Wednesday 17th January 2018

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PaulfromYorkshire
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by PaulfromYorkshire »

This must be fake news. Can anyone help?
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frog222
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by frog222 »

Crace https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... nt-scoring" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
frog222
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by frog222 »

PFY 6.25 --- I'll leave you to research it, but I think Drax is importing tons mns of woodchips, from canada iirc ...

off to Watch the Crace et al vid :-)
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citizenJA
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by citizenJA »

---
An estimated 8,500 people of Carillion’s UK workforce were employed on private sector work and faced the risk of being laid off, since the government is not guaranteeing to pay their wages.
Sack the Tory front bench. That'll cover the wages for nearly ten thousand people with bonuses and a pay raise for at least a year.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/li ... 93ee450b91" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Last edited by citizenJA on Wed 17 Jan, 2018 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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citizenJA
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by citizenJA »

Tories actually believe their own horsesh**
frog222
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by frog222 »

At least Eddie Mair had Ann Pettifor on his programme today . To balance with the usual FREE MARKETEER !
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Willow904
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by Willow904 »

Evening.

I have a political question for you all, if you can bear with a long explanation.

I've had a fault problem with a small laptop bought as a Christmas present for one of the kids. The "q" button was malfunctioning. It won't type "q" when you press it (or anything else) but when you are typing other letters you get lots of "q"s sometimes. Tech help online got us to download a new driver but this didn't help. Eventually the things the tech help wanted us to do got too complicated so we decided to take it back to Argos for refund as it had been malfunctioning since we got it.

This is where the political bit comes in. I was fairly confident that as it hadn't worked from the off, I was entitled to a refund as it was faulty, but Argos kept going on about it being more than 28 days since I bought it and it would have to be sent for repair. I indicated I wanted a refund, not a repair, but had to agree to it being sent off to allow it to be verified it was faulty.

When we got home my husband looked up consumer rights to check our position and was shocked to discover that the time limit for returning faulty goods for a refund had been reduced in 2015 from a year to just 28 days. I'm just wondering how on earth I missed such a big change and whether others were aware of this? It was bought in November. We checked it switched on ok before wrapping it but it was only when our daughter did some homework that the "q" button problem became apparent. It's not a letter often used when watching YouTube! Bit hard to know something's faulty before you use it. I'm just really miffed as this change in the law really seems to reduce consumer rights and yet I can't even remember it being changed. Did anyone else notice this at the time? Is it just me not paying attention? I would be interested in your thoughts.
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Eric_WLothian
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by Eric_WLothian »

Willow904 wrote: "Invisible" border to Eire, I believe, rather than "open". Anyone without the correct visa in their blue passport will be detained by invisible border guards at the invisible border checkpoint via a super speedy invisible technological process yet to be invented that won't in any way hamper travel and trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland ;)
Don't worry - it's all under control:
Scotland is in ‘a strong position’ to host the first UK spaceport and to capitalise further on commercial space activity, an MP has said ahead of a Westminster debate on the sector.
https://www.scotsman.com/future-scotlan ... -1-4662079" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Goods will leave Prestwick Spaceport (obviously not just yet, due to snow) and be delivered to Dublin before anybody notices. Then the ferry to Spain.

Beam me up, Scotty! :D
Eric_WLothian
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by Eric_WLothian »

Willow904 wrote:Evening.

I have a political question for you all, if you can bear with a long explanation.

I've had a fault problem with a small laptop bought as a Christmas present for one of the kids. The "q" button was malfunctioning. It won't type "q" when you press it (or anything else) but when you are typing other letters you get lots of "q"s sometimes. Tech help online got us to download a new driver but this didn't help. Eventually the things the tech help wanted us to do got too complicated so we decided to take it back to Argos for refund as it had been malfunctioning since we got it.

This is where the political bit comes in. I was fairly confident that as it hadn't worked from the off, I was entitled to a refund as it was faulty, but Argos kept going on about it being more than 28 days since I bought it and it would have to be sent for repair. I indicated I wanted a refund, not a repair, but had to agree to it being sent off to allow it to be verified it was faulty.

When we got home my husband looked up consumer rights to check our position and was shocked to discover that the time limit for returning faulty goods for a refund had been reduced in 2015 from a year to just 28 days. I'm just wondering how on earth I missed such a big change and whether others were aware of this? It was bought in November. We checked it switched on ok before wrapping it but it was only when our daughter did some homework that the "q" button problem became apparent. It's not a letter often used when watching YouTube! Bit hard to know something's faulty before you use it. I'm just really miffed as this change in the law really seems to reduce consumer rights and yet I can't even remember it being changed. Did anyone else notice this at the time? Is it just me not paying attention? I would be interested in your thoughts.
According to "Which?":
If you are outside the 30-day right to reject, you have to give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace any goods or digital content which are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described.

