who he so admires, do the same?)

NonOxCol · Post by **NonOxCol** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 11:05 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Well she claims to be a Christian and that is enough for the likes of Fraser (though didn't Mr Tony, who he so admires, do the same?)

Looks like he wouldn't even vote for Blair these days....

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Nice to know what his deal-breakers actually are.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 11:07 am

HindleA wrote:https://www.instituteforgovernment.org. ... d-policies

What a snap election means for existing major bills and policies

(Though UC by 2018-clearly bollox,unless I misinterpreted)

I wonder if they ever got the IT working properly. Every now and again I idly wonder what the headlines about UC would have been if introduced by a Labour government......

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 11:15 am

HindleA wrote:"Retail sales fall at fastest rate in 7 years in first quarter

In the first quarter overall, UK retail sales fell 1.4%, which was the biggest quarterly fall since 2010.

It looks like consumers are less willing to spend now that the impact of the weaker pound is translating into higher shop prices.

The pound is currently 14% lower against the dollar than it was on the day of the EU referendum in June. A weaker pound makes goods imported from abroad more expensive.

Kate Davies, senior statistician at the ONS, said prices are rising across the board:

Today’s retail sales figures show a decline on the month and on the three months to March, which coincides with quarter 1 in 2017. This is the first time we’ve seen a quarterly decline since 2013, and it seems to be a consequence of price increases across a whole range of sectors."

So is the election actually all about securing a victory now before the economic figures start to worsen? That and worrying about Corbyn standing down before 2020.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 12:05 pm

NonOxCol wrote:Morning.

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi Rusty, if you're reading!

Feel free to raise the tone from here on in, everybody.

Another Labour 2017 campaign ceramic tea cup embossed exclusive from cJA is fresh out the kiln

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 12:07 pm

HindleA wrote:If serious,good luck with your move.

Thanks. Early days but yeah, that's the plan.

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 12:13 pm

Blimey. A bit embarrassing.

https://wirralinittogether.blog/2017/04 ... for-fools/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 12:52 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:
So is the election actually all about securing a victory now before the economic figures start to worsen? That and worrying about Corbyn standing down before 2020.

All factors, I'm sure. It pushes the next election 3 years after Brexit instead of 1, as well, giving her more time to settle our new relationship with the EU in her own way. The Libdems would have made 2020 about single market membership, something that may look more attractive, even to leave voters, by then, but the moment for that may have passed by 2022, with voters resigned to hard Brexit.

I'm still curious as to why she was so determined to invoke article 50 at the end of March - did she have a June election in mind, all along. I really wouldn't rule out the Tories being extremely well prepared for this "snap" election, with a lot of prospective candidates already ready to go.

Indeed, here we go (from Feb 2017):
https://order-order.com/2017/02/01/tori ... ess-early/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Tories have started the first stage of their candidate selection process early, Guido can reveal.

Of course all the other parties would have been aware of this, as would the political press. Again, I find myself wondering what the headlines would have been if a Labour government started selecting prospective candidates early....

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 12:53 pm

News of Michael Gove, that man of conviction who believes in speaking his mind...oh...

Freddie Whittaker‏Verified account @FCDWhittaker 9m9 minutes ago
More
.@Kevin_Maguire reports that Gove may keep his opposition to grammar schools quiet in the hope of a cabinet return http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk ... ilibrother …

Post by **refitman** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 1:23 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:News of Michael Gove, that man of conviction who believes in speaking his mind...oh...

Freddie Whittaker‏Verified account @FCDWhittaker 9m9 minutes ago
More
.@Kevin_Maguire reports that Gove may keep his opposition to grammar schools quiet in the hope of a cabinet return http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk ... ilibrother" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wasn't someone around here doing a massive denial bomb on the idea that there is talk about D Miliband coming back as the saviour of Labour? Something about us making it all up and there has never been anything about it mentioned anywhere else? From the linked article:

David Miliband, a member of Labour’s lost leaders’ club, is revelling in speculation that he could save the party from Jeremy Corbyn. But he didn’t win the royal seal of approval as foreign secretary. A prominent snout recalled that the Queen asked if the elder Milibrother possessed the “experience” for the post, after economic sanctions against Vladimir Putin banned a Scottish pipe band from travelling to Russia.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 1:33 pm

Hold on to his toll free number and ring up D Miliband's organisation for genuine emergency rescue operations

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 1:45 pm

Theresa May - how many times can she say- "trust in me" in various statements?
She's at home in Maidenhead today, apparently.

I'm relying on HindleA, here. (Kaa's song from Disney's Jungle Book.)

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 1:54 pm

[youtube]F1ILPl5FQaM[/youtube]

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 1:59 pm

This doesn't seem to have been given the same importance as those jumping ship on the other side.

Conor Pope‏
@Conorpope

Follow
More
Exodus of capable staffers from Theresa May's top team does not give the sense of a confident government with a positive vision, does it?

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And a comment on above.

