Friday 16th March 2018

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HindleA
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Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

Morning
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refitman
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by refitman »

Morning.
frog222
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by frog222 »

Just sticking this up here for those who may have missed it --

Ephemerid213 MARCH 15, 2018 AT 6:13 PM
Hi Tobes and all – ’twas indeed I lurking away there and now I’m here.
I’m just popping in while I have temporary access to the Cloud; hope you are all well.
I am not out of the woods yet; I still have this massive PE sitting just north of my heart, and as yet I’ve been too breathless to get the conclusive scans done, as you have to not wheeze, move, or cough for 3 mins….
I feel dreadful and look worse, but I am still in here fighting and I don’t plan on giving up yet.
I’ll keep you updated as and when able and meanwhile I’ll be concentrating on Stayin’ Alive!
Hugs to all xxxxx


Typical :-)
PaulfromYorkshire
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by PaulfromYorkshire »

Morning.
PaulfromYorkshire
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by PaulfromYorkshire »

Stephen Kinnock :roll:
tinybgoat
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by tinybgoat »

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Stephen Kinnock :roll:
In his defence, he manages to transparently undermine Corbyn, whilst trying to give the appearance that he's not doing so, but failing abysmally & still leaving you feeling it's possible that it's all accidental & he may just be too thick to realise what he's doing. Or Something.
howsillyofme1
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by howsillyofme1 »

Morning

Worst thing you can throw at Corbyn on is that he is naive and makes some unhelpful statements but when you look in more detail he has a point

To be honest pretty much all the media opinion I have seen is pretty shit, especially on the chemistry part

May is exploiting this as she should do being so weak....classic distraction and it is working

The truth is not quite so important in this than the publicity

Putin will brush it off. The Litvenenko poisoning was far more clear-cut but it had no major effects
frog222
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by frog222 »

howsillyofme1 wrote:Morning

Worst thing you can throw at Corbyn on is that he is naive and makes some unhelpful statements but when you look in more detail he has a point

To be honest pretty much all the media opinion I have seen is pretty shit, especially on the chemistry part

May is exploiting this as she should do being so weak....classic distraction and it is working

The truth is not quite so important in this than the publicity

Putin will brush it off. The Litvenenko poisoning was far more clear-cut but it had no major effects
Robinson right now on R4's Toady and the rest of the Right Press will be gnawing on the Corbyn Russia bone for some time, but I expect that to diminish a little as people calm down ? There really is so little that we can do to hurt Putin himself , if he was the perp .
The problem for labour is that after this business a naive leader will appear even less of a potential PM to the voters .
howsillyofme1
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by howsillyofme1 »

frog222 wrote:
howsillyofme1 wrote:Morning

Worst thing you can throw at Corbyn on is that he is naive and makes some unhelpful statements but when you look in more detail he has a point

To be honest pretty much all the media opinion I have seen is pretty shit, especially on the chemistry part

May is exploiting this as she should do being so weak....classic distraction and it is working

The truth is not quite so important in this than the publicity

Putin will brush it off. The Litvenenko poisoning was far more clear-cut but it had no major effects
Robinson right now on R4's Toady and the rest of the Right Press will be gnawing on the Corbyn Russia bone for some time, but I expect that to diminish a little as people calm down ? There really is so little that we can do to hurt Putin himself , if he was the perp .
The problem for labour is that after this business a naive leader will appear even less of a potential PM to the voters .

I think that is an indictment on the voters as much as anything else
howsillyofme1
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by howsillyofme1 »

There are a number of questions that could be asked to expose the Government's rhetoric but none of them are asked

I am not convinced they know much more than us....they seem to be hiding behind the spooks
PorFavor
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by PorFavor »

Good morfternoon.
gilsey
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by gilsey »

I think I admire Corbyn for his apparent belief that the truth is out there to be found, where Russia's involved most of us shrug our shoulders and accept that we'll never know.

What we do know and have known for some time is that the tories don't much care where their, or the City of London's, money comes from.

Interesting interview on Newsnight with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who says in effect that the Kremlin and the Russian Mafia is the same thing.
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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HindleA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ectors-say" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Scrap Northamptonshire county council, inspectors say
Report into widespread financial and management failures says bailing out council would be ‘reward for failure’
tinybgoat
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by tinybgoat »

howsillyofme1 wrote:There are a number of questions that could be asked to expose the Government's rhetoric but none of them are asked

I am not convinced they know much more than us....they seem to be hiding behind the spooks
My main criticism of Tories/May is that they seem to have an inability to follow due procedure (if that's the correct term), Corbyn's original questions were whether Russia had been provided with a sample of the nerve agent, and whether established protocols were being followed.
If they had been then there might (or might not) be less wriggle room for Putin, and opportunity for conspiracy theories, but it might have helped establish some facts
and would have given a better basis for any subsequent measures taken.
PorFavor
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by PorFavor »

HindleA wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ectors-say


Scrap Northamptonshire county council, inspectors say
Report into widespread financial and management failures says bailing out council would be ‘reward for failure’
I'm torn on this one. Yes - the council appears to have been rubbish, but they were carrying out the Government's wishes and it didn't work. Rather gives the Government a "you just can't get the staff" excuse, thus allowing them (the Government) to blame someone else.