You can state your preference, but the retailer can normally choose whichever would be cheapest or easier for it to do.

If the attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful, you can then claim a refund or a price reduction if you wish to keep the product.

You're entitled to a full or partial refund instead of a repair or replacement if any of the following are true:
the cost of the repair or replacement is disproportionate to the value of the goods or digital content
a repair or replacement is impossible
a repair or replacement would cause you significant inconvenience
the repair would take an unreasonably long amount of time.

If a repair or replacement is not possible, or the attempt at repair fails, or the first replacement also turns out to be defective, you have a further right to receive a refund of up to 100% of the price you paid, or to reject the goods for a full refund.

...If you discover the fault within the first six months after buying the product, it is presumed to have been there since the time of purchase - unless the retailer can prove otherwise.

During this time, it's up to the retailer to prove that the fault wasn't there when you bought it - it's not up to you to prove that it was.

If an attempt at repair or replacement has failed, you have the right to reject the goods for a full refund or price reduction - if you wish to keep the product.

The retailer can't make any deductions from your refund in the first six months following an unsuccessful attempt at repair or replacement.
The link's here - but you may have to be a member to access the content:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights ... rights-act" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

edited to add that apart from the supplier having the right to try (once) to fix or replace, the rest of the rules seem much the same as they were. The act has been extended to include downloaded software, music etc (digital content).
PaulfromYorkshire
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by PaulfromYorkshire »

The Commons has voted 320 to 301 to reject New Clause 11 to the #EUWithdrawalBill.
This clause would have ensured the Government assesses the impact of either an agreement or no deal on the UK economy and regions before a meaningful vote.
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Willow904
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by Willow904 »

@Eric_WLothian

Thanks. That's very helpful. It may be the only change, but it's a very complicated new set of rules and definitely not very Christmas friendly. I guess I just got really unlucky as we did check it out before we wrapped it but couldn't possibly have known to check if using the "q" button would make it unusable (trying to type in the password to get into it again on restart before it typed random "q"s was rather tricky!)
"Fall seven times, get up eight" - Japanese proverb
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tinyclanger2
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by tinyclanger2 »

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:The Commons has voted 320 to 301 to reject New Clause 11 to the #EUWithdrawalBill.
This clause would have ensured the Government assesses the impact of either an agreement or no deal on the UK economy and regions before a meaningful vote.
So basically our representatives have actively chosen NOT to assess the impact of an agreement or otherwise before deciding on a course of action. It's almost like they're not actually running a country.
LET'S FACE IT I'M JUST 'KIN' SEETHIN'
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citizenJA
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by citizenJA »

tinyclanger2 wrote:
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:The Commons has voted 320 to 301 to reject New Clause 11 to the #EUWithdrawalBill.
This clause would have ensured the Government assesses the impact of either an agreement or no deal on the UK economy and regions before a meaningful vote.
So basically our representatives have actively chosen NOT to assess the impact of an agreement or otherwise before deciding on a course of action. It's almost like they're not actually running a country.
Yet Tories take responsibility for nothing, care nothing for most people and country and insist upon staying in government.
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citizenJA
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by citizenJA »

Goodnight, everyone
love,
cJA
Lost Soul
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by Lost Soul »

tinyclanger2 wrote:
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:The Commons has voted 320 to 301 to reject New Clause 11 to the #EUWithdrawalBill.
This clause would have ensured the Government assesses the impact of either an agreement or no deal on the UK economy and regions before a meaningful vote.
So basically our representatives have actively chosen NOT to assess the impact of an agreement or otherwise before deciding on a course of action. It's almost like they're not actually running a country.
They've broken the steering wheel off and chucked it out of the window...there now, you see ? There is no alternative... :wall:
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by AngryAsWell »

Jo Maugham QC‏Verified account
@JolyonMaugham

Worth noting, and much overlooked: Government has quite deliberately tilted the playing field so that public authorities engaging workers have a higher tax burden than private outsourcers engaging those same workers.

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

Carillion's collapse shows that we need an urgent review of outsourcing

https://www.theguardian.com/public-lead ... dApp_Tweet" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by AngryAsWell »

From the Carillion article above :

So it’s premature to declare an end to the 30-year triumphant growth of competitive bidding, leading to a “public service market” with a value estimated by the National Audit Office at £100bn a year. Yet that figure is oddly tentative. The auditors don’t know for sure. The Cabinet Office doesn’t bother counting contracts let or terminated. NHS regulators, the Local Government Association and the devolved bodies have not kept a tally of the number of contracts or which firms are involved in what and how well they have performed.

and

Labour says it will commission no more private finance initiatives (PFIs), with talk of a windfall tax on PFI contractors. But that implies we know enough about the convoluted corporate structures that have been built up, often in order to avoid paying UK tax. We don’t. It’s asking a lot of an NHS finance director or council executive to understand the balance sheet of an entity headquartered in Dublin, Madrid or Paris that has spun out multiple shell companies, only one of which is responsible for trimming the shrubs in the local park – or, as with Amey in Sheffield, felling much-loved city trees.