Jim Pickard‏ @PickardJE 2h2 hours ago
More
Jim Pickard Retweeted Conor Pope
Am told by someone in Number 10 that the mood has changed from "day to night" since Cameron left.

Wonder how much has that to do with Nick Timothy arriving from the NSN?

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 2:04 pm

@HindleA

Thank you!

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 2:05 pm

Ssssno problem

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 2:09 pm

Yes. I added a dash.

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 2:11 pm

I must be a masochist catching wato. To summarise, 30 mins of saying that class sizes don't matter.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 2:14 pm

StephenDolan wrote:I must be a masochist catching wato. To summarise, 30 mins of saying that class sizes don't matter.

I didn't see it but from my knowledge of our school it's fair to say that they don't matter...up to the point where they do matter.

If you keep adding 1 to the class, at some point the class becomes impossible to manage both in space terms and behaviour.

Temulkar · Post by **Temulkar** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 2:37 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:
StephenDolan wrote:I must be a masochist catching wato. To summarise, 30 mins of saying that class sizes don't matter.
I didn't see it but from my knowledge of our school it's fair to say that they don't matter...up to the point where they do matter.

If you keep adding 1 to the class, at some point the class becomes impossible to manage both in space terms and behaviour.

From my experience as a teacher they matter v much, quite apart from the behaaviour management to be honest. Controlling a class of 40 is not much different to a class of ten, teaching them at the same time is the issue. Anything over 25 at KS3, anything over 20 at GCSE, and anything over 12 at A level, and it becomes impossible to give every child attention. We have GCSE classes over thirty in a lot of schools now, that's 2 minutes per pupil per hour lesson, and when you take out registration, lesson starter and plenary and you are looking at a minute per pupil per lesson. It's simply impossible to facilitate adequate learning so the kids can access the curriculum.

KS1+2 have different classroom setups to secondary, but primary teachers I speak to have exactly the same problem, not enough time to effectively teach the kids in their care.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 2:59 pm

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ote-tories" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Britons abroad for longer than 15 years denied vote in general election
Campaign groups accusing Tories of breaking promise made in October 2016 to scrap 15-year time limit

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 4:28 pm

Len McCluskely[sic] re-elected as general secretary of Unite

Len McCluskey has been re-elected as general secretary of Unite, he has announced on Twitter.

Translated into percentages, those results are:

Len McCluskey - 46%

Gerard Coyne - 41%

Ian Allinson - 13%

McCluskey had been expected to win, but by a wider margin.
(Politics Live, Guardian)

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 4:38 pm

[quote]16:34

Would you like to be an MP? Then contact the Labour party. It is using Twitter to help find candidates.

The Labour Party (@UKLabour)

Could you be a brilliant local MP? We’re looking for parliamentary candidates for the #GeneralElection. Apply now: https://t.co/hFsITsCLbe" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
April 21, 2017 (Politics Live, Guardian)[quote]

Edited to tart it up a bit

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 4:41 pm

Which didn't work.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 4:49 pm

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dame ... government" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Louise Casey to leave government

http://notthetreasuryview.blogspot.co.u ... olicy.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 4:50 pm

George Eaton predicted a "shock" Coyne win last night, keeping up his brilliant recent record

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 5:02 pm

PF,still smarting from my two votes(none of which was me)humiliation in an election I didn't know I was in,in any case given the appalling discrimination against pink dressing gown wearing upside down bat impersonsating chain smokers(another obvious barrier),which there isn't even a quota for,I wouldn't have a chance.Though,who knows,given current trajectory of who does elected,it may be a case of biding my time.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 5:08 pm

A shared virtual Prime Ministership,will do in the meantime.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 5:17 pm

COUNCILLOR QUITS TORIES OVER “MYOPIC” MAY’S “CYNICAL” ELECTION DECISION

http://linkis.com/politicalscrapbook.net/Ho0cZ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 5:23 pm

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i ... o-leave.eu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Electoral Commission statement on investigation into Leave.EU

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 5:28 pm

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 6:20 pm

The Guardian's Leave.EU story -

Leave.EU under investigation over EU referendum spending (Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... m-spending

Edited to correct the spelling of "Guardian"!

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 6:21 pm

Just skimming through the G business blog.

11:37 The sharp fall in retail sales in the first quarter is the clearest sign yet that a UK slowdown is underway, according to Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee.

13:18 Michael Saunders, a member of the Bank of England’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, has been speaking at the Federation of Small Businesses in London.

He suggested that he is edging closer to voting for a rise in interest rates from the current all-time low of 0.25%.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 21 Apr, 2017 6:43 pm

Court overturns Austrian's conviction for belching near police officer

Edin Mehic was issued the fine in February 2016 for violating “public decency with a loud belch next to a police officer” in Vienna’s famous Prater Park. (Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... overturned

Edited to add - I'm sure the Guardian should have opened their quotes at the beginning of the word "violating", but I can only reproduce what they gave me. I'm only human.