Edited - typo
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adam
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by adam »

EU diplomats tell May to back down over Northern Ireland
Downing Street’s stance on the Irish border came under severe pressure on Friday with EU diplomats telling Theresa May she must back down over Northern Ireland’s place in the customs union and MPs warning that hopes of a technological solution to a hard border are unrealistic.... That warning was echoed by Westminster’s Northern Ireland affairs committee, which published a report saying that there was “no evidence” that a hi-tech alternative to a fortified border could be made to work in the time available
We are continuing to say (1) there can't be a closed border with Ireland (2) there can't be a customs border between NI and the rest of the UK and (3) all of the UK including NI are leaving the CU, along with (4) we know we said that thing about full alignment but we think full alignment means 'kind of similar on the whole but with differences where we chose' and obviously we won't be aligned fully in the long term, or else why would we be leaving?'

Indeed.
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gilsey
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by gilsey »

It's not just the Irish border that's a problem either, the shit's hitting the fan over the other borders as well.
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1h1 hour ago
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2. Treasury in minute to PAC has admitted there is not enough space for checks at key border points. “Border Planning Group has reviewed all border locations...at a number checks difficult to accommodate”... “Government is taking pragmatic approach to border controls...”

More
3. PAC chair Hillier unimpressed: “If solving this means throwing open the borders to all players... it is staggering after all the Government’s constant talk of controlling borders - we are faced with a situation which could be fairly open borders and chaos on Day One”.
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frog222
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by frog222 »

PorFavor wrote:
HindleA wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ectors-say

Scrap Northamptonshire county council, inspectors say
Report into widespread financial and management failures says bailing out council would be ‘reward for failure’
I'm torn on this one. Yes - the council appears to have been rubbish, but they were carrying out the Government's wishes and it didn't work. Rather gives the Government a "you just can't get the staff" excuse, thus allowing them (the Government) to blame someone else.
Edited - typo
I particularly liked this bit ""It excoriates the disastrous attempt to restructure services by outsourcing them to private companies and charities – the . Poor design, chaotic management and a lack of controls and oversight meant budgeting was “an exercise of hope rather than expectation”.

It drily notes that it was not clear whether the programme was still in existence, saying: “It would appear to have been abandoned but that is not clear.”""


It is clear that the (Tory) council was hopeless, and their obedient attempts at 'reform' followed Tory Shrink the State ideology perfectly. Oh dear !

This from four years ago reads rather differently today --

"" After five successive years of funding cuts, Northamptonshire county council believes it has seen the future of local government: it is dramatically smaller, its services are privatised, and its finances practically self-sufficient, almost entirely free of central government funding.

The core services that for decades have defined what a council does, will no longer be umbilically attached to the town hall. All services, including child protection, and those for the elderly will be hived off into staff-run mutual companies, social enterprises or private firms. An authority that now employs 4,000 staff would, by 2020, employ just 150.

“It is no exaggeration to say this is the biggest transformation of services in Northamptonshire since the creation of this council 125 years ago,” its Conservative leader, Jim Harker, claimed this week

Northamptonshire’s shift to what it calls a<b> “next generation” council </b>is a radical response to savage municipal cuts meted out by the coalition since 2010, and which will continue for some years. By May funding in England will have reduced by an average of 40% over five years – the “biggest cuts in living memory” ,according to the Local Government Association.""

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ts-council" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
PorFavor
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by PorFavor »

@frog222

Everything said about the council could equally be said about the Conservative Government. It's just that they have more resources (of all sorts) at their disposal to mask the disaster for a bit longer.
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by citizenJA »

HindleA wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ectors-say

Scrap Northamptonshire county council, inspectors say
Report into widespread financial and management failures says bailing out council would be ‘reward for failure’
A government-appointed investigator’s report said the problems at the council were so deep-rooted that it was impossible to rescue it in its current form...
(cJA emphasis)

Will elections be made available? For the electorate?
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by citizenJA »

PorFavor wrote:
HindleA wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ectors-say

Scrap Northamptonshire county council, inspectors say
Report into widespread financial and management failures says bailing out council would be ‘reward for failure’
I'm torn on this one. Yes - the council appears to have been rubbish, but they were carrying out the Government's wishes and it didn't work. Rather gives the Government a "you just can't get the staff" excuse, thus allowing them (the Government) to blame someone else.