I really don't see any end to this outsourcing on a grand scale, I don't see how they can stop it if they don't know the cost or extent of it.
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RogerOThornhill
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by RogerOThornhill »

Oops.

Toby Young Has Lost Another Job In Education

https://www.buzzfeed.com/solomonhughes/ ... .vazxeGK3m
When BuzzFeed News contacted the University of Buckingham, a spokesperson said:

“Toby Young is no longer a visiting fellow. He was appointed as an honorary visiting research fellow in 2011. These appointments are usually for a duration of three years and therefore his fellowship is no longer current, though he may be eligible to re-apply in future”.

This suggests Young has not been a visiting fellow since 2014. However, when approached, Young showed BuzzFeed News the University’s own programme for its June 2017 “Festival of Higher Education”, where he spoke. The university described Young as one of its “visiting fellows” in that programme.
:D
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by AngryAsWell »

Exclusive: Government lawyers "out of their depth" over Brexit, claims justice committee chair Bob Neill

http://www.cityam.com/278957/exclusive- ... =dvTwitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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RogerOThornhill
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by RogerOThornhill »

AngryAsWell wrote:Exclusive: Government lawyers "out of their depth" over Brexit, claims justice committee chair Bob Neill

http://www.cityam.com/278957/exclusive- ... =dvTwitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
So that's the latest line is it - blaming the lawyers?

:roll:
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by AngryAsWell »

RogerOThornhill wrote:
AngryAsWell wrote:Exclusive: Government lawyers "out of their depth" over Brexit, claims justice committee chair Bob Neill

http://www.cityam.com/278957/exclusive- ... =dvTwitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
So that's the latest line is it - blaming the lawyers?

:roll:
Someone needs to take the blame... so they say :twisted:
Tubby Isaacs
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by Tubby Isaacs »

The FT on outsourcing from 2015.

https://www.ft.com/content/244f0bd8-ecc ... 144feab7de" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The amount of government money spent on outsourced public services has almost doubled from £64bn to £120bn in the five years since the coalition came to power, according to figures that highlight an accelerating pace in justice, welfare and defence.

Tens of thousands of staff have been transferred to private sector management as the coalition has sought cost savings, according to figures from the Information Services Group consultancy. The UK outsourcing market is now the second largest in the world outside the US, it says.

Separate research from OC&C Strategy Consultants suggests outsourcing could rise by a third in the next parliament, driven by the growing population and the need for cost savings. It forecasts that £1 in every £3 spent by government and local authorities on delivering public services will go to outsourcing companies.
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by AngryAsWell »

Jon Snow‏Verified account
@jonsnowC4

Disgraced Carillion chief, Richard Howson now director of firm (Wood Group PLC) in charge of inspections at Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by AngryAsWell »

So Ashcroft did a new "Ashcroft" poll after his twitter one came out overwhelmingly for "stay in EU".
Why then did him ask the question
Which way do you "think" people will vote in 2dn ref rather than "How will you vote" ?

Mike Galsworthy #FBPE #NHSlove‏
@mikegalsworthy

Deleted previous tweet for accuracy. Check the new Lord Ashcroft polls on *which way people think* a new vote would go.

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

(and still lost the result he wanted)
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RogerOThornhill
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by RogerOThornhill »

Staying on the outsourcing front...this from Cameron in 2011.

David Cameron promises public sector revolution

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... ution.html
The changes could ultimately see many functions of the NHS – from operations to walk-in triage services – being run by private firms. All schools could be run by charities or private sector companies, as could municipal services such as maintaining parks, adult care, special schools or roads maintenance.

Outside providers would be offered payment-by-results contracts, which would earn them more as they increased the quality of services.

Downing Street said the plans illustrated that Mr Cameron was prepared to go far further than any recent prime minister – including Tony Blair – on public sector reform.

The only exemptions will be the judiciary and the security services. All other public services will be expected to open up to private competition under the plans, which the Government hopes will slash bureaucracy, improve the quality of public services and save money.
:fire:
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RogerOThornhill
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Re: Wednesday 17th January 2018

Post by RogerOThornhill »

I don't know who this young lady is but really...
Victoria Freeman‏
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Overhauling how the state uses private providers to deliver services is one thing. A desirable thing. Driving the private sector out completely isn’t pragmatic govt, it’s pure Marxist ideology.
There you go - if you want public services delivered by public sector workers then that makes you a Marxist.

That's how far this has come in the last 30 years - Serco with a Justice division running prisons, Police support, court services.

Well you can fuck right off with that - I don't want the private sector anywhere near this stuff. There's been no public debate over this whatsoever - it's been creeping in over 30 years with barely a peep from anyone because it's happened so slowly.
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