Edited - typo
Hear, hear
Where's government going with this?
Councillors are elected
PaulfromYorkshire
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by PaulfromYorkshire »

A rather boring by-election night. Two CON holds and one CON gain from IND in seats where Labour had little hope.

Nevertheless I shall miss AK's roundup....
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by citizenJA »

The fact it's currently a Tory council is immaterial to me at the moment
Is this precedented?
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by citizenJA »

Good-afternoon, everyone
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by citizenJA »

Have I misunderstood the Northamptonshire County Council story?
It's entirely possible. I've a wretched cold.
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by citizenJA »

Explaining why he advised breaking up the council, [Max] Caller’s report says: “The problems faced by NCC are now so deep and ingrained that it is not possible to promote a recovery plan that could bring the council back to stability and safety in a reasonable timescale.”
---
“It was unlikely councillors and the officers had the strength of purpose to bring the council back into line, he said.
“A way forward with a clean sheet, leaving all the history behind, is required.


https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ectors-say" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(cJA emphasis)

The government-appointed organisation led by Max Caller is what, exactly?
I'd like a way forward with a clean sheet leaving history behind, too. Can Max Caller get rid of Tory government?
Privatisation of services is a failure, yes, apparently, the council led badly, made bad decisions. I understand that.
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by citizenJA »

Durham University academics given two weeks to leave UK

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... -challenge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by citizenJA »

...pub chain JD Wetherspoon has sounded a cautious note. Chairman and founder Tim Martin...warned that Wetherspoon’s faced higher pay, taxes and utilities bills in the months ahead.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/li ... 3efb46810e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(cJA bold)
HindleA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... r-evidence" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Open consultation

School exclusions review: call for evidence

https://consult.education.gov.uk/school ... -evidence/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Open consultation

Children in need of help and protection: call for evidence


https://consult.education.gov.uk/child- ... all-for-e/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
HindleA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

Decision makers’ guide: memos: staff guide


Added DMG memo 2/18: Incapacity Benefit reassessment, arrears of ESA(income-related).


(Following UT decision)



https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... de#history" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... taff-guide" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Last edited by HindleA on Fri 16 Mar, 2018 4:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
HindleA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

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


Policy paper

Creating opportunity for all: our vision for alternative provision
Setting out the government’s vision for alternative provision (AP) and outlining reforms to raise standards and improve outcomes for all children in AP.
HindleA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

Question is if Stephen Hawking can do it exactly how lazy are the non disabled/sick?.With a little bit of effort and less bleating multi Olympic medals,professorships,best selling books is the very least we should expect.
HindleA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

(Response to usual knobhead fuckwittery)
Last edited by HindleA on Sat 17 Mar, 2018 5:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
tinybgoat
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by tinybgoat »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-politics-43428802" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Brexit: Lorry checks at Dover 'unrealistic' says Grayling"
"We will maintain a free flowing border at Dover - we will not impose checks in the port. We don't check lorries now - we're not going to be checking lorries in Dover in the future.
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Willow904
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by Willow904 »

tinybgoat wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-politics-43428802
"Brexit: Lorry checks at Dover 'unrealistic' says Grayling"
"We will maintain a free flowing border at Dover - we will not impose checks in the port. We don't check lorries now - we're not going to be checking lorries in Dover in the future.
Crazy, isn't it? Smugglers paradise.

And the EU will be checking everything going the other way and will find a way to make sure the cost falls on the UK, not them.

The maddest thing about this is pretty much the only reason not to be in the single market and/or customs union is to regain complete control of our borders.
"Fall seven times, get up eight" - Japanese proverb
gilsey
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by gilsey »

tinybgoat wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-politics-43428802
"Brexit: Lorry checks at Dover 'unrealistic' says Grayling"
"We will maintain a free flowing border at Dover - we will not impose checks in the port. We don't check lorries now - we're not going to be checking lorries in Dover in the future.
We don't check lorries now because we're in the EU, replies everyone with (at least) half a brain.
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HindleA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2018/03 ... one-of-us/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


The Homeless” – They’re not one of us
HindleA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

https://mainlymacro.blogspot.co.uk/2018 ... k-air.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


No spring in the UK air

Wren-Lewis


"I was not going to write anything about the non-event of Hammond’s Spring statement, in part because I confess I am tired of writing about the Conservative party’s hopeless macroeconomic policy"
PorFavor
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by PorFavor »

gilsey wrote:
tinybgoat wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-politics-43428802
"Brexit: Lorry checks at Dover 'unrealistic' says Grayling"
"We will maintain a free flowing border at Dover - we will not impose checks in the port. We don't check lorries now - we're not going to be checking lorries in Dover in the future.
We don't check lorries now because we're in the EU, replies everyone with (at least) half a brain.
Quite. I thought we were going back to "the good old days" which included the imposition of checks.

"Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by."
PorFavor
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by PorFavor »

Shutting down EU ivory trade is a ‘personal priority’ for Boris Johnson

A government minister has promised that the UK will lead a fight to shut down the ivory trade in the EU, describing the issue as “a personal priority” for the foreign secretary Boris Johnson. (Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... is-johnson
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/econ ... net-at-all" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


For disabled people, the welfare state no longer functions as a safety net at all
HindleA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

Self reminiscing/musing about the various battles to secure support to facillitate vast cost saving investment and later to combat various attempts to remove/charge more,including the convenient forgetting of a signed agreement by the Tory Council misanthropic maladministration now sadly back in power with yet more residualisation,increased Council Taxes-not bad in itself-obviously happy to pay to facillitate for others but in application a double whammy of targeted cuts/reduced service and increased tax for those receiving support or possibly having it removed.I now have an accessible for all and there if I need it property.We still waited for a year to secure independent egress and we were one of the better Councils.Until it becomes natural smooth uncommented we won't begin to address the wholly solveable "problem "created by the wrong way of thinking as I see it.
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

We wouldn't need a "safety net" with judicious investment/extra cost allowances/budgets.
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

(Don't like the "fallen" portrayal,if not obvious)
frog222
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by frog222 »

HindleA wrote:https://mainlymacro.blogspot.co.uk/2018 ... k-air.html


No spring in the UK air

Wren-Lewis


"I was not going to write anything about the non-event of Hammond’s Spring statement, in part because I confess I am tired of writing about the Conservative party’s hopeless macroeconomic policy"
Very accessible, for an economist ! Copied to my 'little' sister :-)
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/160889 ... ref=twtrec" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Council swamped by thousands of Universal Credit 'junk messages'
Last edited by HindleA on Fri 16 Mar, 2018 9:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
AnatolyKasparov
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

(breaking my period of silence for this, don't say I never do anything for you all)

Three local council byelections yesterday:

South Kesteven DC - a "double header" here saw two Tory holds though with slightly differing results. The first contest saw the Tories drop on their 2015 showing to under 40 per cent and being run fairly close by an Independent candidate; this ward had elected 3 LibDem councillors in both 2003 (opposed by only Independents) and 2007 (in a straight fight with the Tories) before the Tories took all three seats in 2011 - and three years ago (when the ward was cut to 2 seats following a relatively minor boundary change) the LibDems did not even stand, the localist "Stamford Indies" and UKIP providing the only opposition to the blue team. UKIP absented themselves now but the LibDems returned and scored close to 20%, with Labour and the Greens (less than 2%) filling the also-ran positions. The other vacancy saw a more comfortable Tory win with 45% and a significant increase for them on 2015 (though just how much depends on your calculation method, as one of the two successful Tories then polled significantly higher than the other) Again there were boundary changes then, but the predecessor ward was similar and had an intriguing recent history - in 2003 it split 1Lab/1Con and those councillors were duly re-elected in 2007, but as a LibDem and Independent respectively! In 2011 there was a 1Ind/1C split before the Tories finally took a full slate in the redrawn ward last time. Then UKIP took a close second, but their now familiar absence allowed the Stamford Independents (who increased their vote modestly) to take that spot after finishing an also close third three years ago. Labour now third with little change, followed by the LibDems with 10% in their first showing here since 2011 and then the Greens last with 2%, fully 10 points down on 2015.

Redcar and Cleveland - Tory gain from Independent with just under a third of the vote, the sort of fragmented contest this ward has seen persistently in recent years. In 2003 it split 2C/1Ind and by the same proportions in 2007 (though the successful Independent topped the poll that year) before going 1LD/1C/1Lab in 2011 when the sitting Indy retired - only for them to stand again in 2015 and get re-elected whilst the other seats went to Tory and UKIP respectively. Yet again, UKIP sat this one out and it is likely their absence helped the Tories who got a five point increase on three years ago. LibDems moved into second with a double figure increase with over a quarter of the vote, closely followed by Labour who also increased. This time round the Independent candidate was the same person who had won for Labour back in 2011, their 19% was still a respectable score but well down on what the Indy (whose retirement for a second time caused this vacancy) had scored when coming second here last time.

Seven contests next week.
"IS TONTY BLAIR BEHIND THIS???!!!!111???!!!"
HindleA
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Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by HindleA »

Thanks AK very much appreciated,in the circumstances.
PorFavor
Prime Minister
Posts: 15167
Joined: Tue 26 Aug, 2014 12:18 pm

Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by PorFavor »

@AnatolyKasparov

Thanks. How are things with you?
PorFavor
Prime Minister
Posts: 15167
Joined: Tue 26 Aug, 2014 12:18 pm

Re: Friday 16th March 2018

Post by PorFavor »

PTO
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